The design of coiling and uncoiling trusses using planar linkage modules

Abstract This paper presents the design of planar trusses constructed from a sequence of four-bar linkages that guide a one degree-of-freedom coiling movement of the truss from a linear deployed configuration to a coiled circular or coiled spiral stowed configuration. For a given number of modules in the truss, the dimensions of each module are identical for the circular stowed configuration, and are varied by a scale factor for the spiral stowed configuration. We present how to determine the dimensions of the linkage modules and provide example applications.