| Birds, bats, and insects are able to fly efficiently and execute impressive in-flight, landing, and takeoff maneuvers with apparent ease through actuation of their highly articulated wings. This contrasts the approach used to enable the flight of comparatively simple man-made rotary and fixed wing aircraft. The complex aerodynamics underlying flapping-based flight pose an everpresent challenge to scientists hoping to reveal the secrets of animal flight. Despite this, interest in engineering aircraft on the bird and insect scale is higher than ever. Herein, I present my attempt to design and construct bioinspired passively articulated ornithopter wings. Two different hinge-based joint design concepts are investigated across several design iterations. The advantages and disadvantages of each implementation are discussed. Finally, the necessary instrumentation to analyze the performance of the wings is designed and fabricated, followed by testing of the wings. |
