Design and Optimization of a New Type of Active Hinge

Abstract

This paper describes the design and optimization of a new type of active hinge, which has the potential application into solar panels for providing the panels with not only self-deploying/folding functions but also active vibration control capacity. The hinge was designed based on direct drive principle of interaction between electromagnet and permanent magnet. Excitated with current of certain time series and phase, the proposed hinge can achieve a 1800 working angle. The torque model of the hinge was estalished and a SQP optimal method was used for optimize the design parameters of the hinge. Simulation results show that the torque model matches consistently with the FEM analysis，and that it can effectively control vibrarion of low frequency in the solar panels.