Need help creating articulated costume wings?

[Pheral]

Hello all!

I'm dead-set on building a pair of articulated costume wings that open and retract on their own, preferably controlled by a remote.

The actual wing design and everything else seem to be pretty simple (building the first prototype tomorrow), but I have no idea where to begin with installing a battery-powered mechanism that will open and close the wings.

Ideally the rig will be relatively quiet but able to handle the load without trouble.

Any and all suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated!

Below are a couple links to help you see what I'm trying to do. The first video displays the wing design at 3:10. The second shows a working pair of articulated wings.
(View 3:10)

(Articulated wings at work)


This is probably small potatoes to most (or all) of you, but your help is greatly appreciated :)

 

[DaveC426913]

Is it the battery/motor that's the problem, or the servo components to expand and contract it?

Many moons ago I built a 'dragon' superhero outfit with wings that lay flat against my back and unfolded into a 10 foot wingspan. But it was entirely manually operated.

I was particularly pleased with the diagonal hinging in the wing surfaces that facilitated the movement. They were akin to origami - or to the folding wings on a carrier-based airplane.

 

[Pheral]

Is it the battery/motor that's the problem, or the servo components to expand and contract it?

Both, really. I think I'm good as far as the wing design and the cosmetic stuff, but as far as powering the motorized movement and having the parts generate the desired movement to force the wing to expand and retract, I really have no clue where to begin. My cousin-in-law is an electrician, so I think he'll be able to help me set things up properly once I know what I need to do.

 

[DaveC426913]

Your biggest challenge is going to be the superstructure - the struts (the bones) that support the weight and torsional forces.
You've got to start with that - it will drive all other aspects of the working device.

 

[Pheral]

Okay, so I need to figure out how the moving parts on the back plate will attach to the base edge of the wings and move them before I should consider the motor/battery? Makes sense. I'll draw up some plans after I build the wing prototype so that I can see exactly how it needs to move. Thanks!

 

[CWatters]

Perhaps play around with four bar links?

 

[Pheral]

Perhaps play around with four bar links?

I'm not sure what you mean by that =\

I did end up building the prototype of a wing today. It needs some tweaks, but it's a decent first step. Next step will be figuring out how it will need to move when attached to the back plate. It's pretty much a copy of the wooden wing displayed in the first video at 3:10.

 

[DaveC426913]

I'm not sure what you mean by that =\

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-bar_linkage

 

[CWatters]

I did end up building the prototype of a wing today.

Looks a bit like a 4 bar link :-)