Research

Texas A&M IDEAS² student researchers advanced the design and fabrication of deployable tensegrity structures, including a redesigned two-level D-Bar prototype and a computational model of a tensegrity prism elevator. The work focused on improving deployment mechanisms, structural configurations, and actuation concepts for lightweight, reconfigurable space systems.

IDEAS² student researchers advanced the fabrication and testing of a 2-meter bistable-auxetic aluminum dome designed for compact stowage and deployment. Physical testing demonstrated the structure's ability to maintain its deployed configuration without external support, supporting the development of lightweight, deployable infrastructure for future lunar habitats.

IDEAS² researchers advanced the Modular Structure with Tensegrity Support (MoST) concept through evaluation of tensegrity chassis and habitat-integration configurations, while extending the work toward inflatable habitat systems and lunar surface operations.

Texas A&M IDEAS² researchers advanced deployable tensegrity systems through computational modeling, fabrication of an updated lightweight D-Bar prototype, and continued analysis of tensegrity equilibrium and structural behavior.

IDEAS² graduate researcher Rufo Udesa advanced spacecraft docking simulations through a 12-degree-of-freedom dynamic model and PID-based control system designed to support post-capture attenuation, alignment, and retraction.

IDEAS² researchers advanced computational and experimental studies of deployable space structures through dynamic modeling of a curved-crease parabolic reflector and physical and numerical development of a deployable Hoberman dome.

IDEAS² researcher Yue Wang advanced computational and experimental methods for programmable shape-morphing architectures, deployable structures, and architected materials, while also contributing to research on 3D-printed ceramic lattice structures.

Texas A&M researchers within the NASA MIRO IDEAS² Center advanced lightweight deployable tensegrity systems through the redesign of a motor-actuated D-Bar structure and reverse engineering of a deployable tensegrity prism tower.

Texas A&M researchers within the NASA MIRO IDEAS² Center advanced a thermally assisted deployment concept for triangular rollable and collapsible (TRAC) booms, combining carbon-fiber composites with shape memory alloy elements for future solar sail applications.

IDEAS² Ph.D. student Youyun Xu advanced a compact, reconfigurable robot based on Miura-tube origami and tensegrity principles through a research collaboration with Stanford University, integrating structural modeling, fabrication, sensing, and feedback control.

IDEAS² undergraduate researcher Katlinh Nguyen developed a fabrication and mechanical testing workflow for architected 3D-printed alumina ceramic lattices, evaluating their behavior through densification studies, compression testing, and three-point bending.

A joint UH–NASA JSC research team developed a computationally efficient contact-mechanics framework for modeling tightly conforming spacecraft mechanisms, including docking and fluid-transfer interfaces, with improved prediction of contact pressures and faster solution times for dynamic simulations.

IDEAS² researchers worked with ILC Dover engineers to refine an inflatable–bistable habitat prototype, developing a preliminary configuration intended to simplify fabrication, improve load transfer, and support future scaled integration and deployment testing.

IDEAS² student researchers advanced the design and prototyping of an inflation-deployed kirigami dome structure, using finite-element modeling and a laser-cut scaled mock-up to evaluate deployment behavior, geometry, and assembly before fabrication of a larger aluminum demonstrator.

Texas A&M students within the NASA MIRO IDEAS² Center advanced SMA-actuated WAVETRUSS deployable structures through computational modeling, prototype development, and membrane integration, exploring lightweight adaptive systems for future space infrastructure.

Texas A&M researchers within the NASA MIRO IDEAS² Center advanced adaptive tensegrity systems through experimental testing, computational modeling, and shape memory alloy actuation, demonstrating scalable multi-tier deployment and stowage behavior for future space structures.

IDEAS² researchers advanced integrated lunar habitat and infrastructure concepts combining pressurized inflatable modules, bistable structural elements, and tensegrity-based support systems to enable scalable habitat deployment and lunar surface logistics.

IDEAS² researchers advanced a deployable cylindrical structural system integrating dual Hoberman rings with tensegrity-based actuation, demonstrating compact stowage and coordinated radial expansion through laboratory-scale prototype testing.

IDEAS² researchers advanced the integration of bistable structural systems with pressurized inflatable habitat modules, exploring lightweight deployable support structures that can unfold with the habitat and provide rigid interior infrastructure after pressurization.

SICSA student researchers within the NASA MIRO IDEAS² Center advanced the Modular Structure with Tensegrity Support (MoST), a lightweight deployable platform designed to transport and deploy large lunar surface infrastructure, including inflatable habitat modules and other heavy payloads.