Patent ID: 8378512

Claim:
An apparatus for harvesting electrical power from hydrodynamic energy, the apparatus comprising: a buoy or other water flotation device connected to an anchor by a tether; and a magnetostrictive component having an internal pre-stressed magnetostrictive core that experiences at least a part of load changes experienced by the tether, wherein a magnetic property of the magnetostrictive core is configured to change with changes in stress within the magnetostrictive core along at least one direction within the magnetostrictive component, wherein hydrodynamic energy acting on the buoy or other water flotation device results in changes in force within the tether, which in turn changes the stress within the magnetostrictive core and consequently changes a magnetic property, wherein the magnetostrictive component is also configured such that the change in the magnetic property will result in a change in magnetic flux, which change can be used to generate electrical power.