We are pleased to announce the launch of the WavePiston Passive Control (WAPPAC) Competition 2025, as an open challenge to the wave energy and control systems community.

 

Participants are invited to develop and test passive control strategies for the WavePiston wave energy converter using the open-source WAPPAC simulation platform developed by the Centre for Ocean Energy Research (COER) team at Maynooth University.

 

The competition goal is to maximize the captured energy of the WavePiston device while respecting its operational constraints, with particular emphasis on the PTO passivity constraint. While passive control strategies may appear conceptually simpler, the nonlinear passivity constraint poses a significant challenge for both control design and real-time implementation, representing an open research problem in wave energy that requires innovative solutions from the community.

 

Through this initiative, the WAPPAC Competition aims to foster innovation, advance the state of the art in wave energy control, and bring together the community to collectively push the boundaries of passive control design.

 

 

Key Information & Resources

 

Competition Documentation

Comprehensive information, including setup instructions, competition guidelines, and evaluation details, is available here:

Click here: WAPPAC Documentation

 

Registration & Simulator Download 

Please register to participate in the competition.

Upon completing your registration, you will automatically receive a personal download link to the  WAPPAC simulator binaries (executables) for Windows and Linux.

Click here: Register + Download WAPPAC Simulator

 

GitHub Repository

Access the official WAPPAC repository, which includes templates, model data, and supporting materials (excluding executables):

Click here: WAPPAC GitHub Repository

 

Submission of Control Results deadline

Participants have until 28 February 2026 to submit their results.

 

Dissemination Platform

The WAPPAC competition results will be announced and disseminated through a dedicated session at an international conference. Top-ranking competitors will be invited to submit conference papers during a special session.

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The WAPPAC competition is organized by COER, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, with support from the European Union (Grant Agreement No. 101147456 - SHY).

 

We warmly invite researchers, students, and professionals to participate in the WAPPAC competition and contribute to advancing wave energy control research through this exciting opportunity. Please feel free to distribute!

 

The WAPPAC Organizing Team