Identification of avian flapping motion from non-volant winged dinosaurs based on modal effective mass analysis
Fig 3
Biophysical vibration of the wings.
(A) Wearable devices to detect the performance of wings. The back bracket was manufactured through 3D printer with ABS plastics. The angular accelerometer sensor, force sensor and SD card were all mounted on the bracket (S3B Fig). The accelerometer sensor on the back and the wings were used to measure the rolling angle of body and wings respectively during locomotion on the ground. A force sensor is embedded between the arm and the body to measure the lift generated by the flapping wings (S3A Fig). (B) Simplified wing mechanism. Every wing has a flexible structure that is jointed with the body via elastic rubber belts, which are used to simulate the function of muscles. (C) Reconstruction of wings of different sizes. The first wing represents the forearm with filament feathers. From the second one to the fourth one, the length of feathers increases gradually. The second one represents the short feather, the third one represent middle feather while the fourth one with the longest feathers represents the largest wing (the realistic wing is the third one in accordance to the fossil).