Synthesis and analysis of Fulleroid-like deployable Archimedean mechanisms based on an overconstrained eight-bar linkage

This paper presents a novel intuitive synthesis approach for constructing Fulleroid-like Archimedean DPMs based on a Sarrus-like overconstrained spatial eight-bar linkage. Firstly, structure and the associated foundations of the eight-bar linkage are presented and characterized. Then, by integrating the eight-bar linkage into the Archimedean polyhedron bases, synthesis of a group of Fulleroid-like Archimedean DPMs is implemented; demonstrated by the design and construction of a Fulleroid-like deployable cuboctahedral mechanism and a Fulleroid-like deployable truncated tetrahedral mechanism. Subsequently, the mobility of these Fulleroid-like DPMs is verified through formulating the constraint matrices with Kirchhoff's circulation law and the associate constraint graphs. Further, kinematics of proposed polyhedral mechanisms is derived with numerical simulations, leading to the motion characterization of the eight-bar linkage and the group of Fulleroid-like deployable Archimedean mechanisms.