A NEW FLAPPING-HYDROFOIL WAVE POWER GENERATING UNMANNED OCEAN VEHICLE

摘要

To solve the issue of the energy supply for unmanned ocean vehicles, the ocean wave energy as an abundant and widely distributed renewable clean energy, provides a feasible way. This paper proposes a flapping-hydrofoil method applied to unmanned ocean vehicles, harnessing the ocean wave energy to generate power. The structure of the flapping-hydrofoil wave energy harvester is presented, including the internal transmission device and the design of the hydrofoil. Then the operation modes (buoyancy drive and electric drive) and the application prospects (operating on and under the sea surface) of the flapping-hydrofoil wave energy ocean vehicle are also discussed, with the sincere expectations of further development of the ocean science and technology as well as offshore engineering.