DelFly Micro – Dragonfly Sized Ornithopter

DelFly Micro – Dragonfly Sized Ornithopter

Author JoeDigital

This could be one of the coolest flying machines to come along since flying machines have been coming along.  It’s an ornithopter, which means that it flies the way a a bird would fly, with flapping wings.  What makes it especially interesting is that it is tiny, measuring only 10cm from wingtip to wingtip, and it weighs a whopping 3 grams.  It is remote controlled, and contains a miniature camera, and holds the title of the smallest flying machine with a camera in the world.  Mimicing flight has been a challenge for humanity for as long as we’ve been self-aware, and realized that we couldn’t do it it ourselves.  Greek mythology is credited with the first story of human flight, and inventors have taken stabs at flying machines doazens of times over the centuries, even such notable names as Leonardo DaVinci.  But no one has ever built a machine this small that could fly under it’s own power.

This one has quite a few traits in common with insects.  The Delfly Micro’s wings that actually resemble those of a dragonfly, which is credited with being one of the first flying animals to ever exist.   In fact, it has quite a few similarities to insects, including antennae and filmy wings.  It can fly forward at a rate of 15m/s, is able to compensate for light winds, and has the amazing ability to fly backward at the smail’s pace of .5m/s

As a scientific device, the DelFly promises to be a boon for areodynamics, and has already required the sciences of mechanics, areodynamics, and phototechnology to cooperate.  Plans are to use it for research in flight and micromechanics, but we can only wait to see how long it takes government powers to snatch it up and hide it away from the public eye.

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