Amazing Flight Of A 3D Printed Rubber Band Powered Ornithopter

We’re actually going to link to an old post from back in February because we think it’s equally as impressive as the most recent work. This is a 3D printed ornithopter powered by a rubber band (translated). The frame is much like a traditional rubber band plane. The difference is that after winding it up it doesn’t spin a propeller. The flapping of the four plastic membrane wings makes it fly like magic. Seriously, check out the demo below… we almost posted this as “Real or Fake?” feature if we hadn’t seen similar offerings a couple of years back.

The flight lasts a relatively long time when considering the quick winding before launch is all that powered it. But the most recent offerings (translated) from the site include the motorized ornithopter design seen above. It carries a small Lithium cell for continuous flight. These designs have a 3D printed gear system which makes them a bit more complicated, but brings steering and remote control to the party. If you want one of your own they’re working on a small run of kits. We figure it’d be a lot more fun to prototype and print your own. Sure, it’s reinventing the wheel. But it’s a really cool wheel!

[via Hacked Gadgets]

10 thoughts on “Amazing Flight Of A 3D Printed Rubber Band Powered Ornithopter

  1. Off topic: Any reason why I can’t watch Youtube video’s fullscreen when you embed them? Rather annoying to have to click through to youtube for a larger version…

    On topic: Holy shitsnacks, that’s cool!

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