Elenco Submarine - Manual (Page 21)

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Mechanical Butterfly
Leonardo da Vinci himself advised
where one can admire these
incredible flying insects:
To see four-winged flying, look near
ditches and you will see dragonflies.
It is extremely difficult to create a
mechanical replica of the natural
movement of an animal. The beating of the dragonfly’s four wings is
particularly complex and Da Vinci was well aware of how difficult it would
be to create this machine, he himself described it in great detail. It is not
simply wings beating up and down; it’s a jointed motion. Whilst beating
down the wings are “flat” in order to push as much air as possible, whereas
when they are raised, they are angled so that they create less resistance.
Giant Crossbow
The structure of the crossbow is
relatively simply. It has a rigid
wooden body, on which the stock and
a bow are mounted. Compared to a
traditional bow, the crossbow is very
compact; the bow of more modern
crossbows is made from metal, is not
very long, but very thick. This is why
the bow of the crossbow is less
flexible than that of a traditional
bow, and the string is much tauter. The
distinguishing feature of the crossbow
is a launching mechanism similar to a trigger on modern weapons. The project
follows a rather typical pattern, seen in Leonardo da Vinci’s other projects –
making an existing weapon more powerful by making it bigger and in some
cases making it multiple launch (as in the cases of the Multiple Sling, the
Armoured Tank, the Multiple Bombard and other drawings).
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