ianxofour | Bad Piggies: E.T.'s Bicycle (Bootstrap Flyer) @ianxofour | Uploaded 11 years ago | Updated 16 hours ago
This flyer is naturally stable while using bootstrapping for flight. The vehicle needs to flex slightly in order for the leading umbrella to brush against the drive wheel, which is what achieves the bootstrapping effect. The sandbag flexes the vehicle at startup so that bootstrapping can get started more reliably. The trailing umbrellas offer negative feedback so that the flyer remains stable in flight. They can also be opened and closed to control pitch. (Closing the bottom umbrella causes the vehicle to pitch up; closing the top umbrella causes the vehicle to pitch down.) The drive wheel can also be pulsed to control altitude.
The vehicle used in the photo in the beginning of the video is a slightly modified version of the flyer that has 2 wheels on the bottom in order to more closely mimic the famous scene from the movie "E.T." This version is more easily controlled by pulsing the drive wheel.
If you are unfamiliar with bootstrapping, read the video description here for an explanation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_co1u4NuqY
This flyer is naturally stable while using bootstrapping for flight. The vehicle needs to flex slightly in order for the leading umbrella to brush against the drive wheel, which is what achieves the bootstrapping effect. The sandbag flexes the vehicle at startup so that bootstrapping can get started more reliably. The trailing umbrellas offer negative feedback so that the flyer remains stable in flight. They can also be opened and closed to control pitch. (Closing the bottom umbrella causes the vehicle to pitch up; closing the top umbrella causes the vehicle to pitch down.) The drive wheel can also be pulsed to control altitude.
The vehicle used in the photo in the beginning of the video is a slightly modified version of the flyer that has 2 wheels on the bottom in order to more closely mimic the famous scene from the movie "E.T." This version is more easily controlled by pulsing the drive wheel.
If you are unfamiliar with bootstrapping, read the video description here for an explanation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_co1u4NuqY
