Cuttlecraft
Bio-inspired land-sea transport
Cuttlecraft is a single means of transport that has two setups.
The first set-up allows him to have two horizontal side fins, to move in the water, and the second set-up which allows him to have the two vertical side fins downwards, to move on the ground.
A hybrid between a speedboat and a pedal boat
which can carry two people.
A project that was born from the study of Biomimicry
and from the observation of the undulating movement
of the lateral fins of Cephalopods.
Theo Jansen, with his “Beach Beast” (Strandbeest), created an imitation of life that moves on its own,
using only the wind to feed these zoomorphic hybrid creatures.
The parts of the fins that will touch the ground is reinforced with a rigid rubber which will serve to widen the support surface
(it is a method to better distribute the weight, used for example by the Soviets in tanks) and to have greater stability during the walking phase on earth.
It is an amphibious vehicle for transporting people. The trim given by the ribbon-like fins parallel and tangent to the vessel allows Cuttlecraft to navigate in aquatic areas even at low depths and to walk on any kind of land as long as it is not too steep (grassy, marshy, sandy, snowy, etc.) without affecting the flora.
Cuttlecraft measures 380 cm long (from bow to stern), 180 cm wide (393 cm counting the side fins in sea trim and 288 cm in land trim).
The water line is 80 cm from the centreboard, at the height
of the middle of the side fins.
This medium does not have a great speed, however it has great reliability, for example, it is not afraid of debris, wandering peaks, rocks protruding or implanting themselves on the seabed
such as traditional boats.
The pedaling of the passengers is assisted so that when traveling on land the force of gravity don't weigh too much on the pedaling motion.
Final study model: This 1:8 scale study model allowed me to understand the speed my 1:1 vehicle can reach in the water. I tested its application in a lake where I was able to observe the speed with which the fins are able to move the mass of water.
IUAV MASTER'S DEGREE THESIS - INDUSTRIAL PRODUCT DESIGN - ACADEMIC YEAR 2018-19
