Byu Solar Panel Origami

How origami is inspiring scientific creativity.

Byu solar panel origami. Byu engineers have teamed up with a world renowned origami expert to solve one of space exploration s greatest and most ironic problems. Lang robert j spencer magleby and larry howell. Byu engineers hope to help back pain. 2 million was awarded to byu s compliant mechanisms research group of which zirbel is a part by the national science foundation and the u s.

Zirbel shannon a et al. Air force to research engineering applications of origami. Solar power origami style nasa. Origami has been a hot topic in technology recently.

156 panels cover zirbel s solar array to which solar cells are affixed. Rigidly foldable origami twists. Trease researchers from brigham young university and origami expert robert lang have created working prototypes of the origami solar panels. Brian trease at nasa s jet propulsion laboratory has been thinking about how it could be used in spacecraft.

Highly compressible origami bellows. Origami is a source of inspiration for byu mechanical engineers who are working with the national science foundation nasa jpl and origami master robert lang. Applying origami principles on rigid silicon solar panels a material considerably thicker than the paper used for the traditional japanese art the byu conceived solar array would unfold to nearly 10 times its stored size. Byu designed solar arrays inspired by origami.

A group of byu engineers has teamed up with physicist and world renowned origami expert robert lang to produce solar arrays or solar panels for nasa that can be compacted for launch using. For more information on the design of the solar panel see these publications. Accommodating thickness in origami based deployable arrays journal of mechanical design 135 11 2013. Working with nasa s jet propulsion laboratory a team of mechanical engineering students and faculty have designed a solar array that can be tightly compacted for launch and then deployed.

Amanda kae fronk ba 09.