Introduction/Problem Background

The video above shows the Karakuri "Ready to Fly" model. In this model, a crank is rotated in a clockwise direction to produce two output motions. The first output motion is the penguin body moving up and down and the second output motion are the flapping wings. To achieve these motions, the crank is attached to a cam, causing the cam to rotate at the same speed as the input velocity. Then a follower rod, which is attached to the penguin body, moves up and down with the cam mechanism. This causes the penguin body to move up and down. On the other hand the wings are fixed in space at one point inside the penguin body. As the body moves up and down, the wings to rotate along with the body. A video showing the inner workings of this mechanism is provided below. One element that makes this system interesting is the shape of the cam. This will be discussed in the following section along with the kinematic analysis and results.