Today we finally got test our snitch at the park. After all our tests on guide wires David said we could go out and test our idea. We learned from all the tests that our motors are extremely powerfull and once the snitch got over the line of gravity it would shoot up really high into the air. In the test Chris was goining to drive it. Jake held it up and he pushed the throttle on the 5 channel remote and the props started to spin It lifted up really fast. It pasted the line of gravity and shot up really high and then it fell down. Everyone was silent but I ran over and it was broken. Jibreel and I went back with Oliver to fix it while Tony stayed to watch his friends from China fly their object. We got back and we super glued our frame back together. Time was over for the day but all of us could stay later. We laser cut new mounts for the ones that broke and our snitch looked like new. At 4 Tony had to leave and at 5 Jibreel left. While I was still there we made a frame out of wood for the presentation. We made 2 mounts for the top and bottom of the tall rectangular wood box. In the mount was 4 holes for the guide wires. I ended up leaving at 9 p.m. with the snitch going up and down after 10 seconds. The snitch did not need a remote. This was the best day yet.

On August 3rd we were told to create a unique flying object. It was difficult to come up with a unique flying object unlike anything that has been done before. Eventually, we decided to take inspiration from Eric's favourite sport; frisbee. We came up with the idea of a remote controlled frisbee that will be able to control the yaw, pitch and roll.

Our first iteration was a prototype made of cardboard. We began to discuss ideas, and work out how to build such a device. But soon enough, we realized that that it had started to become just another propeller powered ufo. Also, we had realized that it would only be able to control the height of the frisbee. As a group, we decided that it would not be a good idea to continue with our first iteration due to it being like any other drone or ufo.

Our second iteration was based off of the idea of being able to turn the frisbee mid air, instead of every direction, due to that idea being very difficult to make. We came up with several ideas, one of which was by using a flap, or a propeller to add drag or lift to one side of the frisbee while it was spinning. By using a digital compass, and an accelerometer, we discussed with one would be lighter, easier to make, and more likely to succeed. In the end, we agreed on the flap idea. After several different attempts in creating the frisbee, we finalized the design as you can see in last picture. Meanwhile, we also worked on wiring the electronics, and balancing the frisbee in a way that would allow for an equal weight on all sides of the frisbee. Therefore, it would be able to throw just like a frisbee. 

One of the greatest problems that we faced while building our frisbee, was the programming. We struggled greatly with programming with arduino, since this new program was one that none of us have had much experience with. Although with great effort, and a lot of time, we were able to control the flap on the frisbee. 

And on thursday, we were able to create a working model, and we flew it in the park in the afternoon. We were able to turn it just a bit and that was enough to tilt the frisbee. Although in theory we thought it would work quite well, but in reality, it just didn't work the way we wish it could have. As of now, only the shape of the frisbee really changed, we don't have enough time to change the code, or the equipment. 

Our Final Product is a foam frisbee that has a a 3D printed rim that allows the frisbee to have a more aerodynamic flight when it is thrown. All the electronics are attached to the the bottom of the frisbee that prevents the electronics from breaking in case it has a crash landing. The flap is programmed to open at a specific angle when the frisbee is spinning so that there is drag on one side of the frisbee allowing for it to tilt over and turn. 

As we may have mentioned before, our design prompt was that Eric likes frisbee and we thought that it would be fun if we could modify it ever so slightly. We began with the idea that we wanted to raise and lower the frisbee, as well as turn it. We realized that this idea was just turning the frisbee into a ufo, rather than a frisbee. So we started again and this time David gave us a digital compass to work with. After several discussions, whether to use a propeller or a flap to decrease lift on one side of the frisbee, we agreed on the flap idea. And as you can see in the gif, that was our final product

This video compilation is of three successful flights where the plane flew for at least 5 seconds before landing. After removing the rotors, the new objective was to have the plane fly successfully. A few tweaks fixed the wrongly-pitched elevator, and the flight ended with success!

Our design is based off the idea that every girl wanted to be a princess with fairy wings sometime in their childhood. And with this project, we want to give them this experience. By making these wings that you can control as you like,  it gives young girls the opportunity to enjoy their childhood to the fullest.

This project is quite simple. We've created a mechanism that is made of several wooden sticks conjoined at certain angles and positions that allows you to extend and contract the length of the wings at will. This contraption allows us to change the shape of the wings by only moving a singular piece.

1st Iteration: Cardboard linkage mechanism test:

Our first Iteration was made of cardboard, we just wanted to test out what were some possible positions for how we should place the cardboard pieces so that we could extend the wings and make sure it is flexible and operational. From the first draft; we notice that the wings cannot extend very well and always gets stuck. Therefore, we need the specific measurement of the length and the angles. Although we did not get into the right spot on our first try, the way that we put the sticks together gave us ideas to make it better.

1.5 Iteration: Thin Wood - improved rod shape (skeletal) Improved mechanism

After we figured out the specific measurement; we decided to use thin wood for testing if it’s going to work in when we use a harder material, such as t. During this time we got the numbers, harder wood sticks, and screws. We made it works a lot better, compare to the previous one. The wings can flap well and it is stable, but one things we still want a little bit is that the wings were lack of moving rotationally. In order to make the wings flap around ; we used 3D printer to print a ball joint so that it would move around.

2nd Iteration: Thick wood - wing tip shape, back panel + harness

We also tried using thick wood for making the sticks stable, because we thought maybe it would be stronger and easier to use. At first,we just made one part of the wings with the thick wood to support the other heavy wood, but it was hard to operate properly, because the joints were really firm and would not slide smoothly. We tried several different ways of working with the thick wood, including adding another piece to the structure. But that didn’t really help and we gave up attempting to use the thick wood to make our final design. Because of this, we decided to change the wood back to something that would be easy to move.

Diagrams/ Final Pictures

3rd/Final: Thin wood w/ improved back panel + foot cuff

In the end, we decided to that our original idea was the best. Due to the failure with the thick wood, thin wood looked as if it was the best material for us to use in the final design. After looking at our earlier iteration, we thought of what we could improve by changing the shape. We also changed the back panel, into a better one, that looks better, and allows the wings to perform better. We also created a foot cuff, so that we could attach the string to it and allow us to operate the extention of the wings with our feet. That ended up working really well, and we improved it to what it looks like today.