Origami Segmented Helical Antenna With Switchable Sense of Polarization

Anew design of a segmented helical antenna (SHA), which can switch its sense of polarization by rotating around its center axis is presented. Two implementation methods, one based on origami folding and the other one based on skeleton scaffolding are developed. Example bifilar SHA designs are presented for the UHF frequency band. The performance of the antennas is studied and validated through simulations and measurements. Specifically, the reflection coefficient, axial ratio, realized gain, and radiation pattern beamwidth of the proposed SHAs are investigated and compared with the ones of a conventional bifilar helical antenna. The proposed SHA has two stable states of operation, one with right-hand circular polarization and the other one with left-hand circular polarization. The sense of the polarization of this antenna can be controlled and switched using mechanical rotation. Therefore, this antenna exhibits reconfigurable polarization performance.