LaChLuVe Air-Fish Captivates Airship Regatta
Last week in Friedrichshafen in southern Germany, there was an airship regatta (race). Along with the usual group of speedy nearly uncontrollable little blimps was this beauty which will be sure to be getting a lot of attention in the coming weeks. Team LaChLuVe has set the bar so high with their Fi-Fi- Fin-Fish that the airship races will never be the same, and may have a lot of new applicants. Unlike the propeller driven blimps and zeppelins, the fish glides through the air propelled by a very natural looking swish of the tail, which also provides steering when holding it in place and gliding. The pectoral fins are servo actuated for additional control. I would be shocked not to see this as a consumer product within the next couple of years, and I can’t wait to see what shows up at the world air games next June.
Update: The Fi-Fi- Fin-Fish was made by Empa (a Swiss materials technology development institution) by using electro-active polymers to power the motion of the tail. When electricity is applied, the polymer contracts like a muscle to give the tail its kick. The fins, in combination with the low center of gravity, do a great job of keeping it upright. There is a further abstract for a more complex system with a flexing body here. A flexing strip along the top and bottom of the fish would be attached to the vertical ribs. The contraction of the polymer would cause the body to flex in a more natural fashion.
Update: The project was a collaboration with the Technical University of Berlin, and has been a several year project. Earlier versions of the fin-fish flew in the ’06 and ’07 regatta. Empa started with a more traditional airship, and got more fishy with each revision. Several tails were tested, as were several different ways of using the electroactive polymer. 
Part of their vision is creating a solar powered version that could operate efficiently and silently for surveillance. There is a growing demand for spy drones, and most of their competitiors sound like flying weed-whackers.
Similar Posts:
Lighter Than Air Penguins by Festo
Lighter Than Air Jellyfish by Festo
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Call for entry: International Festival of Inflatable Art
As Communications Agent for the cultural centre Bain Mathieu and La Sociétée pour Promouvoir les Arts Gigantesque (SPAG) / The Society for the Promotion of Giant Inflatable Art, I am presently sending out an invitation to parities interested in participating in a future International Festival of Inflatable Art / Festivale Internatioanale des Arts Gonflables in 2011, in Montréal, Québec, Canada.
The initial purpose of this letter is to acquire a response of interest from as many individual artists, cultural organizations, businesses and manufacturers currently creating and/or working with, inflatable products.
As festival host, SPAG is a non-profit organisation created in 1996, out of the need for a national location for giant inflatable art. The primary mandate of SPAG is to offer a fully equipped indoor site with atelier support for local and international artists in the realization of GIANT inflatable art projects. Since 1999 SPAG has actively participated in La Fête des Enfants de Montréal (Montreal Children’s Festival) in the creation of an inflatable amusement park for young children, as well as inflatable art for young-at- heart adults (financed by the city of Montreal).
The city of Montreal as location for our festival is a popular tourist destination hosting a cornucopia of festivals throughout the year. The proposed site for the International Festival of Inflatable Art / Festivale Internatioanale des Arts Gonflables is beautiful Ile Ste. Hélène, the former site of the International Exposition in 1967 (EXPO ’67). Surrounded by the mighty St. Laurence River, the island park is easily accessible by city metro(train), bus and automobile, and is fully equipped with all modern facilities. Attendance is regularly high for festivals and visits to Ile Ste. Hélène.
I invite you to visit the SPAG website at http://www.unites.uqam.ca/spag/. If you as individual artist, organisation, and/or company would like to be a participant in the festival, please send me a letter indicting your interest to the email address below, which, in turn, will be added to our dossier of potential participants to be submitted to the city of Montreal in a campaign for funding.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes,
Patrycja Walton
Agente en Communications
peintrycja@sympatico.ca
Bain Mathieu / SPAG
2915 rue Ontario Est
Montréal, Québec
Canada H2K 1X7
(514) 523-3265
Télécopier / Fax: (514) 523-3240
http://www.bainmathieu.ca/accueil.html
http://www.unites.uqam.ca/spag/