The diamond thick-panel origami and the corresponding mobile assemblies of plane-symmetric Bricard linkages

Thick-panel origami and mobile assembly of spatial linkages are of superiorly foldable properties and therefore have great potential for engineering applications, such as solar panels and antennas. This paper sets up the kinematic equivalence between the diamond thick-panel origami and mobile assembly of plane-symmetric Bricard linkages. Through the compatibility analysis of linkage assembly derived from the diamond thick-panel origami pattern, two general cases of mobile assemblies of plane-symmetric Bricard linkages are discovered. Furthermore, inspired by one of the newly-found mobile assemblies, the sector angle and thickness of diamond thick-panel origami pattern can be varied. The new diamond thick-panel origami patterns with flat unfolded profiles and/or spirally folded configuration are invented, and the graded one can be extended without physical interference. The work proposes a bridge between diamond thick-panel origami and the assembly of plane-symmetric Bricard linkages, and facilitates their applications. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.