Wave Energy Converter for Drifter Applications (WECDA)

The document is a summary of the activities carried out by the Brno University of Technology (BUT) at the EMSO Regional Facility, OBSEA, under the EMSO ERIC Physical Access Programme.

The project investigated innovative, environmentally responsible alternatives to enhance the autonomy and sustainability of oceanographic drifters. By validating a new kinetic energy harvesting technology in real marine conditions, the work contributes to the development of next-generation, low-impact observation platforms.

Access to the EMSO-OBSEA cabled observatory, operated by the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), enabled a full evaluation of the device—from controlled laboratory characterisation to short-duration sea deployments and a dedicated long-term test. During field trials, the wave energy converter demonstrated stable and continuous energy harvesting, providing sufficient power to support low-duty-cycle sensing and some periodic wireless data transmission.

Dataset available: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17609900