ORNITHOPTER

A
Project report
Submitted
For

the

in partial
of
the
award
Degree

MECHANICAL

fulfillment
requirements
of B. Tech
In

ENGINEERING
By

VINAYAK R NAMBIAR DILRISH RAVEENDRAN DILEEP S RAHUL SR

Guided By Asst. Prof. SREEJITH K R

May 2015
Department Of Mechanical Engineering

ADI SHANKARA
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
(An ISO 9001:2008 Certified Institution)
KALADY, KERALA

ADI SHANKARA
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
(An ISO 9001:2008 Certified Institution)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would to thank the mechanical department of ASIET Kalady for letting us

fabricate and complete our project within the college and also providing us with
maximum support by way of expert guidance and corrections. We would also like to
thank the HOD of mechanical dept. for his support and along with him we also thank our
guide in this project Asst. Prof. Sreejith K R for his expert guidance.
We thank all the lab staff of Mechanical Engineering workshop for helping us
in the fabrication works, thereby filling up for our inexperience in this field. We
thank everyone who helped us in completion of this work and making it a success .

ABSTRACT
Flapping is described as the simultaneous heave and pitch oscillations of a wing.
It is the predominant way for producing lifting and propulsive force in natural flight. In
flapping flight, both lift and thrust forces are produced simultaneously by flapping
wings. Flapping is an effective way for flight at low speeds.
In recent years the subject of flying vehicles propelled by flapping wings, also
known as ornithopters, has been an area of interest because of its application to micro
aerial vehicles (MAVs). These miniature vehicles seek to mimic small birds and insects
to achieve never before seen agility in flight. This renewed interest has raised a host of
new problems in vehicle dynamics and control to explore.
In order to better study the control of flapping wing flight we have developed a largescale ornithopter. The body houses a Li-Po battery, which powers the wing and tail
movements. The wings generate the lift and thrust. The tail is used to turn the vehicle.
During the design process the focus is set more on getting a robust and simple mechanism,
which could be used as a test bench for further investigations and measurements. This thesis
covers the design process of both the mechanical and electrical systems of the ornithopter
Concluding, the mechanism is manufactured and assembled to prove the feasibility.
ASSISTED BY:
Asst. Prof. Sreejith K R

VINAYAK R NAMBIAR
DILRISH RAVEENDRAN
DILEEP S
RAHUL SR

CONTENTS

Page

Number

1. Introduction

2. Objectives

3. Scope

4. Working Principle

4.1 Wing

4.2 Tail

4.3 Gearbox

4.4 Main frame

5. Electronics

5.1 Battery

5.2 Motor

11

6. Related Work
7. Conclusion

12
13