Ready to Fly models the intricate folding structure of beetle wings and recreates it through AM (3D printing). Developed in collaboration with Kazuya Saito, Associate Professor at Kyushu University who specializes in Origami Engineering, the work was produced for the exhibition Insects: Models for Design at 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT (2019).
The hindwings of beetles such as tiny ladybirds to large rhinoceros beetles, are exceptionally thin and folded with remarkable ingenuity. When force is applied to a single point, the entire wing expands instantly. The Ready to Fly project began from a desire to capture this dramatic unfolding in slow motion and to give form to the mysteries of nature.
Inspired by a ladybird perched at the tip of a rod rising from the water's surface, the robot spreads its wings and emits light as a person approaches. Unfortunately, we have yet to create a version capable of actual flight; the robot neatly folds its wings back into place after a short while.
Folding large structures into compact forms—seen in umbrellas, solar panels on satellites, and other human-made objects—has long been widely used in engineering. Nature, however, has been refining this challenge for some 400 million years, since insects first evolved wings. Drawing on Professor Saito's research, which theorizes the folding structure and deformation mechanisms of beetle wings, we redesigned a wing with a single–degree-of-freedom deployment system and fabricated its three-dimensional structure in a single piece with built-in-hinges using AM.
For the motion mechanism, we looked to traditional Japanese karakuri mechanical dolls. A multi-cam mechanism allows one motor to pull numerous strings in precisely timed sequences, resulting in the robot's elegant unfolding movement.

MATERIAL: Nylon, ABS, Steel, Acrylic
DIMENSION: 700 x 700 x 1100mm
PROJECT STARTED: 2019 / COMPLETED: 2019
DESIGNER: Shunji Yamanaka, Kazuya Saito, Hiroshi Sugihara, Mitsuru Muramatsu, Kotaro Tanimichi

Photo by Yusuke Nishibe