Novel closed-loop deployable mechanisms and integrated support trusses for planar antennas of synthetic aperture radar

Abstract

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is indispensable electronic equipment in modern life, which has been widely used in the field of geological exploration, disaster monitoring, and environmental observation. With the increasing complexity of earth observation tasks, a higher receiving resolution of SAR is required, which needs the area of the radar antenna to be increased. However, there is a contradiction between the small launch space and the large working area. The deployable antenna mechanism is expected to meet the challenge. In this paper, a graphical type synthesis method is proposed to carry out the mechanism design of deployable mechanisms. According to the structural analysis and design requirements, the articulated form is adopted to carry sub-planes of planar antennas and provide one kinematic chain of the deployable mechanism. Then, different designed kinematic chains are synthesized to construct novel closed-loop deployable mechanisms. Mobility verification of a selected closed-loop deployable mechanism is carried out by screw theory to demonstrate the validity of type synthesis results. By sharing the provided kinematic chain and symmetrical design of two deployable mechanisms, deployable units with the driving unit are proposed as basic modules of support trusses for planar antennas. As a result, three novel deployable support trusses integrated by a series of deployable units and assembly mechanisms are proposed as the platforms for planar antennas. The deployable mechanisms and integrated support trusses proposed in this paper provide candidates for planar antennas of SAR.