Luca Gagliano, age 11, demonstrates articulating wings he made to display for his 6th grade class, on his last day of school at West Elementary in Athens Ohio last Friday, May 19 2017. These articulating mechanical wings were completed over several months in the family garage and dining room, and are the latest of several prototypes. The wings are made of aluminum, plywood, fabric, lots of nuts, bolts, washers, lock nuts, nylon spacers, and of course real feathers. These electric wings use dual short-throw linear actuators along with a small battery built into a backpack, and an aluminum wing frame to open smoothly from less than 5’ wide closed to more than a 15’ wingspan.
The wings are operated with a hand controller made by squeezing epoxy putty around wires, switches, and a tiny voltage meter to create a custom shaped controller that allows thumb control of the opening and closing mechanism. Battery voltage information is always available because there is a tiny voltage meter to check battery life built into the hand controller; glowing blue digits in your palm that reveal critical battery status.
Hi - there are a many tutorials online that will get you started. Our wings project began with a study of bird anatomy, and then focused on the mechanics. Luca drew many wing designs (some full size) and then experimented with plastic straws held together with brads, then Popsicle sticks, then wood sticks, and finally aluminum for the wing frame. Luca also began to study several automation and robot websites to learn more about the best way to move the wings. Our wings in the video use two linear actuators, but we have designed a new mechanism for our latest wings that uses just one actuator total to open both wings, which cuts down on weight and makes the battery last longer. All the linear actuators we use have a total throw of 1.5" (in case you were wondering). We hope to add more videos in future, and in the meantime please watch our other videos for design ideas.

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