Making a Swimwear Imitated from Penguin

There are several design methodologies using analogy, imitation, translation, copying, or inspiration from nature to find appropriate solutions to today’s problems, whether they are functional, structural, based on new materials or sometimes linked to a form or a specific aesthetic (Berges-Muro et al., 2011). Into the extent of the innovations on biomimicry, the nature is widely capable of giving us highlighted interests so that we can develop something that is new and relevant to the societal and environmental living. For instance, a more in-depth study of nature reveals robust systems, the performance of which is as close to perfection as it can be, as nature presents an endless source of inspiration for scientists and engineers from different fields of interest (Aigbavboa et al., 2016).

Between us is the perception of complexity in this world, whether you take it as a whole; or by part. The genesis of all things even us, is undeniably full of questions and wonders, but we should not stop from making the world as easy as it looks because maybe the answers that we look for is right in front of our naked eye – the nature. Some of the solutions may have been inspired by the animals, plants, trees and even insects. For example, in the later times, fishermen might have adopted the idea of making fish nets from the spider webs; the use of honeycombs to support lightweight materials such as in aircraft and other metal works because of the strength and stiffness of its hexagonal shape. A remarkable invention was accidentally encountered by the Swiss inventor, George de Mestral when he was going for a walk with his dog in the fields. He noticed that burrs were all around his pants and his dog’s fur. Upon closer inspection of the burrs, de Mes-tral discovered their hook-like construction, which led to his invention of the hook and loop fastener, Velcro (Magic Tape). We can see how amazing the nature is, it blends with the nature itself and also to the life of every living things in this world especially people that leads to its innovations and enhancement.

In this paper, we propose a biomimetic-inspired invention that can be developed and used by the people to experience something new and reposeful. The term ‘biomimetics’ introduced by Schmitt, is derived from bios, meaning life (Greek) and mimesis, meaning to imitate. This ‘new’ science is based on the belief that nature follows the path of least resistance (least expenditure of energy), while often using the most common materials to accomplish a task (Eadie et al., 2011). Biomimicry is inspired by the nature from which mankind is bound to operate investigation and processes to obtain some result that can help the human lives become more dynamically improved.

This project aims to develop a swim wear that is derived from penguin’s torpedo-shaped body that makes them swim really fast under water. By definition, torpedo is an armament consisting of a long cylindrical self-propelled underwater projectile that detonates on contact with a target. Most swimming birds use their feet to push themselves along, but penguins use their wings instead. According to the text, although penguins look clumsy on land, they are graceful in the water. Their bodies are perfectly suited for swimming and diving. They are a streamlined torpedo shape. Their wings are shaped like flippers; penguins use them to propel themselves through the water at speeds up to 30 miles per hour and use their webbed feet to steer. Most penguins can even swim like porpoises, leaping out of the water to breathe and then diving back in with one graceful motion. These extraordinary traits and abilities of penguin is a unique way of imitating something to improve our swimming practices and styles. It can be a great contribution to people if perfected and monetized since this project is all about doing the finest way to adopt the style and behavior of penguins under water. The idea of creating a penguin like swim wear is creating a well-built structure out of the best materials that can be utilized where in it will capture most of the characteristics of penguins.