Saturday, December 31, 2011

Project Idea #1: The Merfluke

This art is by Ymki Van den Berg based on photographs of the Merfluke VI.
I've been working on the Merfluke for the last five years.  I am now attempting to build the 7th prototype.  I would love someone to join me in this endeavor.  I have done enough already on it, and had enough success, than I intend to do a full write-up and submit it to the Open Hardware Journal. One of my personal questions, and the reason I started PIFAM, is to try to get enough encouragement to have the energy to complete such a write-up.
The idea is to build an artificial “fluke” that allows a human to swim as a dolphin does (technically called thunniform swimming.) This is quite different in mechanism than normal swim fins, which support carangiform swimming. At present I am working on the seventh prototype. The current model allows me to swim fairly effectively, but the success criteria, of swimming faster than a monofin, has not yet been approached.
This project requires significant labor in building a more hydrodynamic model. I really need someone who is an expert in fiberglassing. It may require a few thousand dollars in additional material (which I will provide, since at present I am the only donor to PIFAM.)
This project is already well underway, however, it remains unclear if it can ultimately be successful or not. In addition to the simple act of allowing a human being to swim more efficiently, it may eventually lead to better aquatic locomotion of ships, boats, and submarines, or even airships.
The success criterion is: Can an athlete swim a given distance faster wearing a merfluke than with a monofin?
 This project has already taught me a lot, although they are lessons that I am sure others knew.  Nonetheless, I will repeat them here, in order of performance.
  1. "You can't catch a fish if your hook ain't wet."  That's what my late grandfather Bobby used to say, it applies to invention as well.  EVERY time I get in the water with a Merfluke I learn something new.  The Merfluke has progressed from: not allowing me to move, to breaking in half, to allowing me to swim about as fast as I can crawl.  Each of those improvements came from getting in the water.  Theory only goes so far.
  2. You have to work on details, but only at the right time.  This is sort of the lesson of XP, or Extreme Programming, applied to inventing.  For example, the Merfluke VI and all later models have a carrying handle.  Believe it or not, this is a major improvement---but, correctly, for once, I did not add this bit of "gold plating" until I could actually swim pretty well with a Merfluke.
  3. Surprises abound.  One of the major advantages of the Merfluke is that it is easier to don and doff than a monofin or stereo swim fins, because your feet are not locked into tight neoprene pockets.  I would not have thought of this had I not tried the "tight pocket" approach first and nearly drowned myself.  Of course, some of you might have seen this immediately---I hope so.
Since I have put so much work into this, I really seek your comments about it.  I will be working on a better write up and post it as I have anything interesting.

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