Compression process research of 6-bars tensegrity structure

In this article we will take a 6-bars ball-shaped tensegrity structure as the investigated subject, and then make research about the motion of all the components and nodes through the compression test of a virtual simulation model and entity model. Virtual simulation experiments show that, the motion laws of each component and node, the proportion of change and the force conditions of a 6-bars ball-shaped tensegrity structure in the compressed process have symmetry. This means that the 12 nodes, during the compression process, can be divided into 4 categories, each category has the same motion laws and synchronization. The 24 cables can be divided into 3 categories, each category has the same motion laws, force conditions and synchronization. Therefore, we can analyze the motion of each component to sum up the conditions of self-constriction of the 6-bars ball-shaped tensegrity structure. Solid experiments show that the self-constriction and extension of the structure can be achieved only by reducing the length of 6 cables by 46.73%. So we can minimize the number of drives and manufacturing costs, which can make the structure more lightweight and easy to control.