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Surabaya Student Hooks a Great Idea In Shark-Inspired Bicycle Invention
Amir Tejo | December 05, 2009

Inspired by the shark and the remora, student Eric Sugianto created the ‘sharmor,’ which combines a bicycle and a wheelchair. (Photo: Amir Tejo, JG) Inspired by the shark and the remora, student Eric Sugianto created the ‘sharmor,’ which combines a bicycle and a wheelchair. (Photo: Amir Tejo, JG)
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Inspired by the natural symbiosis between sharks and remora, or suckerfish, an engineering student at Surabaya’s Petra Christian University has created the “sharmor,” a kind of bicycle that can be used to help guide handicapped people.

At first glance, the device looks like a becak , the traditional three-wheeled Indonesian pedicab.

Combining both a bicycle and a wheelchair, student Eric Sugianto spent about six months designing and then building the sharmor as part of a university project design course. “By using the bike, hopefully, the guide for handicapped people can cover longer distances, as the wheelchair is not pushed as usual, but is pedaled like a regular bike,” Sugianto said.

Stefanus Ongkodjojo, Sugianto’s project design lecturer at Petra, said students were grouped into teams at the beginning of the semester and told to invent a “unique transportation innovation,” the operation of which was inspired by nature or animals.

Sugianto had to search for a used wheelchair at Surabaya’s famous Jalan Gembong flea market. As for the bicycle, a friend of his was luckily willing to part with an old BMX bike.

“Since it was a course assignment, I had to limit the expenses so students did not exceed Rp 700,000 [$75],” Ongkodjojo said. “The funds were saved from the beginning of the semester, so it would not burden the students.”

Sugianto said the hardest part of making the sharmor was in joining the bicycle to the wheelchair, while still being able to steer it easily. He also replaced the wheelchair’s plastic tires with rubber ones to absorb jolts and vibrations better.

Although his idea has been realized, Sugianto said he was still unsatisfied with the final results, such as its wide turning circle. He also wants it to be foldable for portability.

Other students involved in the project offered their own unusual designs, including the “O Squid,” a scooter that can be pedaled by hand. “It works just like how a squid moves, that is by moving or pumping its tentacles,” said its creator, Dipta Pradipta.

Another student invention is the “Snake Cycle,” a three-wheeled board that moves like a snake, and a bicycle with a floor mop attachment, which looked to the algae-sucking cleaner fish for its inspiration.