Self-tunable fuzzy logic controller for the optimization of heaving wave energy converters

Abstract

This paper proposes a new suboptimal reactive control technique for controlling single body heaving wave energy converter (WEC). A self-tunable fuzzy logic controller is implemented to maximize the absorbed energy while respecting the physical limitations of the device. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is utilized to carry out an on-line optimization process of the fuzzy membership functions (MFs) embedded in the fuzzy controller. The proposed PSO-FLC out-performed the conventional fuzzy logic controller (C-FLC) in terms of improving reference signal tracking accuracy, widening the device wave absorption bandwidth, and preserving a degree of robustness to model uncertainties.