An ornithopter includes a main wing mounted on a fuselage. The main wing includes a main spar extending outwardly from the fuselage, and a rib extending rearwardly from the main spar. The rib has an S-shaped camber.

An ornithopter includes a main wing mounted on a fuselage, and a control system configured to control a flapping motion of the main wing. The main wing includes an inner spar, an outer spar, and a wrist portion disposed between the inner spar and the outer spar and which varies a bending angle, which is a relative angle between the inner spar and the outer spar, within a predetermined angle range. The control system includes an actuator which performs a raising motion and a lowering motion of the inner spar by moving the inner spar in an upward direction and in a downward direction, an angle sensor which measures the bending angle, and a control unit which controls the actuator to move the inner spar in response to the measured bending angle.

The invention is a robotic bird that uses flapping flight for lift and propulsion. The bird has a body, two wings, tail and head with a beak in addition to on-board electronics and batteries. Each wing is controlled separately by four motors. One motor controls the flapping, one the angle of attack (wing tilt), one the degree of morphing and folding of the wing and one the horizontal motion of the wing. The tail is controlled by three servomotors, one for up and down motion, one for tilting and one for spreading the tail feathers. Thus, the bird has 11 degrees of freedom in total in its wings and tail. This design allows the use of evolutionary methods for teaching the bird to fly in a much more efficient way than has previously been possible.

Gear for a flapping wing aircraft, having a gearwheel support, on which a gear-wheel is mounted so as to be rotatably movable about a gearwheel axis, which gearwheel is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to a crankshaft, which has a central section extending coaxially to the gearwheel axis and end regions adjoining the central section on both sides, the end regions each delimiting an angle between 0 degrees and 90 degrees with the central section and engage in a guide slot of an associated joint part which is mounted pivotably movable about a pivot axis on a joint support which is connected to the gearwheel support and which is mounted pivotably movable about a respective support axis on the gearwheel support wherein the joint supports are connected to a coupling strut and wherein an actuator, which is motion-coupled to the coupling strut, is arranged on the gearwheel support.

A housing for providing lateral support to a rotor mast of a remote controlled hovering toy creature. The hovering toy creature has a propulsion system, a control system, a body, and an optional wing actuation assembly for actuating any wings attached to the body. One embodiment of the propulsion system comprises a motor drive driving a primary rotor and a secondary rotor via at least one rotor mast, wherein the primary rotor and the secondary rotor are arranged in a co-axial configuration. The secondary rotor is located at a height on the rotor mast that is lower than the height of the primary rotor. The housing comprises at least a lower segment and an upper segment, the lower segment attached to the body and disposed around the rotor mast below the primary rotor, and the upper segment is disposed around the rotor mast above the primary rotor.

A flapping wing aerial vehicle comprises at least a first and second wing, a support structure, to which the wings are connected, at least one flapping mechanism, comprising at least a first spar and a flapping actuator, the at least first spar being attached to the wing membrane of the first wing and/or the second wing, the flapping actuator being configured to pivot said at least one spar with respect to a flapping pivot axis substantially parallel to a Z-axis for inducing a flapping motion of said first wing and/or second wing; a first attitude control mechanism, configured to induce a pitch moment; a second attitude control mechanism, configured to induce a yaw moment; a third attitude control mechanism, configured to induce a roll moment; and an attitude controller, wherein the first attitude control mechanism, the second attitude control mechanism, and the third attitude control mechanism are separate mechanisms.

A housing for providing lateral support to a rotor mast of a remote controlled hovering toy creature. The hovering toy creature has a propulsion system, a control system, a body, and an optional wing actuation assembly for actuating any wings attached to the body. One embodiment of the propulsion system comprises a motor drive driving a primary rotor and a secondary rotor via at least one rotor mast, wherein the primary rotor and the secondary rotor are arranged in a co-axial configuration. The secondary rotor is located at a height on the rotor mast that is lower than the height of the primary rotor. The housing comprises at least a lower segment and an upper segment, the lower segment attached to the body and disposed around the rotor mast below the primary rotor, and the upper segment is disposed around the rotor mast above the primary rotor.

A hovering toy creature having a propulsion system, a control system, a winged body, and a wing actuation assembly. The winged body is mounted to the propulsion system, which is controlled by the control system. The wing actuation assembly is mounted to the winged body, and the wing actuation assembly is powered by the control system. The wing actuation assembly drives the wings in an oscillating flapping motion. The wings comprise apertures permitting air passage through the wing, thus reducing the aerodynamic effect of the flapping motion. In this manner, the wings produce a bouncing flight action, thus creating a realistic flight motion. In another embodiment, the propulsion system comprises one or more rotors in a coaxial arrangement. The hovering toy creature is operated by either a wireless control device or a timer device.

A flexible one-piece self-flapping wing which is capable of providing a lifting surface on a slow gliding aircraft for stable gilding flight. Embodiments include a bird-like glider which includes a fuselage, nose, horizontal stabilizer, and a set of the self-flapping wings affixed at a midsection of the fuselage, which oscillate between an upper and lower position in response to a received air flow, and which may be further adjusted to enhance lift, stability, and glider control during flight. When incorporated into a glider, the self-flapping wings exhibit a reliable, rapid flutter flapping motion and cause the glider to maintain a slow glide for an extended time aloft, making it ideal for use in a variety of settings.

A flying toy includes a left sector gear, a left wing connector extending radially from the left sector gear, a right sector gear, a right wing connector extending radially from the right sector gear, a drive shaft, a crank piece mounted on the drive shaft to rotate therewith, a crank arm coupled between the crank piece and one of the left and right sector gears, two wing members connected respectively to the left and right wing connectors, and a drive unit configured to drive the drive shaft. The right sector gear is configured to mesh with the left sector gear so as to synchronize up-and-down movement of the left and right wing connectors to thereby result in a flapping motion of the two wing members.