Assembly of reconfigurable Bricard-like mechanisms to form a multimode deployable arch

Abstract. This paper deals with the construction of a novel family of multimode deployable mechanisms based on reconfigurable Bricard-like mechanisms. By connecting a number of identical threefold-symmetric (TFS) Bricard-like mechanisms, a multimode deployable arch is proposed for the first time, which can switch between the scissor-like deployable mode and the arch deformable mode through the transition configuration. Then new multimode center-driven deployable mechanisms can be obtained by connecting three and six multimode deployable arches. The obtained mechanism can switch between the scissor-like deployable mode and spherical deformable mode, and it can be reassembled by adjusting the number of TFS Bricard-like mechanisms to change its size. Finally, physical prototypes of the multimode deployable arch and multimode center-driven deployable mechanisms are fabricated and tested to validate the feasibility of the proposed approach and analysis.