Origami-Inspired Structural System for in-Space Assembly

As space missions advance, the need for larger and more complex structures has grown beyond what current launch payloads can accommodate. Consequently, there is a requirement for some combination of assembly and deployment of these structures in space. The ARMADAS (Automated Reconfigurable Mission Adaptive Digital Assembly System) project has demonstrated the autonomous assembly and reconfiguration of strut-based volumetric pixels (“voxels”) by mobile robots; the voxels can be assembled and reassembled into lightweight yet strong structures. The individual blocks, however, lack efficient stowage capabilities for launch. Here, we introduce a novel structural system inspired by the principles of origami and designed to integrate with the current ARMADAS robots. A simple bar-and-hinge model is used to understand the effects on stiffness the integrated hinges impose, and the packing efficiency is calculated. The folding voxels reduce down to less than 15% of their deployed volume for transport and use a bi-stable locking mechanism. The two ARMADAS robots are able to simply deploy the voxel and trigger the locking mechanism, such that it may be assembled into a larger structure.