Design and analysis of a novel cantilevered metamorphic mechanism deployable in plane

Abstract

Originating from the truss topology optimization of a cantilever beam model loaded at a single point at the end, this article introduces a novel cantilevered metamorphic mechanism that can transform between the space truss and the plane state. Firstly, by eliminating triangular sub-structures within the cantilevered truss, it accomplishes the truss-mechanism transformation and synthesizes the metamorphic mechanism with three configurations. Secondly, the product of exponentials is utilized to establish forward kinematics models, and we analyze the locations and velocities of three key nodes. Thirdly, for the dimensional synthesis of structure parameters and with the help of the space model, we draw performance atlases of the input transmission index. Finally, the case study is carried out based on a specific mechanism, and it finds that this metamorphic mechanism shows excellent kinematic performance. This work provides an important theoretical basis for engineering applications, and the metamorphic mechanism has great application potential in many fields such as aerospace, marine engineering, and robotics. Furthermore, this research will also inspire researchers to develop other metamorphic mechanisms.