This paper provides an overview of the SUPERIOT project, an EU SNS JU (Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking) initiative focused on developing truly sustainable IoT systems. The SUPERIOT concept is based on a unique holistic approach to sustainability, proactively developing sustainable solutions considering the design, implementation, usage and disposal/reuse stages. The concept exploits radio and optical technologies to provide dual-mode wireless connectivity and dual-mode energy harvesting as well as dual-mode IoT node positioning. The implementation of the IoT nodes or devices will maximize the use of sustainable printed electronics technologies, including printed components, conductive inks and substrates. The paper describes the SUPERIOT concept, covering the key technical approaches to be used, promising scenarios and applications, project goals and demonstrators which will be developed to the proof-of-concept stage. In addition, the paper briefly discusses some important visions on how this technology may be further developed in the future.

This paper presents the results of research related to the transformation of electrical energy into potential and kinetic energy of waves generated on the water surface. The waves are generated to model the environmental conditions for the needs of the model tests. The model tests are performed on model-scale objects to predict the features of full-scale maritime objects. It is done to improve human safety and the survivability of constructions. Electrical energy is transformed into the energy of the water waves using a wave maker. The wave maker considered is a facility with an electrohydraulic drive and an actuator submerged into the water. The actuator movement results in the waves being mechanically-generated in accordance with the wave maker theory. The study aimed to investigate the advantage of the newly implemented fuzzy-logic controller over the hitherto cascading proportional-integral controllers of the wave maker actuator. The research was focused on experimental investigation of the transformation process outcomes harvested under the fuzzy-logic controller, versus the cascading proportional-integral controllers. The waves were generated and measured in the real towing tank, located in the Maritime Advanced Research Centre (CTO S.A.). The investigation confirmed the advantage of the fuzzy-logic controller. It provides more accurate transformation of energy into the desired form of the water waves of specified parameters—frequency and amplitude—and more flat amplitude-frequency characteristic of the transformation process.

This paper presents the results of experimental research focused on wave energy harvesting and its conversion to power Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The harvesting and conversion process was performed using a wave energy converter (WEC) consisting of a lead zirconate titanate piezoelectric ceramic perovskite material and a prototype power electronic circuit. The designed WEC was considered as a power supply for an end node device (END) of an IoT network. The END consisted of a long-range radio module and an electronic paper display. A set of physical experiments were carried out, and the results confirmed that an energy surplus was supplied by WEC compared to the energy consumed by the END. Hence, the proposed scheme was experimentally validated as a convenient solution that could enable the autonomous operation of an IoT device. The use case presented here for the proposed WEC was analysed for selected sea areas on the basis of wave statistics. The novelty of this paper arises from an investigation that confirms that WECs can significantly contribute to the development of wireless and mobile IoT communication powered by freely available sea wave energy.

This paper presents the improvement of the wave maker control system. The wave maker is a facility widely used in hydromechanics laboratories to generate waves in towing tanks. It is equipped with an electrohydraulic drive and an actuator submerged into water. The waves are generated to model the environmental conditions for physical experiments, performed on reduced-scale models of maritime objects. The physical experiments allow to predict the behaviour of full-scale objects and prove the results of numerical analyses. The overriding goal of the fluid dynamics experiments is to improve the human safety and survivability of constructions. The reported investigation and application works were vital for the improvement of physical model tests. The optimization of the proportional controllers was performed in terms of the Integral of Squared Error (ISE). The final evaluation was performed in terms of the frequency response characteristic. The results of the proportional control optimization were evaluated versus the previously applied control. The experimental research was conducted in the real towing tank located at the Maritime Advanced Research Centre. The investigation has shown the advantage of the ISE optimized conventional proportional control. It has particularly proven the affordability and swiftness of the optimization process. It also proved a more efficient frequency response of the wave maker obtained within a required and reasonable lead time. The performed investigation has greatly contributed to the development of a new method of physical experiments in white noise waves. The results related to this new more efficient method are presented as well.

This paper presents the results of the design process focused on the development of the energy subsystem (ES) of a wave energy converter (WEC). The ES is an important electrical part that significantly affects the energy reliability and energy efficiency of the entire WEC device. The designed ES was intended for compact WECs powering IoT network devices working in the distributed grid. The developed ES is an electronic circuit consisting of three cooperating subsystems used for energy conversion, energy storage, and energy management. The energy conversion subsystem was implemented as a set of single-phase bridge rectifiers. The energy storage subsystem was a battery-less implementation based on the capacitors. The energy management subsystem was implemented as a supervisory circuit and boost converter assembly. The designed ES was verified using the physical experiment method. The model experiment reflected the operation of the designed ES with a piezoelectric PZT-based WEC. The experimental results showed a 41.5% surplus of the energy supplied by ES over the energy demanded by the considered load at a duty cycle of ca. 6 min—37.2 mJ over 26.3 mJ, respectively. The obtained results have been evaluated and discussed. The results confirmed the designed ES as a convenient solution, which makes a significant contribution to the compact WECs that can be applied among others to a distributed grid of autonomous IoT network devices powered by free and renewable energy of sea waves. Finally, it will also enable sustainable development of mobile and wireless communication in those maritime areas where other forms of renewable energy may not be available.

This paper presents the design and performance of an energy subsystem (ES) dedicated to hybrid energy harvesters (HEHs): wave energy converters (WECs) combined with photovoltaic panels (PVPs). The considered ES is intended for compact HEHs powering autonomous end-node devices in distributed IoT networks. The designed ES was tested experimentally and evaluated in relation to the mobile and wireless distributed communication use case. The numerical evaluation was based on the balance of the harvested energy versus the energy consumed in the considered use case. The evaluation results proved that the ES ensured energy surplus over the considered IoT node consumption. It confirmed the proposed solution as convenient to the compact HEHs applied for sustainable IoT devices to power them with renewable energy harvested from light and sea waves. It was found that the proposed ES can provide the energy autonomy of the IoT end node and increase its reliability through a hybrid energy-harvesting approach.