The team proposes to further mature an existing deployable, transportable and efficient ocean current energy harvester (OCEH) version 0 prototype that was previously designed and experimentally tested by Joshua Engineering (JE). This version was used as a test of concept to demonstrate viability of the technology while using simple paddle wheel and a platform. The main objective was to build and test version 0 prototype to harness simulated (in a laboratory) horizontal ocean current energy while partially submerged. JE’s initial ocean energy harvester was designed to harness both the horizontal and vertical ocean wave and rising tides, respectively. However, JE had first focused on tapping the horizontal ocean current energy to reduce developmental complexity. This effort culminated in JE’s design of OCEH version 0. After a preliminary demonstration of version 0, it was determined that ocean energy harvester can be made transportable and deployable. However, a more comprehensive and systematic engineering design and analyses need to be performed to determine OCEH’s reliability, manufacturability, and efficiency. These analyses shall utilize first principles in the areas of hydrodynamics, mechanics of materials and dynamics of the system’s features. This proposed approach shall enable our team to perform a systematic engineering design and evaluation at an early stage to quickly identify developmental risks while reducing and managing potential problems before a second version is built.
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