The Texas A&M IDEAS² team made significant progress in advancing Double Helix Tensegrity (DHT) structure topologies for deployable towers.
Using first-principles analysis, the team developed analytical models linking the perimetric constraints of circumferential tension members to tower height. These parameterized constraints enable precise control of structural stiffness to achieve a desired DHT length in deployable applications. The approach also allows the application of pre-stress, reducing the actuation and motor forces required to maintain string tension.
To validate the preliminary models, the team fabricated pseudo-static prototypes of varying heights, constructed by IDEAS² undergraduate students.
In parallel, Texas A&M Co-Is and students made significant progress in the modeling, fabrication, and testing of DHT structures. The team successfully demonstrated both manual and motorized deployment of DHT towers, showcasing their ability to stow compactly and deploy with structural stability using prestressable elastic members.
A static 1-foot DHT model has been fabricated, with additional scaled versions underway. These efforts illustrate the promise of DHT systems for adaptive, reconfigurable architectures in space, complementing parallel developments in WAVETRUSS structures and bandgap-tunable tensegrity lattices, positioning the DHT platform as a key element in future multifunctional, deployable space infrastructure.