This vehicle is propelled by vibrating motors. The wings are many and small. Each wing has a central vane which is stiff. On lifting up, the edges of the wing (imagine at 9 and 3 on a clock face) collapse down to 6 because they are flimsy and are pushed down by the air. On pushing down, the edges of the wings are blown up back to 9 and 3 but not to 12, because special gubbins mounted on the central vane prevent them from extending that far. Thus they offer resistance and so propel the device upwards.

The result: rapid flapping of many wings. By also decorating this device with many googly eyes (googling wildly due to proximity of vibrating motor) it would be an autonomous seraphim, pronouncing the buzzy word of God as it rambled randomly about thru the air until its battery was exhausted.

As regards buoyancy it would help if this device were in fact buoyant; a helium balloon. One could credit the buzzy wings for any type of motion that then ensues.
-- bungston, Nov 29 2016

Inspiration Autonomous_20Flapping_20Tetrahedron
[bungston, Nov 29 2016]

I believe this was tried in the early, comedic period of experimental flight. But possibly not on a micro-scale.

One of the problems with such devices is that a lot of the downstroke is spent before the vanes have fully opened.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 29 2016


Nice.
-- JesusHChrist, Nov 29 2016


Think about a birds wing. If a bird lost one wing mid flight, the broken wing would twirl to the ground like a screw -- because all of the feathers on one winig are the same handedness -- left or right like eropean or american screws. So a vibrating motor is just driving the screw in the opposite direction -- screwing it up.
-- JesusHChrist, Nov 29 2016


Why not just mimic a bumblebee, or a hummingbird ?
-- 8th of 7, Nov 29 2016


//left or right like eropean or american screws// [JHC] if you ever try to screw a European, you're in for a surprise.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 29 2016


Yeah, they use different outlet sockets over there, and no ANSI threads.
-- RayfordSteele, Nov 29 2016


It's insane. Almost EVERYBODY uses different electrical sockets, apart from the English, who use the right ones.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 29 2016


Like a genetically modified pig, I have two penises corkscrewed in opposite directions allowing me to travel and screw freely around the world.
-- JesusHChrist, Nov 29 2016


// Almost EVERYBODY uses different electrical sockets, //

More deserving of pity than condemnation ...

// if you ever try to screw a European, you're in for a surprise //

--- because you can bet your bottom dollar (sic) that the french will be out to screw you first ...
-- 8th of 7, Nov 29 2016


//Like a genetically modified pig// Hey, who doesn't?
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 29 2016


Special gubbins are the best kind of gubbins as far as gubbins go.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 29 2016


I keep getting the left-handed thread gubbins mixed in the normal ones. They should be more clearly marked.
-- not_morrison_rm, Nov 30 2016



random, halfbakery