| dc.description.abstract | Origami design allows for the transformation of a flat sheet with discrete face and fold regions into complex three-dimensional shapes. Origami based structures possess desirable engineering features such as compact storage, portability, weight reduction, and reconfigurability. The Active Reconfigurable Origami Reflector Antenna (ARORA) exhibits the aforementioned characteristics of origami structures while incorporating active materials for actuating fold regions. Folds within an origami structure provide intuitively compliant regions for actuation and act as a natural pivot for further folding of the structure. In order to exhibit the utility of the fold regions within origami, ARORA was designed with strategically placed shape memory alloy (SMA) wires in the antenna structure with the goal of morphing its base parabolic shape into a shape that could effectively broadcast to a complex area of coverage via thermal actuation. Numerical simulations using finite element methods are used to investigate actuation strategies of the structure itself while further simulations are utilized to estimate the far-field radiation characteristics. Additionally, the simulations are validated using an ARORA prototype through laser displacement sensing techniques. An efficient global optimization algorithm is then used to explore the ARORA design space and determine the most effective levels of actuation to match a desired broadcast area with a given layout of SMA wires. | en |
