Deploying thick-panel kirigami structure with spring-cable-driven mode

Abstract

Thick-panel origami and kirigami concepts have been wildly used to design novel deployable structures in engineering fields. However, these structures include multiple creases that result in complex configurations. It is challenging to deploy them to a flat working surface through a steady and controllable process. In this paper, we propose a spring-cable-driven mode to accomplish the expected deployment of thick-panel kirigami structure. This scheme consists of passive spring-driven hinges and active motor-driven cables, where the former provides the kinetic energy and the latter controls the deployment process. The kinematic analysis is presented to obtain the space trajectory, which is used to guide the cable route arrangement. Then, a dynamic model based on multibody system is developed to solve the driving cable tension. Physical prototypes and experiments are carried out, which successfully validate our driven mode. The results indicate that the kirigami structure can deploy steadily with determined motion planning. Although this paper considers only kirigami structures, the findings can be developed in the other thick-panel origami and kirigami concepts of engineering applications in the future.