NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has efficiently deployed the JPL Additive Compliant Canister (JACC) in orbit, aboard the Proteus House M1 ESPA class satellite tv for pc, in an indication of additive manufacturing decreasing half rely and complexity in deployable house mechanisms.
The JACC is a deployable mechanism primarily based on helical antenna programs that, when stowed, measures roughly the scale of a small paperback e book and weighs underneath 500 grams.
Utilizing a jack-in-the-box type deployment strategy, the system integrates its lid, canister, hinges, torsion springs, and deployable compression spring right into a largely monolithic titanium construction. That design diminished half rely by an element of three in contrast with typical approaches, and the mechanism additionally incorporates a novel embedded kinematic hinge structure.
JPL developed and produced JACC totally in-house, from preliminary idea to supply in underneath a 12 months, leveraging the laboratory’s inside additive manufacturing capabilities. It was printed from Ti-6-4 on the EOS M290 at JPL’s facility, and the mission was carried out in collaboration with Proteus House, SpaceWERX, the Air Drive Analysis Laboratory, Leonardo DRS, and the College of California, Davis.
By way of the consolidation of a number of mechanical elements right into a single printed construction, the JACC design provides a possible path towards lighter, easier, and faster-to-produce {hardware} for spacecraft payloads, and all produced by way of 3D printing.
“The JPL Additive Compliant Canister survived launch and several other months on orbit previous to popping open on command,” said Christine Gebara, Mechatronics Engineer at NASA JPL. “JACC demonstrates how additive manufacturing can cut back half rely and enhance compliant mechanisms in house.”
“One of many novel capabilities of metallic AM that we’ve been attempting to use at JPL is the power to make embedded springs, flexures, and mechanisms into structural {hardware} for purposes like deployment, versatile thermal administration, pointing, or manipulation/greedy,” commented Douglas Hofmann, Senior Analysis Scientist and Principal at NASA JPL. “Because of Proteus House, JPL had a speedy flight infusion for this cool 3D printed spring.”
