Design of a Deployable Antenna Truss Structure with Telescopic Members

Abstract

This paper describes a method for building three-dimensional deployable truss structures from the viewpoint of deployment reliability.In this regard a method is proposed for designing a closed-loop deployable truss structure for future large space antennas through a kinematic degree-of-freedom analysis of the mechanical system.Using this method, it is possible to attain a truss structure with the appropriate constraints.We have designed and fabricated a prototype and achieved successful deployment under a microgravity environment yielded by parabolic aircraft flight.Hence, the results have demonstrated the effectiveness of deployable truss design using kinematic degree-of-freedom analysis.