US 12,214,910 B2
Multifunctional structures for attitude control
Vedant, Urbana, IL (US); and James T. Allison, Urbana, IL (US)
Assigned to The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, Urbana, IL (US)
Appl. No. 17/596,797
Filed by The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, Urbana, IL (US)
PCT Filed Jan. 31, 2020, PCT No. PCT/US2020/016108
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 17, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/256792, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 24, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/862,412, filed on Jun. 17, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0289407 A1, Sep. 15, 2022
Int. Cl. B64G 1/24 (2006.01); B64G 1/28 (2006.01); B64G 1/44 (2006.01)
CPC B64G 1/244 (2019.05) [B64G 1/28 (2013.01); B64G 1/443 (2013.01)] 8 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An attitude control system for a spacecraft, comprising:
a body; and
an elongated member coupled to the body, wherein the elongated member extends outwardly from the body, the elongated member comprising at least one actuator embedded within the elongated member,
wherein the at least one actuator is configured to:
deflect a position of the elongated member;
alter the length of the elongated member according to a non-holonomic trajectory; and
induce an oscillation of the elongated member, and
wherein the at least one actuator comprises a piezoelectrically operated lever mechanism, wherein the piezoelectrically operated lever mechanism comprises a plurality of stacked struts and a plurality of piezoelectric elements, wherein each of the struts extend from a first side to a second side, each of the struts are coupled adjacent struts at a plurality of joints formed alternatingly on the first side and the second side, and each of the plurality of piezoelectric elements are positioned proximate to one of the plurality of joints.