SOLAR PADDLE ACTUATORS FOR SMALL SATELLITES USING SHAPE MEMORY ALLOY

We developed a solar paddle actuator for a small satellite using six shape memory alloy (SMA) springs. The actuator can orient the solar paddle alone toward the sun, and is equipped with a counterweight to compensate for the rotating motion of the small satellite in microgravity. The actuator, which measures 100 mm in diameter and 127 mm in height and weighs approximately 660 g including the counterweight (340 g), was used in experiments conducted in microgravity and in vacuum. The counterweight effectively compensated for the rotating motion of the small satellite in microgravity. Motion repetition experiments in vacuum were conducted to investigate the degradation properties of the SMA.