A student team from Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU) won first prize at the national finals of the 12th National Undergraduate Mechanical Innovation Design Competition held at the Harbin Institute of Technology from July 17 to 20.

The biennial competition is a major national platform for assessing university students' innovative design and engineering skills.

The competition attracted 5,753 eligible entries from 707 universities across 32 regional divisions. Only 210 projects advanced to the final on-site evaluation. The HZAU team's bionic butterfly achieved the university's best result in a national mechanical innovation design competition in nearly a decade.

The competition required participants to design and build a mechanical butterfly capable of actual flight. The HZAU team developed a biomimetic flapping-wing aircraft. Its wings were made from carbon fiber and PET film, creating a structure that was stiffer at the front and flexible at the rear.

A lightweight flight control system coordinated wing movement and flight attitude. Tests showed that the aircraft could take off and land autonomously.

The project combined mechanical design, materials engineering, and aerodynamics. Team members completed structural design, prototype development, control-system testing, and flight trials through close collaboration.

Students make final adjustments to their project before the competition. [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]

The faculty adviser and team members pose for a photo in front of the project display board. [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]

First-prize winners attend the award ceremony at the national finals. [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]