Lego Ornithopter Mimics Leonardo da Vinci's Dream

[DLuders]

Now that a human-powered ORNITHOPTER has taken flight, Leonardo da Vinci's dream has become reality. There are not a lot of Lego Technic models of an Ornithopter (so far). Half way down this webpage is a picture and description of one:

"Lego Ornithopter -- Ed Hoecher's Lego ornithopter wasn't intended to fly, but it demonstrates how ornithopters can convert the rotating motion of a rubber band or electric motor into up and down movement of the wings. Lego can also be used for devices that imitate the swimming or walking motion of animals. Free of the requirement for a high power to weight ratio, such devices can be fully operable. Building with Lego is much faster and easier than other construction methods."

On MOCpages, "forced sim" made a Dune-theme working Ornithopter out of Lego Technic elements. Can anyone develop this concept further?

Edited September 27, 2010 by DLuders

[Silcantar]

Surely you didn't miss Mahjqa's

? It's infinitely better. Honestly, this MOC isn't worth posting here.

[DLuders]

Yes, I remember Mahjqa's MOC -- thanks for pointing it out! Peer wrote, "More pictures:

. This model was inspired By Leonardo da Vinci. It's a human-powered flying machine. He never concieved this particular model and the wing mechanism, but I think he would've appreciated this. Sadly, nobody has the muscles to fly something like this, but it's fun to think about.

"This was created for Lego's technic challenge. We were asked to build a flying machine. My first choice was a nice VTOL plane like the Osprey or that nifty looking chopper from Avatar. But yeah, everyone and their grandmas would already be building those. Then the next idea hit; I would make a crow. It'd give me plenty of opportunity to use all that black, and I'd already thought out a mechanism for the wings when someone enlightened me that the Lego people were asking for a flying -machine-.

"Not wanting to scrap the idea for the wings, I came up with this instead :)"

[Chris]

I'd like to add my own LEGO ornithopter powered by a rubber band. It isn't pretty but it might fly one day.

[Zerobricks]

These are really fun to watch, especially when they swing slowly and gently like Mahj's model. Chris I think you need a stronger rubber band

[Chris]

Chris I think you need a stronger rubber band

Definitely!