Abstract
<jats:p>The aim of the proposed project is to develop mechanically efficient, durable and light-weight gear unit (< 2.50 gm) and flapping mechanism for an ornithopter. The light weight gear unit is to be designed and is fabricated using 3D Printer by Fusion Deposition Modelling (FDM) process. The activity involves design of gear unit and transmission mechanism, CAD modeling, design analysis through numerical simulation tools and weight reduction, rapid prototyping with fused deposition modeling, wing design and construction, components selection and procurement, experiments for evaluation of mechanical efficiency. The final deliverable is aiming to realize is an ornithopter with wingspan of 150 mm, flapping frequency of 20 Hz and overall weight of 12 gm. Ornithopters can be made to resemble birds, they could be used for military applications, such as aerial reconnaissance without alerting the enemies that they are under surveillance. Several ornithopter will be flown with video cameras on board, some of which can hover and maneuver in small spaces. With simple adaptation procedure, any ornithopter developer interested in 150 mm wingspan ornithopter, would be able to fine-tune the gear ratio and achieve optimal efficiency.</jats:p>