Origami and space: how ancient art can help developers of "space" solar panels



    A team of engineers from BYU (Brigham Young University) is currently looking for efficient ways to fold / unroll solar panels that power spacecraft. Now most of the systems of solar panels of this type are displayed in space, when the device reaches the desired orbit. However, the method that is used to fold / unfold the solar panels can determine the efficiency of the solar cells. And to achieve the maximum ratio of the expanded / collapsed surface, the university team decided to contact an origami specialist.

    And in this case, I do not mean the gray-haired Japanese sensei who has been creating paper creatures since the age of three, but the physicist Robert Leng, who is a specialist in the field of “calculated origami,” that is, he studies the surfaces of origami figures using physical and mathematical apparatus . It is worth noting that Robert Leng can create an excellent figure, if that, here are a lot of examples:



    But back to space. So, Robert Leng and space device developers are now working on a 1-centimeter-thick solar battery project that, when folded, has a size of just 2.7 meters. Unfolding, this system increases the size to 25 meters, which allows the solar battery to produce about 250 kW of energy. This is enough to supply the three ISS.



    Now the team already has a prototype of the desired system, and we can hope for the implementation of the project. In addition to solar panels, now experts are trying to use origami principles to create folding antennas, networks for "catching" asteroids and other systems.

    Via wired

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