TUTORIAL
Motorised wing
wire to the USB pin, and the BAT wire to the BAT pin
on the ItsyBitsy M0.
Finally, cut another small piece of wire, about
5–6 cm long, and solder it to pin A1 on the ItsyBitsy
M0. This wire will connect to a piece of copper
tape on the shoulder pauldron for our capacitive
touch input. The final circuit is shown in Figure 2
(previous page).ASSEMBLE THE WING
Using our template, or your own design, cut three
identical wing panels out of cardboard. We used a
laser cutter to cut our panels, but the shapes are
designed to be simple enough to cut by hand. The
straight edges should be easy to cut (carefully!) with
a craft knife, and the round side may be easier to
cut with heavy-duty scissors. You’ll want the round
side to be a perfect circle for smooth pivoting action
when the wing opens. Make the holes with a heavy-
duty hole punch, or simply use the bamboo skewer
to poke through the cardboard.
Once the panels are cut out, paint and decorate
them to match your costume. Trace or score the
design lines from our template for a futuristic look,
or draw your own surface design. The surface of the
wings must be flat so that the panels can slide past
each other, so stick to paint or markers for your design.
To previsualise what you are building, stack the
wing panels on top of each other, aligning the holes
on the left. Fan the panels out to find the fully open
position of your wing: the bottom-right edge of each
panel should just cover the thread hole of the wing
under it. (See our finished project for reference.) Now
you’re ready to sew the wing together with thread.
For this part of the build, it’s easiest to work with
the panels facing down on your work surface. Threada needle with about 40 cm of heavy-duty thread.
Starting with the front panel, loop the thread through
the thread hole in the wing-tip and tie a knot on the
back of the wing. Then, pass the thread over the
front of the wing and down to the next panel. Loop
the thread through the thread hole on the second
wing, align the panel in its open position, and tie a
knot on the back of the panel.
Repeat this process to add the third panel, tie the
final knot, and snip the thread tail short. Slide the
bamboo skewer into the pivot hole to check your
work – the panels should open and close easily
like a fan. The thread will be taut when the wing is
open, and loose (but hidden between the wings)
when closed.Remove the skewer and cut it in half to make
it easier to work with. Slide the front panel onto
the skewer so that the skewer protrudes a few
centimetres through the front of the panel. Add a
small plastic washer to the skewer on each side of
the panel, and attach each washer with a dab of hot
glue. This front panel needs to be solidly connected
to the skewer, so take your time with this and make
sure the glue is completely dried before moving on.
Slide the remaining two panels onto the skewer,
adding a plastic washer onto the skewer between
them. Do not glue the washer to these panels – they
should rotate freely around the skewer. Check your
work by resting the bottom edge of the panels on
your work surface and rotating the skewer. The front
panel should rotate upward, fanning the other panels
out behind it. On the front of the wing, snip the
skewer flush with the glued washer. On the back,
cut it down to about 1 cm.
It’s possible to purchase couplers for attaching a
shaft to a servo, but in the spirit of this build, we are
winging it with everyday materials and the standard
servo horn that came with our servo. A plastic cap
from a water bottle will be our coupler! Check to
make sure that the servo horn you’ll be using will
fit inside the cap; if it’s too long (like ours was),
carefully snip the tips off the ends. Screw the horn
into place onto the servo.We used a laser cutter to cut
our panels, but the shapes
are designed to be simple
enough to cut by hand”
”
Below
You can follow
our designs or
get creative with
your ownBelow
Hot glue makes
everything better