This system, as presented, will be really prone to *mechanical wear*. Maybe it can be done, but I need to see long-term (price & reliability) performance to believe it.
I can think of a propeller and generator, but those are solved problems. This is just a boat with a propeller. Only instead of using the generator as an engine to spin the propeller, the tides spin the propeller which generates power in the generator.
Steering is also a solved boat problem.
Then there's the tether and anchor. This is the reason it swims in a figure 8, instead of it just being a propellar anchored straight to the seabed. So the "pulling" force is actually mostly to the sides instead of directly on the tether and anchor.
I'm trying to see what prior art we can find on the internet on tethers and anchors used in fish farming and offshore oil industry, but I'm not finding many sources.
I can think of a propeller and generator, but those are solved problems. This is just a boat with a propeller. Only instead of using the generator as an engine to spin the propeller, the tides spin the propeller which generates power in the generator.
Steering is also a solved boat problem.
Then there's the tether and anchor. This is the reason it swims in a figure 8, instead of it just being a propellar anchored straight to the seabed. So the "pulling" force is actually mostly to the sides instead of directly on the tether and anchor.