Matt is a fan of both aviation and historical engineering, so he has decided to bring those two worlds together in an attempt to recreate one of the most elusive designs in aeronautics: the ornithopter. The ornithopter is a flapping-wing flying machine that is fairly easy to build small models of, but--like most novel aircraft designs--becomes exponentially more unwieldy at larger scales. Granted, RC ornithopters DO exist, but they're very small and do not mimic the form of a human-carrying fuselage. Will Matt succeed at creating a larger-scaled ornithopter and revolutionize powered flight? Or will he return to his bench and the idiomatic drawing board? Either way, it's going to be an interesting ride!
"Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself."
- Charlie Chaplin
"If something's important enough, you should try. Even if the probable outcome is a failure."
- Elon Musk
Bill of Materials
| Product Name | Manufacturer | Quantity | Buy Kit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Development Kit Accessory, DC Motor, 6V, 250mA, 9100rpm, 4.5V To 9V | Adafruit | 1 | Buy Now |
| DC Motor, 12 V, 180 rpm, 500 g-cm, DC Motor | Multicomp | 1 | Buy Now |
Additional Parts:
| Product Name | Quantity |
|---|---|
| RC Airplane kit | 1 |
| Dowel | 1 |
| Brass tubing | 1 |
| Piano wire | 1 |
| Rubber bands | 1 |
| RC airplane propeller | 1 |
Top Comments
Historical Oddities to test: Tesla Earthquake Machine!
Wikipedia Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla%27s_oscillator#%22Earthquake%22_claims
Mythbuster's Test Run: https://www.youtube.com/watch…
I recall that Markus Fischer demonstrated a seagull-sized bird at one of the TED talks back in 2011 which was pretty impressive.
May be of interest to those who haven't already seen it.
A robot that…
Interesting project, but you should take a hard look at weight reduction with that low of a flapping speed.
Have you considered trying to build Davinci's flying screw?
DAB