Developable mechanisms are a special class of mechanisms that can be placed on developable surfaces.

Examples

Some well-known examples of developable mechanisms include the door on the

Apollo Command Module The Apollo command and service module (CSM) was one of two principal components of the United States Apollo spacecraft, used for the Apollo program, which landed astronauts on the Moon between 1969 and 1972. The CSM functioned as a mother shi ...

and the cargo doors on the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...

. Both of these examples are single-hinge-line mechanisms. Note how in each case the joint axes are in line with the ruling lines of the surface. Images are shown on the right.

Origami ) is the Japanese art of paper folding. In modern usage, the word "origami" is often used as an inclusive term for all folding practices, regardless of their culture of origin. The goal is to transform a flat square sheet of paper into a f ...

uses developable surfaces because the paper can be assumed to not stretch. Action origami utilizes the movement of the origami. Ortho-planar mechanisms are a subset of developable mechanisms where the developable surface is a plane and the links emerge out of the plane. Lamina Emergent Mechanisms are ortho-planar mechanisms (and hence also developable mechanisms) where the joints are compliant mechanisms. The same joints used to create lamina emergent mechanisms can be used to approximate developable surfaces STS115 Atlantis undock ISS edit2

Advantages

Developable surfaces are easy to manufacture and are found in many applications. Developable mechanism can be embedded within these surfaces. Developable mechanisms are deployable. Developable mechanism stow compactly during one position of the mechanism's motion.

Mathematical Modeling

The motion of developable mechanisms can be modeled using traditional kinematics formulas. In rigid-body linkages, the shape of the rigid links does not change the motion.

References

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External links

About Developable MechanismsVideo about the applications and development of Developable Mechanisms
Mechanisms (engineering)