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Author Topic: A robot that flies like a bird...  (Read 1507 times)

Online Dennis Nunes

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A robot that flies like a bird...
« on: January 25, 2019, 07:42:24 PM »

Offline Jim Hoffman

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Re: A robot that flies like a bird...
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2019, 08:01:26 PM »
Very Cool Dennis, thanks for sharing.

He did not even mention the aerodynamic controls which must be tricky as well.  A great achievemnt

Offline Dan McEntee

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Re: A robot that flies like a bird...
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2019, 08:11:21 PM »
  That has been presented before a couple of times, but still cool. It is called an ornithopter! A friend of mine who was a memeber ofo the local free flight club years ago held the AMA record for indoor ornothopters for a while in the 50's or 60's. Another member of the same club took it up and took it to another level and had multiwing canard models that were a real bear to trim. Almost unpredictable. But the skill in design and construction to get them light enough for category one and two sites was unreal. He used sections of hypodermic needles and such for bearings for the crank mechanisms. His cat. one record was 8 or 9 minutes I think and at one time held the record for all classes before he finally burned out on it. I have plans for some simple ones but have yet to try one.
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Offline Dan McEntee

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Re: A robot that flies like a bird...
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2019, 08:14:52 PM »
Very Cool Dennis, thanks for sharing.

He did not even mention the aerodynamic controls which must be tricky as well.  A great achievemnt

    What the video real close Jim. The tail feathers are on a gimbal like mechanism, and can move any direction. Notice also the under slung rudder at the tail. You can see up qand down elevator movements and left and right rudder movements, but they seem to be pretty subtle. At the end on the first flight you can see the elevator action pretty well when he cranks full up to stall it as it quit flapping. It is quite and achievement though. You have to wonder where they went from there?
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Offline Dave Hull

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Re: A robot that flies like a bird...
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2019, 08:39:53 PM »
This one is the most impressive ornithopter I've seen, although I saw one out at the flying field that was a bit smaller that flew darn good. Amazing what advanced materials and a systems approach can do!

I wonder if they have got a glide mode? It would be way beyond cool to slope soar that machine here off the bluffs of the Pacific. Flap when you need to, but mostly cruise with the gulls.

A have a Bridi Tercel model in white with green wings. It drives the seagull nuts. They are unnerved seemingly by the servo noise. They love to fly formation--but then they get grabby and put their claws into the wing if you let them get on top. If you are in formation and then go into a roll, they really get upset, sometimes stall out and start flapping. Would love to see their reaction to the "thopter.

Dave

Offline Robert Whitley

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Re: A robot that flies like a bird...
« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2019, 10:54:48 PM »
https://news.engineering.utoronto.ca/human-powered-ornithopter-becomes-first-ever-achieve-sustained-flight/

For those interested in this type of aviation here is a link to the first human powered ornithopter.

Offline Avaiojet

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Re: A robot that flies like a bird...
« Reply #6 on: January 26, 2019, 06:57:35 AM »


Trump Derangement Syndrome. TDS. 
Avaiojet Derangement Syndrome. ADS.
Amazing how ignorance can get in the way of the learning process.
If you're Trolled, you know you're doing something right.  Alpha Mike Foxtrot. "No one has ever made a difference by being like everyone else."  Marcus Cordeiro, The "Mark of Excellence," you will not be forgotten. "No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot."- Mark Twain. I look at the Forum as a place to contribute and make friends, some view it as a Realm where they could be King.   Proverb 11.9  "With his mouth the Godless destroys his neighbor..."  "Perhaps the greatest challenge in modeling is to build a competitive control line stunter that looks like a real airplane." David McCellan, 1980.

Offline Elwyn Aud

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Re: A robot that flies like a bird...
« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2019, 07:42:38 PM »
Very impressive. I remember Paul McReady had a team  that built one of those flying dinosaurs about 35 years ago but I can't remember if it did much wing flapping. They had it on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space museum when I visited in the 1990's.

Offline Dan McEntee

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Re: A robot that flies like a bird...
« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2019, 08:08:32 PM »
Very impressive. I remember Paul McReady had a team  that built one of those flying dinosaurs about 35 years ago but I can't remember if it did much wing flapping. They had it on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space museum when I visited in the 1990's.

    Hey Elwyn;
     That does ring a bell. It was THAT long ago??? They built it for a movie that some one, maybe the Smithsonian, was making. I think it was towed aloft and then could maintain altitude by flapping. I think it was covered in Model Builder magazine. Might be hard to track that one down but maybe those with better search skills can call up the film clip.
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Offline Dave Hull

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Re: A robot that flies like a bird...
« Reply #9 on: January 28, 2019, 09:33:07 PM »
Here's a really poor quality excerpt from the MacCready effort. As I recall, it moved its wings for "realism" but I doubt it derived any significant propulsion or lift from that effort. There has been a long-running argument among scientists about how a creature that large could fly, due to the power to weight ratio. Most seem to believe that it did a lot of gliding. (Take a look at the albatross to see the effect they are discussing.)

Dave

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=pteredactyl+flying+model&&view=detail&mid=0F160FFEB0AD1BB6B99A0F160FFEB0AD1BB6B99A&&FORM=VDRVRV


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