The e-Drive project team has launched the Edinburgh Wave Systems Simulation Toolbox primarily designed for the simulation of wave energy converters.
The software, released as an open source tool , also contains more general-purpose components useful for simulating a wide range of systems, including electrical machines, hydraulics, advanced multibody dynamics, and – naturally – wave interaction.
A toolbox for transient simulation of wave-body interaction included in the simulation toolbox also has an advanced interface for the simulation of wave energy converter systems which eases the development of the mechatronic aspects of the system, such as the power take-off (PTO), according to e-Drive.
The simulation system, e-Drive noted, is also optimized for batch processing running the optimization tasks on servers.
The e-Drive project is a collaboration between the Institute for Energy Systems at the University of Edinburgh and Newcastle University’s Electrical Power Group. The project aims to tackle a fundamental weakness of current wave energy converters – namely the electro-mechanical PTO.
The collaboration is expected to result in the improvement of the PTO chain from generator through to grid interface by creating an all-electric solution. In turn, e-Drive states, this will address issues of reliability and maintainability of wave energy devices.