Consensus Estimation in Arrays of Wave Energy Converters

Abstract

This paper presents a consensus estimation algorithm applied to arrays of ocean wave energy converters (WECs). A continuous–discrete Kalman-consensus filter is developed in this paper that utilizes shared information among different WECs in the array in a decentralized fashion. The stability of the continuous–discrete Kalman-consensus filter is proved using a Lyapunov function approach. Several test cases are examined, in this paper, comparing the standard Kalman filter and the Kalman-consensus filter. The consensus estimation algorithm demonstrates better performance in terms of the speed of convergence and the estimation error. The case of using inaccurate model, encountered in WECs control problems, is considered. In such case, the consensus estimation algorithm demonstrates significantly higher agreement on the estimated states compared to the standard Kalman filter.