Embedded and Redundant Heater for Controlling of SMA-Based Rotary Actuator for Space Applications

摘要

Embedded and redundant heater has been developed for controlling of a shape memory alloy rotary actuator for space applications. The development of the heater has been carried out to solve some issues related to the design of the Hold Down Release Mechanisms (HDRM) as power cut-off device and issues related to temperature and position control for synchronized actuation. The electrical and thermo-mechanical properties have been characterized in order to underline the self-regulating behavior useful to avoid a power cut-off device in HDRM and underline the control of the temperature and the angular position. The control of the rotary actuator either on the point of view of temperature and angular position has been exploited to demonstrate the feasibility of synchronized actuation in case of installation of multiple actuators. Some details on the application of the rotary actuator in no space fields have been illustrated and some figures of merit has been described.