Design of an Origami-inspired Solar Folding Mechanism for Underwater Gliders

Underwater gliders that absorb solar energy to increase their endurance are expected to be communication nodes at lower costs than traditional means based on manned assets. The key to achieving this goal is the coupling design of the solar absorber and underwater glider. This paper presents a design scheme of an origami-inspired solar folding mechanism for underwater gliders. The Hanaflex folding mechanism is designed to carry solar arrays with the aft antenna of the underwater glider as the axis. With the coupling design, the underwater glider can absorb solar energy from the unrolled solar array and glide with little resistance when the solar array is rolled up. After energy consumption estimation, the underwater glider with an origami-inspired solar folding mechanism can support 20-watt active sonar for at least 7 hours when the mechanism absorbs solar energy.