History knows many brilliant inventors who, thanks to their unconventional views on simple things, were able to change human life once and for all. One such person is Leonardo da Vinci. He invented more than 100 useful and necessary devices for human life. We will look at the 7 most interesting inventions of Da Vinci.
Armored tank
This invention is one of the most unusual, especially for Leonardo, because he simply could not stand war. He did not want to create an armored tank, but he had to, because it was a request from a very influential man at that time named Ludovico Sforz (Duke of Milan).
In appearance, the tank very much resembled a turtle with a system of gear wheels. This structure was protected on all sides by 36 guns. The tank itself could easily accommodate about 8 soldiers, who were protected by strong wooden outer armor. Each cannon could easily inflict significant damage on the enemy with one shot.
Recently, experts noticed that Leonardo da Vinci's drawing had a major flaw. The fact is that the wheels designed to move the armored tank forward were spinning in different directions with the wheels designed to move backward, so the tank would simply stand still. Many believe that the great inventor made such an oversight deliberately, because... didn't want the tank to be used for military purposes.
Robotic device
This invention is considered the most unusual and amazing among all the inventions created by Leonardo. To bring his next brilliant idea into reality, he had a hard time. The inventor began studying anatomy and even cut up human corpses in order to find out how the musculoskeletal system works. After some time, he discovered that our bones are controlled by muscles. After this, Da Vinci suggested that a similar mechanism could be used by technology.
Unlike many other inventions, which remained in the form of an idea, Leonardo still assembled a robot. But it was used exclusively to entertain the crowd at the Duke of Milan's parties.
Today, few people know what that time was, but if we rely on the drawings, we can assume that he could easily sit, move your arms and even walk like a real person. The basis of this invention was a simple system of pulleys and gears.
Parachute
In the 15th century, people were seriously thinking about creating a device that would help them fly. They came up with various methods to make this cherished dream come true. All attempts were unsuccessful, except for the attempt of the great Leonardo Da Vinci, who depicted a drawing of a real parachute.
He assumed that the parachute must be in the shape of a pyramid and completely sewn from ordinary fabric. Attached to the drawing was a description that his invention would allow him to jump from any height and then remain safe and sound.
Recently, engineers made a parachute according to Da Vinci's drawings, and it actually turned out to be effective.
Clean City Project
When Leonardo lived in Milan, almost all of Europe was engulfed in a terrible disease - the plague. This made him think about building a sanitary and clean city.
He designed city divided into several levels, in each of which unsanitary conditions are kept to a minimum. The city was supposed to have a network of canals to quickly remove all waste.
Unfortunately, his idea was not crowned with great success, due to the fact that he could not find a person who would be an investor in the construction of such a city.
Machine gun
The weapons that da Vinci created are not at all similar to modern ones. This machine gun was not capable of firing bullets from the same barrel at lightning speed, but it could easily fire volleys very quickly.
The machine gun mechanism is quite simple. It was necessary to take 11 muskets and attach them to the board in parallel. Then 3 such boards were folded to form an equilateral triangle. A shaft was placed in the middle so that the structure could be easily rotated. Thus, the first 11 muskets fired while the others reloaded.
Diving suit
At the very end of the 15th century, Leonardo da Vinci invented a diving suit to send soldiers to the bottom of the harbor so that they could repel attacks of enemy ships, damaging their bottoms. Today this idea seems very simple to implement, but at the time of Leonardo it seemed unrealistic.
The mechanism of this invention was arranged as follows. Air entered the waterproof suit from a special bell. The suit itself was leather. Divers also had to wear heavy masks with holes in them to see where to swim. Thanks to Da Vinci's efforts, divers were able to stay at depth for quite a long time.
Self-propelled trolley
A self-propelled trolley, according to many experts, is considered the first car in human history.
The drawings that were made by Leonardo do not fully describe the entire internal mechanism of this device, and therefore modern engineers had to think long and hard about how everything worked. They concluded that the cart was driven by a spring mechanism. These same springs were hidden in the case and could easily be wound up, like a clock mechanism, and then the cart begins to move forward as the spring unwinds.
Leonardo da Vinci (15 April 1452 – 2 May 1519) was one of the most famous Italian artists, inventors, architects and writers of the Renaissance. Today, galleries, museums, institutes, restaurants, and even some trade marks. It is true what they say: “If a person is talented, then he is talented in everything,” this is the expression that suits Leonardo da Vinci. Today we want to present a list of the ten greatest and most amazing inventions of Leonardo da Vinci, for which he became famous.
It is known that Leonardo was very interested in anatomy from childhood. Surely it was she, as well as a great desire to help humanity, that contributed to the emergence of this technology around 1495. Da Vinci studied the human body for a long time and decided to create his own mechanical prototype of a person (he could rise and sit down, move his arms and neck), naturally, different from modern cyborgs. But it is precisely this that is the primary source for further improvements in robotics.
This is a prototype of a modern helicopter, which had “blades” and if you gave them sufficient speed, aerodynamic pressure was generated, thanks to which it could take off. If there was air under the blades, the propeller rose to a sufficiently high distance, but could not fly on its own. The screw had to be driven by people who walked around the axis and pushed the levers.
Leonardo da Vinci's city of the future was a multi-tiered settlement, where each building had an individual water supply system, similar to those existing now. The creation of such a city was facilitated by the raging plague, unsanitary conditions and dirt at that time. Leonardo sought to create a city where there would be no such diseases and which would be suitable for comfortable living. It is interesting that after this invention, diagrams of similar cities appeared among other scientists, but the primacy belongs to da Vinci.
The self-propelled trolley is very similar, and in fact, is the ancestor of our car. It was invented by da Vinci in such a way that it could move both with and without a driver - a kind of “robot car”. Unfortunately, scientists were not able to study in detail the design by which the car moved, but they made the assumption that it was a spring mechanism. It was hidden inside the cart itself; it had to be wound by hand, after which the spring would unwind and the cart would move.
Tank
This invention is considered the prototype of modern tanks. It was a conical-shaped machine equipped with cannons along the perimeter. Could move using the muscular power of a crew of eight people. Most likely, it was intended to intimidate the enemy, and not for use as a serious military weapon.
The diving suit was invented for underwater sabotage. So that divers could, dressed in this attire, open the bottoms of enemy ships that sailed to Venice. The suit was made of leather. Divers could breathe using a flexible breathing tube made from pieces of reed attached to wine bottles or a floating bell on the surface.
Leonardo da Vinci proposed putting together 11 muskets on one rectangular platform, then folding three platforms into a triangle and placing a shaft inside. It was understood that while one row of muskets was firing, the other two would cool down and reload. As you know, not one of Da Vinci's inventions for killing was built, but if this machine gun had been built, it would have been extremely destructive for the enemy.
It is no secret that Leonardo da Vinci was interested in everything that flies, so the Italian inventor developed an ornithopter, a device with which you can rise into the air and fly like a bird, flapping mechanical wings driven by muscle power. From the point of view of aerodynamics, this device was very successful and scientists proved that if it had been built, a person would actually take off!
Parachute
In 1483, Leonardo da Vinci drew a sketch of a pyramidal parachute - a “tent” made of starched linen measuring 12x12 cubits. As he himself indicated, thanks to this device a person could fall from any height without being injured. What is surprising is that these calculations are close to the dimensions of a modern parachute.
Perhaps, greatest invention Leonardo da Vinci is considered a bearing. This mechanism is so small that we simply do not notice it in everyday life, but it is impossible to imagine our life without it! The bearing was part of most of Leonardo's invented mechanisms; it is the basis of almost every moving mechanism today.
4-04-2017, 21:48
In our age of robotics and advanced science, it is difficult to imagine that a number of modern mechanisms were already invented back in the 15th century. The author of many inventions is the greatest thinker of the Middle Ages, Leonardo da Vinci. Studying his drawings, engineers are amazed at the precision of the details, thanks to which inventions can function without the use of electronics, fuel materials, or computerization of processes.
A self-propelled trolley (the prototype of a modern car), a helicopter, a tank, and now, using his ancient drawings, can be built and operate flawlessly.
An invention for the ages
Leonardo da Vinci repeatedly spoke with disgust about the conduct of military operations. However, he paid a lot of attention to creating more advanced killing weapons on the battlefield.
Unfortunately, most of these inventions were not implemented, although they receive due recognition from modern military engineers. The most famous of them is an armored tank on wheels in the form of a dome. It had to be served by 8 people.
According to modern engineers, if this design had been used in medieval wars, they would have been much bloodier.
But the invention of a wheel lock for a pistol, which was wound up with a key, was implemented in the production of handguns during the lifetime of the inventor. This mechanism earned particular popularity and was used in muskets and pistols in subsequent centuries.
For lovers of scuba diving
Leonardo da Vinci's inventions in the field of underwater diving were recognized by his contemporaries, and have survived to this day in an unchanged or slightly improved form. Many people don’t even realize that a lifebuoy and swimming fins were created by a brilliant scientist.
Most people in the 21st century think that the diving suit was created by Yves Cousteau. This is partly true. But before him, Leonardo da Vinci made drawings and descriptions of diving equipment.
For a medieval diver, a suit made of waterproof leather was intended; he put a metal sphere with many round glass windows on his head to view the surrounding area. The supply of oxygen was provided by a tube that was attached to air-filled bottles on the back.
Note from NASA
The great inventor Leonardo da Vinci left his mark on robotics. Based on a study of the anatomy of the corpses of the dead, he created drawings and developed a prototype of a mechanical man.
It is known that the robot was designed and found its application at the court of Lodovico Sforza, an admirer and patron of the famous scientist. It was used for entertainment.
The robot was dressed in the armor of a knight. He could walk, sit up, and move his jaws. Unfortunately, the invention has not survived to this day. One can only guess about the capabilities of the mechanism.
But the surviving drawings from the 15th century interested the developers of modern models of planetary reconnaissance robots. Although the first robot was driven by an ingenious combination of bearings and gears, NASA plans to use some of the ideas for developments intended for space exploration.
Implementation of ideas in bridge construction and other branches of engineering
Leonardo da Vinci's developments in the field of engineering structures interested bridge builders of the 21st century. Based on ancient drawings, a 100-meter pedestrian bridge was built and put into operation in 2001 in the Norwegian town of As.
During construction, engineers deviated from the original description only twice. Leonardo da Vinci's bridge is 246 meters longer and was oriented towards stone construction. The embodied structure is made of wood.
The architectural structure is an almost exact copy of the bridge project, which was designed by order of the Turkish Sultan Bayazet II. It was planned to install it in Istanbul across the Golden Horn. But for unknown reasons, the ruler refused to implement his plans.
The modern Leonardo da Vinci Bridge serves as a pedestrian crossing at a height of 8 m above the E-18 motorway, 35 km south of Oslo.
Another invention - a device that compresses air and is capable of driving it through pipes - has found its application in the development of ventilation systems. It is also used to create draft in blast furnaces.
Contributions to modern medicine
Without any special education in the field of medicine, just relying on extensive knowledge of human anatomy, Leonardo da Vinci left behind a legacy used in modern surgery.
From the time of the scientist’s life, many very detailed images of the anatomical structure of the scientist’s human organs have been preserved. The drawings are so detailed that they are more reminiscent of photographs taken by modern tomography.
Based on one of the works of Leonardo da Vinci, in the 20th century, American surgeons performed a successful heart operation to replace one of the organ’s valves.
The drawings of the famous inventor’s mechanisms do not go unnoticed by modern scientists. Currently, based on them, the design of a surgical robot for performing operations is being developed. The development must have ultra-precision, which a human surgeon does not possess. It is planned that drawings from the 15th century will be used to create the new product.
The use of a surgical robot will significantly reduce injuries during complex operations, reduce the degree of pain, and ensure rapid rehabilitation of patients after surgery. The miracle of surgery will be named after Leonardo da Vinci.
RIA VistaNews correspondent
It may seem simply incredible, but many of the modern inventions that people actively use today saw the light of day thanks to Leonardo da Vinci. It was he who, back in the 15th century, laid the foundation for robotics and palentology, invented a helicopter, contact lenses and much more. In our review of 15 things, the appearance of which humanity owes to the great Leonardo.
1. Paleontology is a science created by da Vinci
Leonardo may have been the first person to record the discovery of a rare fossil called "paleodictyon", which looks like a hexagonal fossilized honeycomb. Even today, scientists are still trying to figure out what it is. Leonardo described some of the first modern ideas about paleontology back in the 15th century.
2. Robotics
At the end of the 15th century, Leonardo designed what is considered the first humanoid robot. The machine had a complex series of pulleys and spring mechanisms that allowed it to lift its arms and move them. He also developed several mechanical lions that could walk on their own, using clock-like mechanisms that were many decades ahead of their time.
3. Parachute
Leonardo sketched the idea for the first parachute in the margins of one of his notebooks back in the 1480s. He wrote: “If a person is given rubberized linen fabric 11 meters long and wide, then he can jump from any height without injury at all.” In 2000, a Briton jumped from hot air balloon with a parachute made according to Leonardo's notes, and landed successfully.
4. Helicopter
Long before flying machines were invented, Leonardo came up with the idea of a helicopter. In 2013, a team of Canadian engineers created a pedal-powered helicopter based on Leonardo's idea.
5. Telescope
Although Leonardo probably never actually created telescopes, he certainly recognized the potential of lenses and mirrors in viewing celestial bodies from earth. One of his notebooks contains instructions for creating what sounds a lot like a reflecting telescope: "In order to observe the nature of the planets, a concave mirror should be made on the roof. The image reflected by the base of the mirror will show the surface of the planet in high magnification."
In 1509, Leonardo sketched out a model of how the optical power of the eye could be changed. If you keep your face in a bowl of water, you can see more clearly for a while. He suggested that lenses filled with water could improve vision. The first lenses were created only in the 19th century.
7. Scuba and diving
Jacques Cousteau is considered the father of scuba diving, but Leonardo was already thinking about wetsuits in the early 16th century. He proposed a floating cork buoy that would hold a reed tube above the water, through which air would flow to the diver. He also came up with a leather bag that could hold air for a diver.
8. Freudian psychology
In 1916, Sigmund Freud published an entire book attempting to analyze Leonardo based on his biography. Freud psychoanalyzed Leonardo, coming up with extensive explanations for his relentless curiosity, artistic skill, and general behavior.
9. Artistic Perspective
The Renaissance painter was obsessed with optics and perspective. He developed an artistic technique that makes things more distant appear more blurred, and popularized it in Renaissance painting. Leonardo developed many artistic techniques such as chiaroscuro, the contrast between light and shadow, and sfumato - mixing oil paints to blur the boundaries between colors in a painting.
10. Anatomy
In addition to all his discoveries regarding human organs, Leonardo da Vinci was the first person to accurately describe the shape of the spine. He depicted an S-shaped spine and sacrum made of fused vertebrae.
11. Dentistry
Leonardo was the first person to depict the regular structure of teeth in the oral cavity, detailing their number and root structure.
12. Cardiac surgery
Leonardo was obsessed with the study of the heart. Over the course of his life, he dissected dozens of human hearts to find out how they worked. A century before discovering that the heart pumps blood throughout the body, Leonardo understood its vital importance to the circulatory system. He was the first person to describe coronary artery disease, and the first to describe the heart as a muscle.
13. Obstetrics
Many of Leonardo's drawings of female anatomy mistakenly suggest similarities between the reproductive organs of humans and cows. But he was the first to depict the position of a fetus in a woman's uterus, laying the foundation for a better understanding of pregnancy and childbirth.
14. Optical illusion
Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks contain the earliest known examples of anamorphosis, a visual trick where an image appears distorted from a normal perspective but appears normal from another (such as a mirror).
15. Pop culture
Leonardo's "Vitruvian Man" is one of the most recognizable drawings in the world. This design has been used literally everywhere - movies, TV shows, t-shirts, etc.
This list will also be a great addition.
Leonardo da Vinci was convinced that "a person who overcomes air resistance with the help of large artificial wings can rise into the air."
Convinced that he was right, he began to develop an apparatus driven only by the power of a person’s muscles, and allowing him to soar in the air like a bird. There are many drawings of this "ornitotteri" invented by Leonardo. Some of them depict a person lying down, who is about to take off with the help of mechanisms attached to the wings; others are propelled forward by a more advanced system of screws and pulleys. There are also drawings of a man positioned vertically in a flying ship, on the pedals of which he pressed with his hands and feet.
To design the "ornitotteri" wings, Leonardo studied the anatomy of a bird's wing, taking into account the function and distribution of its feathers. While observing the bird's flight, the scientist noticed that it flaps its wings differently when it hovers in the air, flies forward, or lands. He was also interested in the membranous wings of bats. Based on these observations, Leonardo designed huge wings designed not only to lift a person into the air, but also to keep him in flight, thanks to ailerons and hinges. He intended to imitate the aerial acrobatics of birds, their ability to conserve energy in flight and land accurately. Until the end of the 15th century, Leonardo was convinced that he could carry out the project of mechanical flight. However, he was concerned about the fact that the capabilities of human muscles are limited. Therefore, he was going to use the bow mechanism instead of muscle energy, which would provide forward movement. However, the bow did not solve the problems of autonomy in flight that arise when the spring unwinds quickly.
From 1503 to 1506 Leonardo was busy with research in Tuscany. Atmospheric conditions, the presence or absence of wind, and corresponding meteorological and aerodynamic phenomena forced him to abandon his old idea of an “instrument” based on the flapping of wings, and to recognize “flight without the movement of wings.”
Observing how large birds allow air currents to pick them up and carry them in the air, Leonardo thought about equipping a person with large compound wings that would enable him to enter a suitable air current with the help of simple body movements and without expending much effort. A person will float freely until he falls to the ground like a “dry leaf.”
Systematic research undertaken by Leonardo at the beginning of the 16th century led him to the need to study the “quality and density of air.” For this purpose he designed hydroscopic instruments. Leonardo emphasized that the laws of aerodynamics are similar to the laws of hydrostatics, i.e. the science of water is a mirror image of the science of wind, “which (the science of wind) we will show through the movement of water and this important science will be a step forward in the understanding of bird flight in the air.” .
In fact, the design of devices capable of flying has long attracted human attention. The passion for aircraft modeling, which for many begins with kites and paper airplanes, has now been successfully realized by manufacturers of radio-controlled models. Model airplanes can hardly be called toys, because most of them participate in serious competitions. Professionals divide aircraft modeling into amateur and sports, with the first type of hobby having the largest number of fans.
The idea of flight in the works of Leonardo da Vinci
Dmitry Alekseevich Sobolev, Ph.D. Sciences, Institute of History of Natural Science and Technology named after. S.I. Vavilova, RAS
One of the most interesting pages in the multifaceted work of Leonardo da Vinci is research devoted to the problem of human flight. Leonardo was the first scientist to seriously study this topic. His manuscripts contain drawings and brief descriptions of various aircraft. He returned to this topic throughout his creative career: the first projects of flying machines date back to the mid-80s. XV century, and the latter date from the second decade of the XVI century.
The most numerous projects of devices with flapping wings are ornithopters. This is quite natural, since the bird was always the role model at the early stage of aviation development.
First famous project Leonardo da Vinci's flying machine is a design for an ornithopter where a person must be in a recumbent position (1485-1487) (Fig. 1). To flap the wings, you need to use both the strength of the arms and the legs of the “pilot”. The wing axis was positioned in such a way that when moving down, it simultaneously moved backward, creating, along with the lifting force, the forward force necessary for horizontal flight.
Leonardo not only brought short description design, but also gave recommendations on testing the apparatus. He wrote: “You will test this device over the lake and put on a long fur as a belt so that you don’t drown if you fall. It is also necessary that the lowering of the wings be done with the strength of both legs at the same time, so that you can delay and balance, lowering one wing faster than the other, looking if necessary, just as you see kites and other birds do. Moreover, lowering with two legs is always more powerful than with one... And raising the wings should be done by the force of a spring or, if you want, by hand, or even better by lifting legs, this is better, because then your hands are freer" (Leonardo da Vinci. Selected works of natural science. M. 1955. P. 605).
To control flight altitude, da Vinci proposed an original mechanism consisting of a movable horizontal tail unit connected to a hoop on a person’s head. By raising and lowering his head, the tester had, according to Leonardo’s plan, to raise and lower the tail surface of the ornithopter (Fig. 2).
In an effort to reduce the effort required to move the wings, the great Italian inventor proposed making special fabric valves on the flapping surfaces, which, when the wing moves downwards, would be tightly pressed against the mesh stretched over the wing reinforcement, and during the reverse stroke would open, allowing air to pass freely. A similar idea was later used by other ornithopter designers.
Another option ornithoptera, proposed by Leonardo in the same years, was an apparatus in which a person had to flap his wings, like a cyclist, rotating with his feet wheels connected by levers to the power structure of the wings (Fig. 3). In the sketch of this device, what attracts attention is something resembling a bell suspended in front of the “pilot’s” face. Researchers are still debating what it could be. In my opinion, this device is a pendulum designed to indicate position in space. It is known that around 1485 the scientist made a sketch of such a device (Fig. 4). If this is so, then we see the first drawing of an aircraft instrument.
The most famous project is ornithopter boat(Fig. 5). It dates from about 1487. Apparently, a person had to sit or stand in the boat, moving levers connected to the wings. Another lever was intended for turning the horizontal steering wheel, shaped like a bird's tail.
At the end of the 1480s. Leonardo da Vinci makes a drawing and description of a large flying machine with two pairs of flapping wings (Fig. 6). Standing in something like a bowl, the man set his wings in motion using a system of pulleys. Interestingly, the device had a retractable landing gear; the supports could be folded upward using gates and cables (Fig. 7).
Leonardo explained the concept of his new ornithopter this way: “I decided that standing on your feet is better than lying flat, for the device can never turn upside down... The rise and fall of the movement [of the wings] will be done by lowering and raising both legs, which gives great strength, and your arms remain free. If you had to lie flat, your legs, at the shin joints, would become very tired..." (Leonardo da Vinci. Selected works of natural science..P.606).
This reasoning is, of course, correct, but nevertheless this project should be considered one of the least successful results of Leonardo da Vinci’s creative research. The very large dimensions of the device: wingspan - 40 cubits (about 16 m), structural height - 25 cubits (10 m), complex and heavy transmission - all this made the chances of getting into the air even less realistic than with previous ornithopters.
Apparently, over time, Leonardo himself realized the unreality of his plan. Perhaps he even conducted some experiments, since in his notes 1485-1490. There is a drawing of an experiment to determine the lift force of a flapping wing (Fig. 8). A little later, he pointed out the possibility of using a bow compressed with great force as a source of energy for the movement of wings (Fig. 9). When extended, a powerful bow could indeed create a large impulse of force, but it would be very short-lived, and at best the machine could only jump upward.
A hint for getting out of this deadlock was given by a thorough study of the mechanism of bird flight, which the scientist became interested in at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries. Observation of birds prompted him to the correct idea that the main thrust in flight is created by the end parts of the wing. As a result, at the very end of the 15th century. Leonardo makes a drawing of a fundamentally new design for an ornithopter - with a wing consisting of two articulated parts (Fig. 10). The swings had to be carried out by the outer parts, making up about half total area wing This idea, which is the first step in the emergence of the concept of a fixed-wing aircraft - an airplane, found practical implementation in the last decade of the 19th century. in the experiments of the famous German aviation pioneer O. Lilienthal. It is known that he tried to fly with a glider, the ends of the wing were driven by an engine attached to his body (Fig. 11).
The next step in the evolution of Leonardo's views on the design of a flying machine is associated with his study of the mechanism of soaring and gliding flight of birds. He concluded: “...When a bird is in the wind, it can stay on it without flapping its wings, because the same role that the wing performs in relation to the air when the air is still, is performed by the moving air in relation to the wings when the wings are stationary” ( Leonardo da Vinci. Selected works of natural science. P.497).
Based on this principle, known today as the principle of reversibility of movement, Leonardo comes to the conclusion: it is not a person who should push the air with his wings, but the wind should hit the wings and carry them in the air, just as he moves a sailing ship. Then the pilot of the flying machine will only need to maintain balance using the wings. “It does not require much strength to support oneself and balance on one’s wings and direct them into the path of the winds and control one’s course; small movements of the wings are enough for this,” writes Leonardo da Vinci in 1505 (Giacomelly, R. The aerodynamics of Leonardo da Vinci // Aernautical Journal. 1930. Vol. 34. P. 1021)
Based on the concept he developed, the scientist decided to create a new type of aircraft. Most likely, it should have been fundamentally different from the ornithopters of previous years. According to the Italian researcher of Leonardo da Vinci's work, R. Giacomelli, it could have been a monoplane with a wingspan of approximately 18 m, designed for flight in rising air currents (in modern terminology, a soaring glider). The wings were movable, but compared to previous projects their mobility was very limited and would only serve for balancing (Giacomelly, R. Leonardo da Vinci e il volo meccanico // L "Aerotechnica. 1927. No. 8. P. 518-524 .).
The manned “artificial bird” was supposed to launch from the top of Monte Cecheri (Swan Mountain) in the vicinity of Florence and, picked up by vertical currents, rise into the air. “The great bird will begin its first flight from the back of its gigantic swan, filling the universe with amazement, filling all scriptures with its fame, and eternal glory to the nest where it was born,” wrote Leonardo da Vinci in his Treatise on the Flight of Birds (1505). ) (Leonardo da Vinci. Selected works of natural science. P.494).
But Italy was not destined to become the birthplace of gliding. Loaded with numerous orders, Leonardo was never able to begin implementing his idea (or did not want to - for him it was always more interesting to generate projects and postulates than to bring them to life).
Shortly before his death, the scientist once again returned to thoughts about moving through the air using a fixed wing. His manuscript, kept at the Institute of France in Paris, contains a little-known drawing dating from 1510-1515. (Fig. 12). It depicts a man holding a plane with his hands and descending through the air, and there is an indication of the method of control: “This [man] will move to the right if he bends his right arm and straightens his left; and will then move from right to left as he changes position hands" (Gibbs-Smith, C. Leonardo da Vinci's aeronautics. London, 1967. P. 21.). Apparently, this idea of a simple balanced glider, or, more precisely, a controlled parachute, arose from Leonardo as a result of observing falling of a sheet of paper in the air.
Speaking about Leonardo da Vinci's research in the field of flight, one cannot fail to mention two more pioneering projects - the parachute project and the helicopter project. Both of them were made in the 1480s, at the same time as the first proposals for the creation of ornithopters.
Leonardo accompanied the drawing of a man descending on a pyramid-shaped parachute (Fig. 13) with the inscription: “If a person has a tent of starched linen, 12 cubits wide and 12 cubits high, he will be able to throw himself from any great height without danger to himself” (Leonardo da Vinci. Selected works of natural science. P. 615).
The familiar image of Leonardo da Vinci's helicopter (Fig. 14) represents the first project of a vertically taking off aircraft. Unlike modern helicopters with a bladed propeller, this machine had to take off using the well-known in the 15th century. Archimedean screw, with a diameter of about 8 m. Despite the fact that the screw had to be unscrewed by hand, Leonardo da Vinci believed in the feasibility of his project: “I say that when this device made by a screw is made well, that is, from canvas, the pores of which are starched, and is quickly set into rotation [...] the said screw is screwed into the air and rises up."
Like all first proposals, these projects were still imperfect. The parachute did not have a special hole in the top of the canopy, providing a stable descent trajectory, and the helicopter design did not take into account the influence of the reaction torque from the rotation of the propeller, which would spin the structure located below, and the shape of the propeller was far from the best. But they both represent remarkable technical foresight nonetheless.
The remarkable ideas of Leonardo da Vinci remained unknown for a long time, since he did not publish the results of his research. Ultimately, what Leonardo achieved over several decades dragged on for centuries. Only in the 18th century, unsuccessful attempts to fly by flapping wings attached to the arms and legs were replaced by the first designs of aircraft with a fixed wing generating lift and small movable wings to create forward force - Swedenborg (Sweden, 1716), Bauer ( Germany, 1763), Keighley (England, 1799). Flights on balancing gliders began at the end of the 19th century, and the first helicopters appeared only in the 20th century.
An analysis of the development of views on the design of a winged aircraft in the works of Leonardo da Vinci and in the works of subsequent aviation pioneers allows us to draw the following general conclusion: contrary to the common point of view among aviation historians, the idea of an aircraft did not originate in itself as an alternative concept to the ornithopter, but “grew” from projects of devices with flapping wings through a series of intermediate designs of half-aircraft, half-ornithopter, the author of the first of which was the great Leonardo.
Vertical "ORNITOTTERO"
The need for a more powerful source of energy led Leonardo to the idea of using all parts of the human body during flight. The picture shows a man controlling sliding mechanisms not only with the help of his arms and legs, but also with his head, which, according to Leonardo, “has a force equal to 200 pounds.” A man stands in the center of a huge vessel, which is a bowl with a diameter of 12 m, equipped with a ladder (12 m). The wings of the device had a width of 24 m and a span of 4.8 m. On this device, Leonardo intended to use two pairs of wings, flapping alternately.
Helicopter
This drawing is an image of the “ancestor” of the modern helicopter. The radius of the propeller was 4.8 m. It had a metal edging and a linen covering. The screw was driven by people who walked around the axis and pushed the levers. There was another way to start the propeller - it was necessary to quickly unwind the cable under the axis. “I think that if this screw mechanism is well made, that is, made of starched linen (to avoid tearing) and quickly spun, then it will find support in the air and fly high into the air.”
Hydroscope
The hydroscope is an instrument invented by Alberti. It was a simple set of scales with a hydroscopic substance (cotton wool, sponge, etc.) and wax that did not absorb water. According to Leonardo, the device was used to “find out the quality and density of the air and when it would rain.”
Tilt meter
This device is a pendulum placed inside a glass vessel (in the shape of a bell), which serves to “direct the apparatus (aircraft) straight or inclined, as you prefer, that is, when you want to fly straight, place the ball in the middle of the circle.” .
Balancing Study
The movements of the glider in flight were controlled by movable wings and the balancing of the pilot: “a person must be free from the waist down so that he can balance himself, although he is in a boat, and so that his center of gravity coincides with the center of gravity of the entire structure and is balanced with him".
Equilibrium Study
The scientist conducted a study of the glider's balance in order to determine the bird's center of gravity. There are no drawings of this glider, but it is known that it must have been built from lightweight materials: bamboo and fabric with fastenings and guy lines made of raw silk or special leather. A tall structure made of reeds in the shape of a cylinder or parallelepiped was apparently pulled out by straps from the very wide (about 10 m wide) wings of this glider. In this design, the pilot was located much lower than the wings, which created the balance of the device.
Reclining "ORNITOTTERO"
This drawing is one of Leonardo's most famous drawings: "A rotates the wing, B turns it with a lever, C lowers it, D raises it." A man lies stretched out on the platform: “The heart is located in this place.” The legs are threaded into stirrups in such a way that one leg raises the wing, the other lowers it. This is an aircraft in which a prostrate person turns pedals that raise and lower the wings, bending and rotating them with the help of ropes and levers, i.e. this device seems to be “rowing” through the air.
In another variant, the "Ornitottero", the four wings were driven by the pilot's hands and feet. The hands raised the wings with the help of a drum, and the legs lowered one pair of wings in turn. Thus, the rhythm of the flapping wings accelerated. The device on the pilot's back was controlled by winding the ropes onto the drums and unwinding them.
Model "ORNITOTTERO"
Here is one of the options "ORNITOTTERO". The pilot with the equipment on his back was located under a metal semicircle; the movement of the wings was created by the movement of the legs. This was helped by the hands operating the handles located under the semicircle. The steering wheel was placed on the pilot's neck. The direction of flight was determined by turning the head.
Ornithopter
The fuselage is shaped like a pilot's boat. Apparently, Leonardo thought about air in the same terms as about water. The huge wings (similar to bat wings) are driven by a system of screws and nuts. As on boats, a rudder was provided. The wide tail plane must have been intended to control the height.
The picture shows not a glider controlled by a pilot, but an interesting “hybrid”. The pilot hangs vertically in the center of the vehicle, the tips of the wings have joints that control the vehicle, and a rigid structure supports it.
Spring driven ornithopter
Convinced that it was impossible to control such a device using only the power of human muscles, Leonardo gave alternative solutions. For example, he designed a device with a spring-starting device that transfers its energy to the wings of the “ornitottero” (in this case, vertical) at the moment the spring straightens. In the detailed work on the left, Leonardo depicted a device similar to those he used in his “car” and in some clock mechanisms. This system was theoretically so ahead of its time that it even received the name “Leonardo’s Airplane.” In practice, it turned out to be imperfect due to the need to quickly unwind the spring and the difficulties in rewinding it during flight.
Parachute
“If a person has an awning made of thick fabric, each side of which is 12 arm lengths, and the height is 12, then he can jump from any significant height without breaking.”
Flight of bird
Thanks to systematic studies of bird flight, Leonardo decided to replace flight with flapping wings with gliding flight. Around 1505, his book “Codice sul Volo degli Uccelli” was completed (it is currently in Turin, in the former Royal Library). These drawings are from this book.
Wind speed measuring device
There was another type of anemometer. It was made of cone-shaped tubes and was used to determine whether the wind turning a wheel was proportional to the air intake opening in the cone, given identical wind intensity.
System of braces for levers and connections
Leonardo believed that the wings could be raised and lowered by a system of ropes and pulleys, driven by the pilot's legs in stirrups and his hands operating the handles. While rising and falling, the wings also bent and straightened using an automatic system of guys, levers and connections.
Descent to the ground "with a dry leaf"
“A person will turn to the right if he bends his right arm and extends his left; by changing these movements, he will turn from right to left.”
Anemometer
The picture shows a “plate anemometer”, or “brush”, since feathers were traditionally used to sample the wind. The device is a graduated reed with thin plates that move depending on the intensity of the wind.
Vertical take-off and landing apparatus
Leonardo planned to place a system of retractable staircases on the vertical “ornitottero”. Nature served as an example for him: “look at the stone swift, which sat on the ground and cannot take off because of its short legs; and when it is in flight, pull out a ladder, as shown in the second image from above... this is how you need to take off from the plane; these stairs serve as legs...". Regarding landing, he wrote: "These hooks (concave wedges - see details on the right), which are attached to the base of the ladders, serve the same purpose as the tips of the toes of the person who jumps on them, without his whole body being shaken by it." as if he were jumping in heels."
