Pterosaur Control System
Hall Train Studio is a world leader in realistic dinosaur products, creating exhibits in various museums and theme parks. This time Hall Train Studio was working on a life-sized Pterosaur, an ancient flying creature with a 40 foot wingspan. The creature was to hang from a museum ceiling. What Hall Train wanted was a simple, cost effective way of making the creature move so it looked as if it were flying.
The Challenge

The challenge was obvious, how do you make a fragile 40 foot Pterosaur hung with wires move for a low cost?

The Solution
We decided to use pneumatics to attain the desired movement. We discovered that by hanging the Pterosaur's torso by a pneumatic cylinder, a short stroke would give the illusion that the creature was gliding through the air. We developed a simple two speed controller for the cylinder, with a programmable stroke, the longer the stroke the more the wing movement. The system did the trick for a fraction of other quoted costs.

Today the Pterosaur can be seen in various museums as it travels around the country.
Images



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