Size adjustment of multi-closed-loop deployable mechanisms

Due to the fact of manufacturing error, the realistic length of the linkages of the deployable mechanisms is always different from the theoretical one. It occurs the adjustment of linkages when assembling. The multi-closed-loop deployable mechanisms have the characteristics of many of closed loops, coupling of loop constraints and complication of parameters. In order to solve the problem of high nonlinear and tight coupling during the size adjustment of these mechanisms, the complex adjustment amount of the multi-closed-loop mechanisms is defined by root-mean-square algorithm. Aimed to minimize the adjustment potential energy, the basic size adjustment model of the multi-closed-loop deployable mechanisms is derived. According to the mode of the adjustment in practice, the unidirectional and bidirectional computation model is proposed. Based on that, the adjustment method of the multi-closed-loop mechanisms in the multi-configuration is investigated. The above method and models are verified by the examples. The results demonstrate that the calculated models satisfy the demands for multi-configuration, multi-constraint and multi-adjustment. The achievement will help to reduce the difficulty of assembling and manufacturing of the multi-closed-loop deployable mechanisms.