Kinematic analysis of generalized adaptive trussesAdaptive trusses offer the greatest stiffness and strength for a given weight of any articulated structure or mechanism. Because of this, there are many potential extraterrestrial applications of these variable-geometry trusses, including serpentine manipulators, payload isolation, tracking, pointing and docking mechanisms, and gimbals. All of these applications will require the ability to precisely control the kinematic parameters of the mechanism, including position, velocity, and acceleration. This paper explores the fundamental nature of adaptive trusses by examining the basic truss elements or unit cells. A general method for analyzing forward and inverse motion of all the basic truss units is presented, followed by a more efficient formulation for the octahedral unit cell. Finally, general closed-form techniques are presented for finding velocity, acceleration, and all higher derivatives of truss motion.
Document ID
19920056651
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Tidwell, Paul H. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Reinholtz, Charles F. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Robertshaw, Harry H. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, United States)
Horner, C. G. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1991
Subject Category
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Meeting Information
Meeting: Joint U.S./Japan Conference on Adaptive Structures