Control Method for a 3D Form Display with Coil-type Shape Memory Alloy

We previously proposed a new 3D form display actuated by shape memory alloy (SMA), which is capable of displaying large scale objects sequentially. Based on our devised method, our display uses a 16×16 array of pin-rods with 30mm stroke at 5mm intervals. In this paper, we discuss the control method of the shape memory alloy with a simple matrix drive circuit. This type of drive circuit can dramatically reduce the number of switch. In addition, we propose a novel approach using linear programming, where the simulated time to display a whole shape is reduced by about 50% or more with a large number of actuators.