Bionic Swimmer
GSAPP Core I
Critic: Tei Carpenter
Fall 2016
Contract, expand, crawl,
on the seabed where
they were born.
Analytical sketches of the physical composition
and movement patterns of sea cucumber
and movement patterns of sea cucumber
Sea cucumbers are soft-bodied creatures that live at all ocean depths. Most of them move slowly by using their tiny tube feet, but some also have a faster escape response—they flex their bodies and inch along the sea floor. In this research and design project, I went through iterations of analysis, abstraction, translation, and materialization to apply the movements of sea cucumbers to a mechanical device that swims across the water surface.
Analytical chart documenting a full cycle of contraction and expansion