Design and verification of kinematic system in deploying mechanism for CubeSats

To implement the reliable deployment for the CubeSat "star of Aoxiang" on-orbit and to meet the requirements of initial deploying velocity and deploying posture, a kinematic system in deploying mechanism for CubeSats was designed and corresponding experimental verification was performed. A structure scheme of the kinematics system was proposed. It uses a disengaging spring to impulse the CubeSat for opening cabin door and uses a spring pin to lock the door. Firstly, structure parameters of the disengaging spring were confirmed according to energy conservation principle. Then, a dynamic model for kinematic coupling system between CubeSat and cabin door in the process of deployment was established, and a numerical simulation was implemented by MATLAB software. Finally, ground deploying tests were carried out for a prototype of the deploying mechanism. The experimental results show that the actual deployment process is the same as numerical simulation result basically and it realizes the deployment of CubeSats without interference and the reliable lock of cabin door. The proposed deploying mechanism realizes on-orbit deployment of CubeSat "star of Aoxiang" successfully. The downlink data indicate that initial deploying velocity is 1.08 m/s and three-axis angular velocity is less than 2(°)/s, which meets the requirements of initial depoloying velocity and posture for CubeSat completely. It provides references for standardized design of deploying mechanisms for following CubeSats.