Bio-Inspired Bidirectional Winding Origami With Programmable Modular Reconfigurability and Scalability

Area of Science:

• * Mechanical Engineering
• * Aerospace Engineering
• * Materials Science

Background:

• * Origami-enabled winding deployable structures are crucial for ultralight, compact, and stiff spacecraft systems.
• * Current winding origami designs have limited discrete winding-angle options and suffer from scale-angle coupling, creating trade-offs between size and programmability.
• * There is a need for advanced origami architectures that offer greater flexibility in winding angles and scalability.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To present a bio-inspired origami architecture with bidirectional winding, modular reconfiguration, and scalable extension.
• * To develop a bidirectional-winding multilayer origami structure with programmable winding kinematics.
• * To demonstrate a membrane deployment mechanism confirming bidirectional winding and reduced rotation demand.

Main Methods:

• * Design of a double axial-folding origami unit inspired by earwig hindwings.
• * Assembly into a circumferential array to form a bidirectionally winding origami foundation.
• * Hybridization with Flasher origami to create coupled modes with modular scalability.
• * Development of a multilayer origami structure with programmable winding kinematics by assigning layer numbers.

Main Results:

• * Demonstrated a bio-inspired origami architecture with bidirectional winding and modular reconfiguration.
• * Achieved programmable winding kinematics in a multilayer structure, generating a discrete set of winding angles without altering structural size.
• * Experimental validation of bidirectional winding and significantly reduced rotation demand in a membrane deployment mechanism.

Conclusions:

• * Established a programmable and scalable platform for large-area forced-deployment systems.
• * The novel design overcomes limitations of existing winding origami, offering enhanced functional programmability and scalability.
• * This work has significant implications for civil and aerospace engineering applications requiring advanced deployable structures.