Design Optimization of Folding Solar Powered Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Using Origami Structure

Abstract

Origami, as an application for morphing structure engineering, which has been studied for a long time, has recently made remarkable progress in terms of technology. The most distinctive feature of this technology is the presence of two types, flat mode and folded mode. The origami algorithm enables the conversion of these two modes based on the mathematical formulations. Completion of this algorithm now means that origami is part of the design process and can be applied to applications.

This thesis demonstrates a design process for origami-inspired morphing structures that transform between a flat configuration and a folded convex shape. There are many obstacles in the development of the design process. In particular, consideration should be given to the surface difference of the flat configuration and the folded convex mode. In this thesis, I introduce the design process which takes into consideration the origami structure design deeply.

To demonstrate this process, I have selected an application which is emerging and interesting, that is, unmanned vehicles. Especially, the design of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) is a difficult challenge since it requires the consideration of various aspects such as mission range, controllability, energy source, and carrying capacity. The Predictive Parameterized Pareto Genetic Algorithm (P3GA) is selected as the optimization method to determine a parameterized Pareto frontier of design options with desired characteristics for a variety of missions for the AUV.