Deployable closed-loop tape-spring manipulators with mobile drive components on localized folds

Abstract A tape spring is a thin-walled open cylindrical structure with a natural transverse curvature. The localized folds in the tape spring serve as revolute joints, and the unfolded straight segments serve as links. If an external torque is imposed on a fold, it can slide along the tape spring. Inspired by this, two novel deployable closed-loop tape-spring manipulators with mobile drive components on the folds are proposed. The first one comprises a folded tape spring and two drive components in a V shape. The buckling stability space and the stiffness of the mechanism are investigated, and the boundary equations of the stability space are derived. The deviation angles of the orientation of the moving platform are analyzed. Besides, an improved W-shaped deployable manipulator comprising two V-shaped mechanisms is developed to solve the problem that is a small stochastic deviation angle of the attitude of the platform. The pure translational motion of the manipulator is produced through employing two master motors and one slave motor. Finally, two prototypes are manufactured and subjected to experiments to validate the presented design and analysis.