This Winter Quarter we are ready to get the ball rolling and have very exciting updates.

During Fall Quarter our team was comprised of only two members. Due to the very limited amount of resources that exists for biomimetic propulsion, a lot of research was conducted on what currently exists and where to begin. Our team created a first draft of the overall design on SolidWorks of the fin and multi-joint propulsion mechanism.

A major update is our team is now growing! We have added 4 new members to the project: Kimberly Luu, Mike Cole, Bon Hope Kim, and Tim Kelly. Our team is now divided into different categories to ensure a more successful and efficient Winter Quarter. Each member is now part of a separate sub-team. Alejandro Martin will continue to be the Team Lead and head of System and Controls, Tim Kelly will take the lead in Manufacturing and Safety Officer, Mike Cole will be in charge of Structural Design, Bon Hope Kim will lead Propulsion, Kimberly Luu will be Document Manager, and Damian Torres will be the Purchasing Manager.

For our first team meeting (pictured in this blog), we brainstormed new ideas. Our new project name is AquaLoco, which we feel encompasses our values and goals as a group. We came up with a new tank design to measure the water flow of our fins, which will be discussed in next week’s update. We are also looking into smart materials, used for our fins to create maximum results as well as a new fin design to compare to our current one.

Our goal for this quarter is to build and construct the entire tank support structure and mechanism design. We plan to finish building by the end of Winter Quarter to run initial tests and compare data.