Oscilla Power to further develop tech that enables AUVs to recharge themselves using ocean waves

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The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Oscilla Power Inc., a company focused on developing advanced technology to extract energy from ocean waves, a $200,000 grant to further develop technology that enables AUVs to recharge themselves using ocean waves.

Through their Rotary and Mission Systems group, Oscilla Power will work with Lockheed Martin during this Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) project to explore how they can equip their AUV and UUV systems with this capability.

“The development of a capability that can be integrated into commercial AUVs to provide enough power to recharge the on-board batteries could be potentially game-changing for ocean science and military operations,” explains Balky Nair, president of Oscilla Power.

Previously, solar panels have been used to recharge AUVs, but this approach suffered from very low power and constrained operations to during the day only, Oscilla Power notes. One of the biggest advantages of using waves for this purpose is that ocean waves are more than 100 times more energy dense than solar, which allows for much higher power to be produced. Higher power is advantageous to minimize surfacing and recharging time since AUVs spend most of their time working at depth.

Oscilla expects to demonstrate a fully working laboratory prototype in early 2021. If successful, the company plans to work with Lockheed Martin to progress to a full ocean demonstration shortly afterwards, with the ultimate goal of transitioning the technology to commercial and military platforms.