Research

Ceramic Lattice Fabrication and Characterization for Space Structures, Houston, Sept 2025 November 10, 2025 The UH IDEAS² Center team, led by Dr. Tian Chen, advanced the additive manufacturing and mechanical testing of architected ceramic lattices for aerospace applications. High-fidelity Kelvin-cell, octet-tetrahedral, Schwarz P, and gyroid lattices were fabricated and tested, confirming high elastic moduli and strong stress capacity suitable for lightweight, damage-tolerant space structures.
IDEAS² Researchers Highlight Architected Materials Research at US Conferences and Overseas October 14, 2025 IDEAS² researchers presented architected materials research at multiple national and international conferences, showcasing work on tensegrity structures, auxetic surfaces, predictive controllers, and advancing the Center’s global recognition.
UH–Stanford IDEAS² Collaboration Advances Origami Thin-Shell Antenna Design – Palo Alto August 14, 2025 UH and Stanford collaboration explored origami-inspired parabolic thin-shell reflectors for spacecraft communication.
IDEAS² Advances the Experimental Investigation of Tensegrity Lattices – College Station August 11, 2025 UH–Texas A&M IDEAS² team developed experimental apparatus to study vibration behavior in periodic tensegrity structures.
IDEAS² Advances Feedback-Controlled Soft Manipulators August 5, 2025 UH IDEAS² team developed prototypes of robotic manipulators and soft gripper systems for future space structure inspection and maintenance.
IDEAS² Team Advanced AR-Guided Assembly of Scalable Deployable Structures August 2, 2025 UH IDEAS² team advanced the fabrication of bistable deployable structures using AR-guided assembly methods.
Deployable Double Helix Tensegrity (DHT) Structures Prototypes Developed by Texas A&M Undergraduate Students July 14, 2025 Texas A&M IDEAS² team advanced DHT structure topologies for deployable towers, supported by undergraduate research and prototyping.
Texas A&M IDEAS² Researchers Explore Tunable Bandgap Formation in Nonlinear Tensegrity Structures July 8, 2025 Texas A&M IDEAS² researchers investigated nonlinear wave propagation and tunable bandgap formation in tensegrity space structures.
IDEAS² Soft Robotics Team Advances Sensing and Control for Soft Grippers – Houston July 3, 2025 UH IDEAS² Soft Robotics team enhanced robotic joint sensing and pneumatic soft gripper control with integrated self-sensing elements.
IDEAS² Center Space Architecture Team Advances Inflatable Habitat Concepts for Lunar Surface Missions – Houston, Texas June 23, 2025 UH Space Architecture IDEAS² team developed improved inflatable and rigid bistable habitat prototypes for lunar and planetary applications.
XR Utilization in Zero-G Flight for Validation of Space Habitat Design – Salinas, Kansas May 13, 2025 UH SICSA team tested the Extended Reality Neuraframe (XRN) framework during zero-gravity flights to evaluate space habitat design.
WT-HexaSine Deployable Tensegrity Structure Testbed Developed by Texas A&M Collaborators April 24, 2025 Texas A&M team advanced deployable tensegrity research by testing a three-foot WT-HexaSine system with sinusoidal trusses.
IDEAS² Center Research at the Bio-Inspired Robotics and Control Lab April 10, 2025 UH Bio-Inspired Robotics Lab advanced tendon-driven soft robotic arm sensing and modeling for space applications.
Deployable Space Structure Testbed – Texas A&M March 24, 2025 Texas A&M researchers developed and tested a pseudoelastic SMA tensegrity tower to support deployable space structure design.
Testing at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center on Lunar Surface Operations Rover Autonomy March 9, 2025 UH students collaborated with NASA Marshall to test a dome-shaped adaptive mechanism integrated with a lunar rover for autonomous surface operations.