About the Project
The Centre for Ocean Energy Research (COER) at Maynooth University currently has a vacancy for PhD student in the area of real-time control of wave energy devices. Energy maximising control systems have the capability to significantly improve the economic viability of wave energy systems and this project focusses on a commercial device currently under development at CorPower Ocean (http://www.corpowerocean.com/), a leading Swedish wave energy company. The CorPower wave energy converter has already undergone large scale experimental testing, with promising results. This project will attempt to improve the economic performance of the CorPower device by maximising energy capture using control technology, while also considering the effects of control actions on operational costs. The project will include control system design, control implementation and experimental analysis. Since the wave energy control problem is, in general, non-causal, with some of the key measurements unmeasurable, the project will also include some estimation and forecasting components.
The project will feature the recently developed moment-based wave energy control analysis and synthesis tools pioneered at COER, in partnership with Prof. Alessandro Astolfi’s group at Imperial College, London. The project will also be carried out as part of the MaREI (Marine and Renewable Energy Ireland) SFI-funded Research Centre, of which COER is a constituent partner. MaREI is a national network of over 200 researchers, involving 8 academic institutions and 45 industry partners (https://www.marei.ie/)
A tax-free stipend of €18,500 is available, and PhD fees are also covered. The project also provides adequate funding for equipment, materials and travel (conferences, courses, secondment, etc) and is tenable for a 4-year structured PhD. Specific periods of secondment to CorPower will feature as part of the research programme. Applicants should be well qualified to bachelors or masters degree level in one of the following areas: mechanical/mechatronic engineering, electronic engineering, control engineering, or exceptional students in applied maths or hydrodynamics may be considered. The project will be supervised by Prof. John Ringwood (http://www.eeng.nuim.ie/jringwood/), who was the recipient of the 2019 Maynooth University Research Supervision Award.
Funding Notes
Applicants should be well qualified to bachelors or masters degree level in one of the following areas: mechanical/mechatronic engineering, electronic engineering, control engineering, or exceptional students in applied maths or hydrodynamics may be considered.
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