Wave Energy Harvesting to Power Unmanned Surface Vehicles Navy STTR FY2005 Sol No.: Navy STTR FY2005 Topic No.: N05-T021 Topic Title: Wave Energy Harvesting to Power Unmanned Surface Vehicles Proposal No.: N054-021-0047 Firm: Advanced Mechanical Technology, Inc. 176 Waltham Street Watertown, Massachusetts 02472-4800 Contact: Charles Hannon Phone: (617) 926-6700 Web Site: www.amti-es.biz Abstract: Recent world events have highlighted the need for timely and accurate intelligence data to assess threats and combat terror. An unmanned surface vehicle (USV ) can potentially perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, provide force protection, hunt for mines in coastal waters or harbors, and provide port security. USVs under development by the Navy are powered by the combustion of logistics fuel which limits the potential range and duration of a mission. For ISR missions it is desired for USVs to have nearly unlimited range and mission duration, so it is necessary to develop a power source of nearly unlimited availability. The oceans are an energy-rich environment with the potential to scavenge energy from wave motion and the sun. The proposed energy scavenging (ES) system will make use of high-efficiency commercially available solar cells as well as a wave energy harvesting technique long used in navigational buoys. The periodic motion of an oscillating water column (OWC) is used to compress an air volume that generates an audible signal, or whistle, in a manner similar to a pipe organ. The basic OWC principle has been successfully demonstrated in both shore line and open water devices to generate electrical power. Benefits: A USV can potentially perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, provide force protection for deployed warships, hunt for mines in coastal waters or harbors, and provide port security. In addition to military, homeland security and law enforcement purposes, USVs can be employed as a flexible, low-cost means of data collection and monitoring in support of oceanographic, climatological and general marine environmental research. In addition to these data-gathering type missions, a network of ES-USVs could form part of a tsunami early warning system or be used as repositionable navigational aids. Markets for the wave energy harvesting system exist exclusive of the USV application. The system could be used to power a variety of moored marine devices used for navigation, military or law enforcement surveillance, or scientific research. It has an advantage over PV cells in that the system harvests energy 24 hours per day, and since it does not require exposure to the sun, its integration in the marine device can be subservient to that of the primary instrumentation. It is also conceivable that this wave energy harvesting system could be used to maintain the battery packs of pleasure boats that primarily spend time at moorings. Return