Final Kite Design

Prototype 4 is finished

Prototype 4 has finally been completed and has been flying very well indoors. The best so far out of all of our designs. The only thing that needs to be done to the kite is to hot glue a weight to the front and make it look more like a fish.

The final version of our kite was assembled Thursday. The bamboo frame measures 23.5 inches vertically and 12.25 inches horizontally. The bamboo skewers were hot glued together. We also attached the plastic table cloth material to the frame with hot glue to be taught. Once we tried gliding the kite, we found that it was too heavy in the back and stalled almost immediately. This means that the center of gravity and center of pressure are not aligned, but we are adding weight to the front quarter of the kite to try to balance these points. So far, we have added circular washers to the front, which has seemed to even the weight better. We will continue to adjust the front and back weights for optimal flight.

Prototype 4 Frame Finished

The frame was finished today in lab. The completely bamboo frame was shaped, cut, and hot glued in order to reach this point.

Simulations

Using Autodesk Inventor we were able to simulate indoor and outdoor flight on a model of our fourth prototype.

Prototype 4 continued

Prototype 4 is halfway through the construction phase. The bamboo frame is finished and just needs to be connected to the plastic tablecloth. It will be finished before next week.

Final Prototype Taking Shape

Our final prototype is in the building phase. We are using bamboo as the frame of the kite because of it flexibility and since it's stronger than straws. In this photo one of our group members is using a belt sander to even up and shape the bamboo.

New Material Arrival

Our new material that we plan to use in our next kite arrived today. It is a plastic table cloth that is large enough to possibly make 3 or 4 more kites. We wanted to use a different material other than trash bags to see if there was a difference or improvement in flight.

New Material

As a group we have decided to move away from using plastic trash bags for our kite prototypes. We have ordered a plastic tablecloth online to use for our future kites. We believe that trying out a new material may give us better results and help us finalize our indoor kite design.

Heat Gun

Experimenting with a heat gun in class on prototype 3 to see if it will make our kite tighter and easier to glide through the air.

Updating Prototype 3

Tried different ways to color the plastic of the kite. One is sharpie marker and the other is nail polish. We also added a K'nex piece to the center in order to decrease the likely hood of the kite from folding in on itself mid-flight.

Outdoor test

Decided to take the indoor kite prototype 3 outside on this nice day. It flies well in  the wind, but the goal is indoor flight.

Third Prototype

Prototype 3 is based more on a classic kite and is styled to look like a fish. The frame is made out of straws. This is the base for the new kite. It will be worked on more as time progresses.

Test Flying

Test flying our second prototype in the lab. It does a little gliding, there is still more room for improvement.

3-D Printing

Working on 3-D printing our handles from a design in a previous post.

Second Prototype

Our second prototype that we have developed in the lab. It is similar in shape to our first prototype in shape, but it is about 40% larger. Straws were used for the cross sections in the kite, thin wire rods were used to keep the shape of the kite, and 3-D printed parts were used to reinforce the kite.

Handle Design

Our design for a handle that will let us steer the kite.

Working in the Lab

In the lab today we worked on a new prototype kite. It is similar in design to our first kite, but it is 40% larger than the original. We are starting to use different materials that we originally did not plan to use. Today we were using straws and thin 3-D printed structures in our frame.

Prototype Takes Shape

The design that was proposed in the previous post has now taken shape. The kite is cut out of a thicker plastic grocery bag.  After it was drawn out and cut, we realized that the kite needs to be offset a few inches bigger.

Proposed Prototype

Our first sketch for a prototype kite that we will be making and testing. The green marker represents the base of the kite. The purple marker is the frame of the kite that will be holding it all together. The blue marker represents the dimensions of the whole kite.

Objective

The goal of this project is to design and create a kite that can fly without wind - due to the movement of the kite or by string manipulation.