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Mountain Hawk Sculpture

This project aimed to design and manufacture a 6ft metal sculpture of Lehigh's mascot, the Mountain Hawk. Working in a multidisciplinary group, the team designed and prototyped a small scale wing mechanism that would open and close the wings, as well as unfurl the feathers. The group also began to design the head and body towards the end of the project.

Prototype Tools: 3D Printing, CNC Machine, Plasma Cutter, Welder, Laser Cutter, Metal and Woodshop tools

Softwares: Solidworks, Fusion 360, AutoCAD, Keyshot

Year: 2023-2024

Featured Prototype

Wing Raising and Closing Mechanism Prototypes

Prototype 1
initial exploration of wing mechanism, photoshopped to see how feathers could lay on links
Prototype 2
Exploring two hydraulics to move links, for prototyping, syringes were used to represent hydraulics.
Prototype 3
Mounting mechanism on body
Prototype 4
redesigned mechanism to increase mechanical advantage, added turning mechanism so wings can fold into body
Prototype 5
doubled sided mechansim

Feather Prototypes

Prototype 1
exploring how feathers can fall on wing
Prototype 2
first metal prototype with steel feathers, pined at one point to unfurl
Prototype 3
second feather design with aluminum feathers, some pinned at one point, another along arm.
Prototype 4
exploring new feather shape with 3D printing and thermoforming
Prototype 5
two different CNC foam feathers to lay fiberglass onto.
Prototype 5
water jet fiberglass feathers with metal quils

Head Prototypes

Prototype 1
sculpted head to be 3D scanned
Prototype 2
sliced head in Fusion360 to test out frame of the head
Prototype 3
faceted head made from chipboard to explore how sheet metal can be used to form head