What if a complex deployable mechanism could be manufactured flat?
Research into flat-manufactured compliant mechanisms that deploy into three-dimensional motion.
The What If
What if you could build a mechanism as a flat sheet and let it become three-dimensional on deployment?
What made it hard
Deployable mechanisms are usually assemblies, and assemblies mean part count, tolerance stack-up, and volume. Removing the assembly step without losing the kinematics is the hard part.
What we tried
Origami-inspired and sheet-laminated mechanism designs, taken through functional prototypes rather than stopping at analysis.
What reality said
The approach preserved kinematic performance while substantially reducing both build volume and material use.
The decision
GO. The work produced functional prototypes, published research, and patent activity.
Who worked on it
- Tyler Stevens, Ph.D.Mechanical & Product Engineering
Sources: Tyler Stevens CV, supplied by client.
Try yours.
You don’t need to know whether the answer is software, hardware, or a process change. That’s the part we figure out.
What’s the question you keep coming back to?
We’ll tell you quickly whether it sounds like an invent.me problem.