Working on "Possibilities" - Sketch of the Invention

It will come as no surprise that I have chosen to work on the mechanical wings in my "Possibilities" project for digital imaging.  Out of any of my ideas, it is the one that I have spent the most time thinking about and developing.  The time has come to share these thoughts in full, as well as a quick sketch of what I think my final project will look like:

While this is a very rough sketch, it will work to give people an idea of what I am talking about.  The mechanical wings would be strapped to the back of a person, and would protrude from a housing that would contain a power source, computer, and the hardware that moves the wings.  I do not know what type of power source would be strong enough to move the wings, but it would have to be able to generate a lot of force and would need to be rechargeable.  My design makes use of solar power film on the backs of the wings and the pack to keep the wings working.

The person would be strapped to the pack, and would have to have their legs within a frame that could be manipulated by the wearer.  This frame should be comfortable, but would need to keep the wearer's legs out straight or at a good angle.  Otherwise, the wearer's legs would dangle and get tossed around in the wind.  Similarly the wearer's arms would need to be in a framework that strengthened them.  This would allow the wearer to move their arms, without worrying about the force of air and wind whipping them everywhere.

The wings themselves would be made out of a very light but durable material, and would be manipulated by the wearer via buttons and wires connected to the hands.  The wings would need to flap/beat, and should be able to rotate around the point they are connected to the pack.  The wings would be independently controlled.  It would be difficult, but the wings would need to be programmed to respond to very natural motions and button combinations from the wearer's hands and wrists.  These motions should correspond to carefully observed wing motions from the flight of large birds (probably hawks).

Assuming the rest of this could be made to work, the acts of taking off and landing still pose a problem.  If the wings could beat in such a way that the wearer slowly descends, then they could make a soft-ish landing where the leg frame absorbs the remaining shock of landing.  Taking off would probably have to be accomplished by jumping from a high place.  Hopefully I will come up with a different solution to that particular issue.  Until and probably even after then, I will continue to develop the ideas I have set forth above.

-Kelly F.