After discovering the needs of the user group, we move next to Ideation. This is the phase where we begin to design the actual mechanisms of the product. In our case, this means the design of each of the components of the automaton. It was important in this phase to present many possible ideas for how certain movements of our dragon could be achieved, so as to not limit our possibilities in the future.

​

​

Wing Mechanism: The initial concept of the wing design actually came about first as a popsicle stick prototype that I created. After messing around with different link lengths with the popsicle sticks, I eventually began using the SAM software to experiment with different link lengths at various places. I relied heavily on recorded videos of bats in order to create a linkage mechanism that would resemble what the flight of a dragon might look like. The coupler curves of the resulting SAM mechanism can be seen in the figures at the bottom of this page.

​

Iteration of this wing mechanism was required later on, during the build of the final prototype. When examining the bevel gears that would be required to drive these wings, and the requirement that they spin in opposite directions to ensure symmetry of the wings, it was discovered that the wings would not be able to be in moving on the same plane. This required a cover for the wings (as seen in the last sketch on this page) that would account for this difference in wing lateral position.