Air & Space Smithsonian – September 2019

andversatilityareespeciallyusefulforsmallsatellitesand

CubeSats.

Despitetheirshiftingshapes,suchantennasaredesigned

tobesimple:“Origamigivesusmechanismsthatcanbeeasily

actuatedanddeployed,”Georgakopoulossays.“WhenI send

somethingintospace,if I wanttoopentheantenna,I don’t

wanttohavesomethingverycomplicated...becausethere

aresomanythingsthatcangowrong.”

Theabilityofanorigamiantennatoreshapeitselfmakesit

moreefficientinitsbasicfunctionoftransmittingandreceiv-

ing.“Becauseyouhavea foldingandunfoldingsystem,we

canoperatetheantenna—notjustintheunfoldedstate—but

wecanoperateit inotherfoldingstates,”Georgakopoulos

says.“I canactuallyfoldit a littlebitandoperateit,andfold

it a littlemore,andoperateit.Soallthesestatescangiveus

theabilitytocoverdifferentfrequencies.Asingleantenna

couldsendandreceiveGPSdataandatanotherfrequency,

sendandreceivevideoorweatherdata.”Changingtheshape

ofanantennacanalsoconvertit fromanomnidirectional

(radiatingequallyinalldirections)toa highlyfocuseddirec-

tionalantenna,pointingtowardonlyonedirection.

Origamiantennaswilluse“smartskins”madefromflexible

plastic,coppertapes,conductinginks,andothermaterials.

“It’strialanderrorandlearningonthefly,”sayselectrical

engineeringmajorGianCarrara.“Inbroadterms,it goes

fromresearchandtheorytocreatinga newprototypeand

Professor Stavros

Georgakopoulos

holds several

patents on

origami antennas.

Right: An origami

antenna ready

for testing in

an anechoic

chamber at

Florida

International

University’s

Transforming

Antennas Center.

THIS EDITION OF A+S NEXT WAS PUBLISHED in cooperation with

Florida International University’s College of Communication,

Architecture + The Arts (CARTA).

Jordan Cox is a senior passionate about broadcast

and production, print and online journalism, and

advertising.

Gabriel Munoz is a senior majoring in journalism

and religious studies. He hopes to communicate

advancements in technology and bridge the gap

between scientists and the general public.

Anna Radinsky is a senior majoring in journalism

and sociology who aspires to share incredible

stories from people of all fi elds and cultures.

Faculty Advisor: John Sotham is a CARTA

visiting instructor in communication and the

college’s career program coordinator. He is also

an Air & Space magazine contributing editor.

then analyzing the structure and the

antenna [on software] and then man-

ufacturing. It’s a big puzzle that you

have to master.” Carrara is working

on a new multilayered process for ori-

gami antennas that uses rigid material

sandwiched together and overlaid by a

flexible material that allows the entire

structure to easily change shape.

Besides being excited about the vast

potential uses of origami antennas,

Georgakopoulos also likes the uncon-

ventional thinking that designing ori-

gami antennas requires and the enthu-

siasm he sees in his students, many of

whom are drawn to a more creative

engineering environment. He relishes

the idea of marrying two disciplines that

are not ordinarily considered together:

engineering and art. —Anna Radinsky

THE ABILITY OF AN ORIGAMI

ANTENNA TO RESHAPE ITSELF

MAKES IT MORE EFFICIENT.

“A SINGLE ANTENNA COULD

SEND AND RECEIVE GPS DATA,

AND AT ANOTHER FREQUENCY,

SEND AND RECEIVE VIDEO

OR WEATHER DATA,” SAYS

STAVROS GEORGAKOPOULOS.

September 2019 AIR & SPACE 23