This paper investigates a passive control method of a point absorbing wave energy converter by considering the displacement and velocity constraints under irregular waves in the time domain. A linear generator is used as a power take-off unit, and the equivalent damping force is optimized to improve the power production of the wave energy converter. The results from nonlinear and linear passive control methods are compared, and indicate that the nonlinear passive control method leads to the excitation force in phase with the velocity of the converter that can significantly improve the energy production of the converter.

This paper investigates a method for optimal control of a point absorbing wave energy converter by considering the constraints on motions and forces in the time domain. The problem is converted to an optimization problem with the cost function being convex quadratic and the constraints being nonlinear. The influence of the constraints on the converter is studied, and the results are compared with uncontrolled cases and established theoretical bounds. Since this method is based on the knowledge of the future sea state or the excitation force, the influence of the prediction horizon is indicated. The resulting performance of the wave energy converter under different regular waves shows that this method leads to a substantial increase in conversion efficiency.