Deployable SMA-Based Light Solar Sail Prototype

Abstract

The Solar Sail has been playing a major role in de-orbiting. It was introduced to deploy Sail which can open and close. The existing Solar Sail actuation is mostly based on the Origami model. This paper is about smart material implementation for robotic applications. The design and assembling of a mini version of the light Solar Sail have been developed here. The main task is to open and close the Solar Sail with basic control. The shape memory alloy (SMA) based linear actuator has been used for controlling the open and close operation of the Light Sail. The structural details of the light Solar Sail with SMA-based linear actuator have been demonstrated as well. The experimental study is about power requirements for the opening and closing operation of the light Solar Sail. It aims to obtain minimum power consumption for closing and opening the Solar Sail with SMA-based linear actuator. This kind of setup can be used further for real-time space exploration with a robust version.