Robust Tube-Based Model Predictive Control for Wave Energy Converters

This paper proposes an efficient robust tube-based model predictive control (RTMPC) strategy for energy-maximization control of wave energy converters (WECs) subject to constraints due to safety considerations. Compared with the existing MPC strategies developed for the WEC control problem, the RTMPC method provides an effective approach to explicitly handle plant-model mismatches with guaranteed constraint satisfaction, contributing to improved energy capture efficiency. The fundamental idea is to integrate disturbance invariant sets into the MPC scheme for energy-maximization control to form a tube-based predictive controller, which enhances the robustness of MPC for a WEC without increasing online computational complexity. The resulting RTMPC controller can bound the WEC plant trajectories in a tube centered around a nominal WEC model trajectory, and uncertainties from un-modeled WEC dynamics and unmeasured disturbances can be mitigated by an error feedback portion. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.

Automated summary

This paper introduces an efficient robust tube-based model predictive control (RTMPC) strategy to maximize the energy capture of wave energy converters (WECs) while satisfying safety constraints. The proposed RTMPC method effectively handles plant-model mismatches, ensuring guaranteed constraint satisfaction and improved energy capture efficiency. By integrating disturbance invariant sets into the MPC scheme, the RTMPC controller can mitigate uncertainties from un-modeled WEC dynamics and unmeasured disturbances without increasing computational complexity. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.