Origami-shaped antennas reconfigure through ambient energy

Researchers from Georgia Tech have been awarded a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop a way to make extremely compact and highly efficient antennas and electronics. According to them, the technology will use principles derived from origami paper-folding techniques to create complex structures that can reconfigure themselves by unfolding, moving and even twisting in response to incoming electromagnetic signals.

The novel structures could be fabricated from a variety of materials including paper, plastics and ceramics. Sophisticated inkjet printing techniques would deposit conductive materials such as copper or silver onto the antenna elements to provide signal receiving and other capabilities.

Several potential activation mechanisms would allow the origami-shaped antennas to rapidly unfold in response to various incoming signals. These mechanisms include the harvesting of ambient electromagnetic energy in the air, as well as the use of chemicals that produce movement in ways that mimic nature.

"Traditionally, antennas have been sizeable—often very large—and any reconfiguration required complex electronics technology such as micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS)," said Manos Tentzeris, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "We expect these tiny new antennas to morph—to fold, unfold and reconfigure themselves—using self-activation mechanisms that in many cases would not require electronics or electrical power."

The result would be powerful, ultra-broadband capabilities in a diminutive antenna measuring only a couple of centimeters when folded. Commercial and military applications for such antennas could include many types of communications equipment, as well as wireless sensors, smart skin—sensors for structural health monitoring, portable medical equipment, electronics mounted on vehicles or flying/space platforms, agricultural sensors and cognitive electronics that adjust to ambient conditions in real time.

Origami is a traditional paper-folding art that is prominent in Japan and also practised elsewhere, and includes both modular and moving types of structures. In recent years, mathematicians worldwide have focused on theoretical and practical questions raised by origami. Technical advances—such as novel ways of folding vehicle airbags—have resulted.

The Tentzeris team is working with mathematicians at Georgia Tech and elsewhere to develop formulations that will allow optimal exploitation of origami-related principles. One important goal, Tentzeris said, is to maximise the number of shapes that can be achieved in a single folding structure. That, in turn, will support antenna functionality.

"This is a major challenge—to increase the shapes you can pack into a device of a specific size," he said. "Additional mathematical study could result in being able to form 16, 32, 64 or even more different types of antennas from a single device that's less than an inch square when folded."

The four-year project will involve Tentzeris and a team of six graduate students, along with some undergraduate students. Other project leaders include John Etnyre, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Mathematics, and Stavros Georgakopoulos, an assistant professor in the Florida International University Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

1???2??