What Modern Toy Company Has Created a Functional Bird-Inspired Flying Machine?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Evo
  • Start date Start date
AI Thread Summary
Leonardo da Vinci's 15th-century designs for mechanical flight were inspired by birds, focusing on flapping wings rather than fixed wings with propellers or jet engines. This vision is echoed today by WowWee, a robotics company set to release a radio-controlled ornithopter that mimics bird flight through mechanical wing flapping. The discussion highlights the contrast between da Vinci's innovative concepts and the later development of flight technology, noting that while he did not invent propellers or jet engines, his ideas were foundational. Participants also reflect on the evolution of flight mechanics, mentioning that understanding wing physics is crucial for creating effective flying devices. The conversation touches on the humor in comparing historical figures like da Vinci and Newton, emphasizing the continuous advancement of technology.
Evo
Staff Emeritus
Messages
24,029
Reaction score
3,323
LEONARDO DA VINCI’S 15th-century vision of mechanical flight apparently never included fixed wings assisted by propellers or jet engines. His chief inspiration was birds, reflected in drawings of a flying machine fashioned to stay aloft by flapping its wings.

More than 500 years later, WowWee, a robotics and entertainment products company, shares that vision. Next month, it plans to release a mass-produced, functional ornithopter, a device that flies in birdlike fashion — in this case, a radio-controlled toy that mechanically flaps its Mylar wings."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/t...em&ex=1171170000&en=07ceee3fb88de8df&ei=5087
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Evo said:
LEONARDO DA VINCI’S 15th-century vision of mechanical flight apparently never included fixed wings assisted by propellers or jet engines.

:smile: I love that sentence. Leonardo was very clever but apparently his intelligence never went as far as inventing the propeller or jet engine.

Nice toy :smile:. Good to see some of his inventions being used for real.
 
Kurdt said:
:smile: I love that sentence. Leonardo was very clever but apparently his intelligence never went as far as inventing the propeller or jet engine.
His bird inspired flying machines aren't the only story. Almost a propeller:

http://www.mos.org/sln/Leonardo/Leo-copter.jpg
 
The real deal
 
Last edited by a moderator:
zoobyshoe said:
Almost a propeller:

http://www.mos.org/sln/Leonardo/Leo-copter.jpg

Not really. In order to build a propeller [barring blind luck] one must understand the physics of a wing.

It is interesting to note that boomerangs are a wing. In a sense, the Australian Aborigines were one up on Leonardo and the Wright Brothers.
 
Ivan Seeking said:
The real deal


Interesting but not particularly graceful. :eek:

zoobyshoe said:
His bird inspired flying machines aren't the only story. Almost a propeller:

http://www.mos.org/sln/Leonardo/Leo-copter.jpg

I think that was based more on the archimedes screw than a propeller as Ivan said. I meant only to comment sarcastically on the modern age than to insult Leonardo's intelligence, as the aforementioned sentence seems to imply his lack of insight into propellers and jet engines as a lack of creativity. Its kind of like saying yeah well Newton was good but that Albert really showed him up. Just find it funny :smile:
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Thread 'Predictions for the Nobel Prize in Physics 2025'

Similar to the 2024 thread, here I start the 2025 thread. As always it is getting increasingly difficult to predict, so I will make a list based on other article predictions. You can also leave your prediction here. Here are the predictions of 2024 that did not make it: Peter Shor, David Deutsch and all the rest of the quantum computing community (various sources) Pablo Jarrillo Herrero, Allan McDonald and Rafi Bistritzer for magic angle in twisted graphene (various sources) Christoph...
View full post »
Thread 'My experience as a hostage'

Thread 'My experience as a hostage'

I believe it was the summer of 2001 that I made a trip to Peru for my work. I was a private contractor doing automation engineering and programming for various companies, including Frito Lay. Frito had purchased a snack food plant near Lima, Peru, and sent me down to oversee the upgrades to the systems and the startup. Peru was still suffering the ills of a recent civil war and I knew it was dicey, but the money was too good to pass up. It was a long trip to Lima; about 14 hours of airtime...
View full post »

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top