MEE380 Project

The objective of this project is to convert the whole body motion of a human into the oscillations of the flukes of a Dall's porpoise.  Dall's porpoise is an ideal model for a human powered vehicle because of it's speed.  The animal can reach very high speeds and is optimized for this type of a niche.  The project will consist of designing a model of a linkage that will allow a person doing a squat type of motion to move the flukes back and forth through at least a 50 degree arc.  The input is more like a slider, with the fluke attached to a non-Grashoff input link.  While it is possible to use a simpler input link and a cycling motion, the squat may in fact reduce the frontal area of the animal and increase the number of involved muscles. 

Project Background

The fastest swimmer of the cetacean reaching speeds of up to 35 mph. It is intended that a simplified model of the flukes will be available within the next couple of weeks.   This can be used to estimate inertial properties and to motivate ideas for the attachment.

http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/wilderness/animals/dallporp.htm

http://www.cetacea.org/dalls.htm

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/whales/activities/whaletemplates/Dallsporpoise.shtml

http://phocoena.org/factsheets/dalls.html