Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
 |
Comments on Ornithopters In Fact And Fiction
An ornithopter (a flapping wing aircraft) under development at the University of Toronto's Institute for Aerospace Studies may yet make Leonardo da Vinci's dream a reality. Frank Herbert fully visualized them in Dune. (Read
the complete story)
| "As those that are members of the Ornithopter Society are aware, flying, rubberband powered 'ornithopters have been available as toys since the mid 1870's.
Did the Wright Brothers "borrow" a few designs for their fixed winged craft? You be the judge...jj" (johnnyjupiter 12/3/2004 6:28:10 PM) |
| "how it made?" (taj 12/4/2004 10:02:06 PM) |
| "Hope they have some travel sickness medication on hand,
good chance they'll need it" (Major Joe Amara 12/10/2004 7:51:54 PM) |
| "hello.....i hink ornithopters are so....kewl.....and so are you" (jordansmith 9/26/2005 9:29:33 AM) |
| "This is the best" (Rob 11/3/2005 11:48:45 AM) |
| "am a graduate student from india . i have tried and failed many times in making an ornithopter ,but still i belive with proper resources and tools we can make an ornithopter which can lift a man , i belive this machine that am talking about can be powered by a normal but powerful piston engine which can be used to supply power to the wings
" (harilal achari 7/18/2006 1:57:03 AM) |
| "Yes it is possible for we human to built and make work the flying gadget that can take us to the sky and can really fly with its flapping wings one can say just like bird the only thing is to study little more about the principle of flying bigger birds instead of reffering the mix reactions of the script mentioned till now.
First the design of the gadget should have a pair of wings with a tail to look and could work for flying like birds.
Secondly the dimension of the gadget should be according to the ratio of the large birds, matching to weight with length and breadth. This calculation result shows the average weight that carries by one square feet surface area of wings is approximately 1.30 kilos. This figure is calculated with the large and the heavy birds so this equation can implement with us and our gadget to get very close result to the mentioned figure.
Length of the body plays main role for building the whole structure like the length of the one wing is twice the length of its body, from this explanation one can get rough idea to find the length of the gadget’s wing span according to the height of any person.
To make this idea into reality, the flying gadget should be designed just like in the shape of bird’s wings and with new concept by adding more pieces and parts as it required that could help for making a unique gadget with flexible wings. To make the flying gadget lighter then to the hang glider there is required some modification with current design like changing the basic wing frame, replacing the rigid tarpaulin type air foil by smooth and flexible cover, and to use best available material to build the gadget lighter.
Collecting all this idea in one box we can really make a unique flying gadget which could be easy and convenient to handle, to carry and to fly with flapping wings like birds.
Over all this has to make it possible by working with practicle." (Sanjay Jogi 6/18/2007 7:04:06 AM) |
| "I have done immense study on flying organisms. For convenience we can group them - according to the similarities in their wings - as insects with rigid wings with generally one or two sets of wings on each side of their body, eg, beetles, dragon flies, butterflies,etc.This design IS NOT APPLICABLE FOR HUMAN BEINGS as it is impractical to flap the wings numerous times a second (obviously it is beyond human capacity).The second group has flexible and foldable wings (small birds), however their wings are smaller in comparison to their length and body wieght and hence they have to flap them more frequently to create an air current sufficient enough to lift their bodies.Due to smaller wing span,and wing surface area their gliding efficiency is negligible.Hence for human beings to fly immitation of this group will not be fruitful hence it is impractical.(for eg, humming birds, sparrows,etc)
Now let us consider the third and final group... The large birds.
Their greatest power is their wingspan by virtue of which they donot have to flap their wings so frequently eg; Great Indian Buster, Swans, Eagles.due to larger wing span they cn glide for hours together without flapping their wings.This is the most suitable design for human beings.I have studied feathers of large birds and grouped them as feathers just for covering the body for protection from environment and those feathers meant exclusively for flight. I have compared the weight and wing span of large birds and comparatively designed wings that can support the weight of human beingsduring flight.
Human beings can also fly like birds.Live proof is hang glider which has no machines to propel but can keep human beings gliding in air for many kilometers. The only problem in gliders is they cannot lift humanbeings from the ground to greater heights. This is due to the simple reason that they cannot flap their wings like birds.Can you imagine an eagle with wing span completly open, stretched and in a fixed position like the wings of a hang glider take off from ground without flapping the wings. The answer is certainly NO.This prooves the drawbacks of a hang glider with fixed wings. So if we design wings for human beings same as flying birds proportionately in shape which can be flapped, then human beings can fly from ground to higher heights.
I have designed such flapping wings but the only problem is the lack of finance, technical assistance and precision manufacturing devices without which the project cannot be completed. THE DREAM OF MAN FLYING IN THE AIR LIKE A BIRD can be fulfilled, with the help of people or institutes who can extend their help, technical assistance to design this ultimate flying machine.my contact number is +919980385689 (Karnataka, INDIA) " (RAJARAM KHANOLKAR 1/22/2011 8:39:44 PM) |
Get more information on Ornithopters In Fact And Fiction
Leave a comment:
Tediously, spammers have returned; if you have a comment, send it to bill at this site (include the story name) and I'll post it.
More Articles
SpaceX Wants A Moonbase Alpha
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
Vast Apartment Living Will Get Even More Vast
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
NASA Wants Self-Driving Or Remote-Controlled Vehicles For Lunar Astronauts
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
Elon Musk Says Robotaxis Will Be Ready This August, 2024
'The car had no steering wheel, and no one drove!'
Moonwalkers AI-Controlled Electric Shoes
Now that's power walking that Hugo Gernsback would have approved.
Steve Jobs: 'Capture The Next Aristotle - With AI'
'It was disturbing to think of the Flatline as a construct...'
No Tips! Robotic Food Delivery In Phoenix
'...he rewired the delivery robot so that it would serve him midnight snacks.'
Electric Catamaran 'Explorer Eco 40m' Has 'Solar Skin'
'On went the electric-yacht faster and still faster.'
Orbital Mechanics, The Liftoff, The Turnover, The Retrograde Burn
'...the huge vessel had spun, with a sickening lurch, through a complete half-circle, the instant the power was reversed.'
Harvest Power From Tears And Blinking With Smart Contact Lens
'...he realized that it was not quite a clear lens. Speckles of colored brightness swirled and gathered in it.'
Europa Clipper Plate Carries A Special Message
'...a universal cryptogram — yet it is one which can be interpreted by any intelligent creature on any planet in the Solar System!'
Micro-Robots Are Smallest, Fully Functional
'With a whir, the Scarab shot from the concealing shadows of the corner where it had hidden itself.'
AI Enhances Images Your Brain Sees
'I could have sworn the psychomat showed pictures almost as sharp and detailed as reality itself'
Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI
'Stasis, cold sleep, hibernation, hypothermia, reduced metabolism, call it what you will - the logistics-medicine research teams had found a way to stack people like cordwood and use them when needed.'
Deflector Plasma Screen For Drones ala Star Wars
'If the enemy persists in attacking or even intensifies their power, the density of the plasma in space will suddenly increase, causing it to reflect most of the incoming energy like a mirror.'
DIY Robotic Hand Made After Loss Of Fingers
'I made them... with the fine work of the watchmaker...'
Cheap Drunk Driver Detection From UofM
"Look, I can drive... Start, darn it!"
Can A Human Land A SpaceX Rocket On Its Tail?
'If she starts to roll sideways — blooey! The underjets only hold you up when they’re pointing down, you know.'
Robot Snakes No Longer Stopped By Stairs
'...she dropped her hands from the wheel, took the robot snake from his box.'
Has Turkey Been Stealing Rain From Iran?
Can one country take another's rain?
