Deployment of n-Strut Cylindrical Tensegrity Booms

Abstract

In this paper, general methods for the analysis of deployment of n-strut cylindrical Class-1 and Class-2 tensegrity booms are developed. Investigation of the geometries of cylindrical Class-1 and Class-2 tensegrity booms leads to comprehensive procedures for the deployment of cylindrical tensegrity booms with an arbitrary number (n) of struts in each stage. For Class-1 tensegrity booms, equilibrium surfaces that show the collection of feasible azimuth and declination angle pairs corresponding to self-equilibrated geometries are obtained numerically. Deployment is achieved by varying the azimuth and declination angle parameters while remaining on this equilibrium surface. For Class-2 tensegrity booms, two deployment strategies, one with constant-length reinforcing cables and another with actively controlled reinforcing cables, are considered, and deployment is achieved by varying the length of certain cables. Deployment is studied in detail for tensegrity booms with four struts in each stage and the results are presented. The developed generalization procedures for analyzing the geometry and deployment of n-strut cylindrical tensegrity booms make it possible to address design concerns such as packaging efficiency, stiffness, and stiffness-to-mass ratio.