A novel spatial support mechanism for planar deployable antennas

In this paper, a novel spatial support mechanism for planar deployable antennas is designed based on the motion principle of planar deployable antennas and the spatial mechanism theory. The composition principle of the novel mechanism and its geometric characteristics are analyzed, and its degrees of freedom are calculated based on the constraint topological diagram. Subsequently, kinematic analysis is conducted, and the angular velocity, linear velocity, and linear acceleration of each component in the mechanism are calculated. Then, numerical calculation and simulation are performed to verify the correctness of the theoretical analysis results. The performance analysis of the spatial support mechanism is completed. A prototype of the proposed support mechanism is developed and tested to validate the feasibility of the mechanism principle. The present work can provide reference for the design and engineering application of this type of mechanisms.