In-situ wave energy harvesting for unmanned marine devices: A review

• Published in: Ocean engineering Vol. 285; p. 115376
• Main Authors: Zeng, Fanqin, Wang, Tao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2023
• Subjects: Autonomous underwater vehicle; Energy harvesting; Self-powered buoy; Transducer; Unmanned surface vessel; Wave energy; Transducer; Wave energy; Energy harvesting; Autonomous underwater vehicle; Self-powered buoy; Unmanned surface vessel
• ISSN: 0029-8018; 1873-5258
• DOI: 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2023.115376

It is promising and interesting to supply unmanned marine devices (UMDs) such as data buoys, unmanned surface vessels, and unmanned underwater vehicles with sustainable energy by in-situ wave energy harvesting. However, there is a lack of a comprehensive survey about the state of the art. This review summarizes the fundamentals, research status, comparisons, applications, challenges, and future trends of wave energy harvesters (WEHs) incorporated into the UMDs. Various in-situ wave energy capture mechanisms are categorized into external and internal types according to the positional relation, including hydrofoils, floating bodies, turbines, pendulums, spring masses, and gyroscopic mechanisms. Also, they are divided into series and parallel types according to the principle of motion generation. Transducers convert the captured mechanical energy into electricity, including electromagnetic, piezoelectric, triboelectric, dielectric elastomer, liquid metal magnetohydrodynamic, and hybrid transducers. Existing applications of the in-situ WEHs are reviewed and discussed. Finally, the main challenges are summarized. It is found that there is a gap between fully powering the UMDs and using the WEHs. A list of potential solutions, including nonlinear methods, are proposed to promote the further development of this topic. •This work firstly reviews in-situ wave energy harvesting for unmanned marine devices.•Wave energy capture mechanisms are categorized into external and internal types.•Methods of generating relative motions to unmanned marine devices are elaborated.•Practical applications with wave energy harvesting are summarized and discussed.•Challenges and future trends are proposed by analyses of different methodologies.