Realistic Motion Wings

Final Video

Arya Heble

Final

Anna Caine and 2 OthersArya Heble
Abby Park
1 / 4

We were prompted to design and build an object that either flew or gave the appearence of flight. After a lot of brainstorming, we decided to make wearable wings that did not fly, but did extend and flap. After much consideration, we discarded the idea that they would extend, and instead decided to make them flap like actual bird's wings.

Our final design was a laser-cut wing made of thin wood that had leaf-like designs on it. The whole thing was made of wood, and it was not covered by a fabric of any sort. This design added aesthetic and reduced drag. It was slightly heavier, but that was not a problem as it did not need to acutally fly. 

Process

Anna Caine and 2 OthersArya Heble
Abby Park
1 / 9

We were prompted to design and build an object that either flew or gave the appearence of flight. After a lot of brainstorming, we decided to make wearable wings that did not fly, but did extend and flap. After much consideration, we discarded the idea that they would extend, and instead decided to make them flap like actual bird's wings.

Our first iteration was made out of sculpting wire, tyvec, and tape. We sculpted the wire into a wing shape, covered it with tyvec, and held it together with the tape. We quickly realized that sculpting wire was too flimsy, and that the tyvec would cause too much drag. So we decided to use different materials.

Our second iteration was a cardboard prototype covered in tyvec, but with slits so that air could get through and the tyvec wouldn't cause too much drag. This prototype design could work, but it had some major aesthetic flaws. Namely, the tyvec had writing on it and it did not look good. Also, the cardboard was, once again, too flimsy.

Our third iteration replaced the tyvec with pink fabric, and the cardboard with wood. The wood was a good material to make it out of, so we decided to use it for our final iteration. But the pink fabric still had drag despite the slits, and it also did not look good. The stitches looked messy, and there was no "nice" side of the wing. One side had holes for sewing, the other had extra fabric and messy edges. So we decided to completely get rid of the idea of covering the wood.

Our final design was a laser-cut wing made of thin wood that had leaf-like designs on it. The whole thing was made of wood, and it was not covered by a fabric of any sort. This design added aesthetic and reduced drag. It was slightly heavier, but that was not a problem as it did not need to acutally fly.