A Novel Lateral Deployment Mechanism for Segmented Mirror/Solar Panel of Space Telescope

Abstract

Space telescopes require large aperture primary mirrors to capture High Definition (HD) ground image while orbiting around the Earth. Fairing Volume of launch vehicles is limited and thus the size of monolithic mirror is limited to fairing size and solar panels are arranged within a petal formation in order to provide a greater power to volume ratio. This generates need for deployable mirrors for space use. This brings out a method for designing new deployment mechanism for segmented mirror. Details of mechanism folding strategy, design of components, FE simulations, realization and Lab model validation results are discussed in order to demonstrate the design using prototype.

Research About the Poisson’s Ratio of a Deployable Structure Based on the Kresling Origami

“…Therefore, origami structure has aroused many researchers' interest and provided a continuous source of inspiration for the development of metamaterials. At present, origami structure has been utilized in medical devices, soft robots, protective armor, and aerospace [2][3][4][5][6][7][8].…”

Reconfiguration of multistable 3D ferromagnetic mesostructures guided by energy landscape surveys

“…Reconfigurable three-dimensional (3D) structures that can actively change their geometries and thereby their functionalities upon external stimuli (like mechanical forces, magnetic fields, hydration, and temperature) [1][2][3][4] are promising for a diverse range of applications including deployable solar panels 5 , electromagnetic metamaterials 6,7 , phononics [8][9][10] , biomedical devices 11,12 , soft robotics [13][14][15][16][17] , metasurfaces [18][19][20][21] , and many others. The design of reconfigurable structures usually relies on structural instabilities, stimuli-responsive constituent materials (like swellable gels and shape memory polymers) [22][23][24] , or their heterogeneous combinations 25 .…”

Tailoring the multistability of origami-inspired, buckled magnetic structures via compression and creasing

“…Origami, the ancient art of folding two-dimensional (2D) thin sheets along predefined creases to create three-dimensional (3D) objects, 1-3 has inspired the design of many engineering structures for a wide range of applications, including deployable systems, [4][5][6] self-folding machines, 7 reconfigurable metamaterials, [8][9][10] and DNA origami. 11 For those applications, a key design feature of the structures is their ability to have multiple stable states as well as the tailoring of those states for tunability and adaptability.…”