First the Roomba for your yard, then the War Eagle Moment from space. And this morning, three Auburn engineering students—Emile Ewing, Jarred Beck, and Brian Pappas—took an ornithopter on a test flight at Auburn’s new indoor football practice facility!
What’s an ornithopter?
“It’s basically a flying mechanical bird,” says Sally Credille, communications’ editor for the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s Office of Communications and Marketing. “Everybody knows about our War Eagle. That’s pretty much what this is, except its mechanical.” (Can’t see the video? Try here.)
The creature is part of a senior design project and operates via remote control.
“Basically the students take existing kits and they tweak them,” Credille says. And they’ve done it before.
“A couple of years ago they flew one around the stadium.”
Not just any one — “Robo-Nova.”
Yep. Kind of awesome.
Auburn officials are still brainstorming surrogates for the Toomer’s Oaks. But it’s nice to know that if Nova or Spirit are next on Bama’s hit list, Auburn engineering students can make sure gameday won’t skip a beat.
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Keep Reading:
* Shug Jordan dug the heck out of houndstooth
* War Eagle Moment from space scheduled for October 25
* “War Eagle” carved into face of the Spinx
* Fans equate Iron Bowl losses with the end of the world—now confirmed by science!
* Auburn is the question, Cam the answer on Jeopardy!
* Derek Jeter’s guardian angel spotted—and he’s an Auburn fan
* Vintage Ernest P. Worrell Auburn / Mello Yello commercial
* Auburn fan shot dead in Alabama fan rap video
I know you’re mostly kidding, but if someone really did try to go after our birds a la that dumb LSU fan, it’s good to know there would be some serious federal charges levied. Bastards.
I have been a long time reader of TWER but I have never posted. You guys run a great site! I was actually a part of the original ornithopter senior design team that assembled the birds and flew them in the stadium video above (I am the guy in the blue/black rain jacket with the brown hat). We were actually able to fly them in the old indoor practice facility and the stadium. We also had a wireless camera mounted on our bird that streamed video back to a computer on the ground. I have plenty more video if you guys ever need any and I think it is safe to say, if Nova or Spirit ever goes down we have a backup, maybe not as exciting but at least it’s a back up. Who knows, maybe we could use the ornithopters as spy birds for the football team…haha…WAR EAGLE!!!
Ornithopter?! I just had a nerd spasm with that Dune reference!
I’m convinced that video cuts off abruptly before the crash.
The new video doesn’t cut before a crash. I was the one launching it. The pilot cut the power and it glided down right in the corner. They stopped taping before it landed.
Nice Gerrard top by the guy on the remote. YNWA.