Design and kinematic analysis of a novel prism deployable mechanism

A novel prism deployable mechanism is proposed in this paper based on polyhedral linkages. Different from the other polyhedral linkages, this mechanism possesses half-closed polyhedron characteristics. The mobility of this mechanism is studied by screw theory and the singularity of mechanism is investigated. Then the kinematic model is built based on the numerical method. The trajectories and velocities of mechanism are presented which can prove that the vertexes of the mechanism can move only along radial axes. At last, the design method of mechanism assembled with prism cells is proposed, and the potential application of this prism deployable mechanism is illustrated. This kind of mechanism has a good prospect in aerospace field.

► A novel prism deployable mechanism is proposed based on polyhedra linkages.
► The mobility and the singularity of mechanism are investigated by screw theory.
► The trajectories and velocities are calculated based on the numerical method.
► The assembled method of the prism mechanisms is proposed.