Team Name: University of Massachusetts Dartmouth MADWEC 2.0

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Dartmouth, Massachusetts

Team deliverables

Why this competition?

The University of Massachusetts (UMass) Dartmouth MADWEC 2.0 team is entering the U.S. Department of Energy Marine Energy Collegiate Competition (MECC) to continue the work of last year’s UMass MECC team. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the team to halt development on their initial project and conclude the competition with an unfinished product.

We will build and test the project last year’s MECC team designed, with the hopes of finding areas where we can improve it. With a passion for ocean sustainability, our team hopes to educate a wide audience with our finished product.

Project description, including application in the blue economy

We will develop an efficient and lightweight means of stabilizing a wave energy power take-off (PTO) unit. Employing a spring and reel system, the PTO unit will utilize the power of ocean waves to produce and store energy. This stored energy can then be used to recharge ocean surveillance devices and vehicles.

This device will enable autonomous underwater vehicles to easily recharge while at sea, allowing for longer-duration explorations, as well as reduce the operational costs of these vehicles.

Game plan

We are building and testing the MADWEC device at UMass Dartmouth’s School of Marine Science and Technology. Our team has been assigned a laboratory that allows for proper social distancing, and we are abiding by all health and safety precautions under current COVID-19 guidelines.

Testing the prototype will involve a winch and pulley configuration. The winch will create tension in the tether, which will pass through the reel and convert it to mechanical energy. The mechanical energy will ultimately be converted into electrical energy in the batteries at the bottom of the PTO. With the help of our electrical engineering advisor, we will be programming the winch to best emulate sinusoidal wave conditions.

Once we confirm that the PTO can withstand the range of both high and low sea states, design optimization and wave tank tests will follow. We will use a tachometer to record the speed of the reel, a decade box to measure electrical energy, and a load cell, which will transmit voltage readings to a laptop interpreting tension in the line.

All calculations have been performed using a bottom-up approach that ensures the generators will not be overtorqued and the load cell functions within allowable limits.

Team strengths

The multidisciplinary team—comprising five mechanical engineering students—was recruited with the help of an electrical engineering advisor, two faculty advisors, and a graduate student advisor. The team will employ the assistance of Dr. Peter Karlson at the Charlton College of Business to build our business and marketing team.

Team hurdles

Although the School of Marine Science and Technology had granted us access to a laboratory to conduct testing, only three team members will be allowed in the space at a time due to current State of Massachusetts COVID-19 guidelines. This means that information learned by the team members in the lab will need to be passed on to those not present. This will inevitably slow the progress of the team by limiting our in-person collaboration.

Competition objectives

Inspire Boston-area high school students’ interest in STEM and the blue economy by giving presentations on our work.
Collaborate with students of many disciplines to complete a design-oriented project.
Develop a final prototype for the MADWEC system.
Make a lasting impact on the field of renewable energy—ocean energy harvesting specifically.

Social media accounts

Instagram: @umassdsmast, @umassd

This portal is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) under Contract Number DE- AC36-08GO28308 with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Contract Number DE-AC05-76RL01830 with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Contract Number DE-NA0003525 with Sandia National Laboratories, as part of the MHK Data Communities project. The United States Government retains, and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes.

MECC 2021 University of Massachusetts Dartmouth