Mech. Sci.

, 4, 381–390, 2013
www.mech-sci.net/4/381/2013/ Mechanical
Sciences
doi:10.5194/ms-4-381-2013
© Author(s) 2013. CC Attribution 3.0 License.
Open Access

Monolithic 2 DOF fully compliant space

pointing mechanism
E. G. Merriam1 , J. E. Jones2 , S. P. Magleby1 , and L. L. Howell1
1
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
2
Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA, Huntsville, AL 35812, USA
Correspondence to: L. L. Howell (lhowell@byu.edu)
Received: 10 April 2013 – Revised: 11 June 2013 – Accepted: 1 July 2013 – Published: 2 December 2013

Abstract. This paper describes the conception, modeling, and development of a fully compliant two-degree-
of-freedom pointing mechanism for application in spacecraft thruster, antenna, or solar array systems. The
design objectives and the advantages of a compliant solution are briefly discussed. Detailed design decisions
to meet project objectives are described. Analytical and numerical models are developed and subsequently
verified by prototype testing and measurements in several iterations. A final design of the 3-D printed titanium
monolithic pointing mechanism is described in detail and its performance is measured.

1 Introduction nications antenna could decrease the power required to send

data. Similarly, pointing a solar array would give the ability
to orient it for optimal capturing of solar radiation, increas-
Current space mechanisms have arrived at a state of highly ing efficiency of energy capture. Figure 1a shows the pointer
optimized design (Fowler et al., 2011). They are subject mechanism developed in an effort to demonstrate incorporat-
to many harsh environmental conditions, including ther- ing compliant mechanism design in a space-centered appli-
mal gradients, vibrational loading, and operation in a vac- cation.
uum (Fusaro, 1999). As designers seek to reduce space Design objectives for the pointer are given in Table 1. It is
mechanism size and cost, new mechanism topologies and intended that the rotational range specification be increased
manufacturing techniques must be considered that address for future design iterations: fifteen degrees was chosen as a
these design challenges. baseline. Repeatability must be high to eliminate the need for
Compliant mechanisms have the potential to solve many of active position sensing. Center shift, or the distance that the
the challenges faced in space mechanism design. Addition- axis of rotation moves as the mechanism deflects, must be
ally, advances in additive manufacturing enable the inexpen- low to increase pointing accuracy. Fifty hertz was chosen as
sive creation of complex geometries. In this work Electron a baseline target of first natural frequency; this constraint can
Beam Melting (EBM) was selected as the manufacturing pro- be relaxed or increased depending on the application of the
cess. Combining compliant mechanisms with EBM enables pointer. The thruster load was chosen for a standard thruster
the creation of monolithic metal compliant mechanisms with size, and the life specification is for earth-orbit satellites.
complex geometry and frictionless, multi-axis motion. While Mechanism size is limited by the build envelope of the man-
many mechanism types stand to benefit from such character- ufacturing system (200 mm wide × 200 mm deep × 180 mm
istics, this work addresses the pointing mechanism. height).
A pointer is a mechanism that has the capability to ori-
ent an output stage along one or more axes. Pointing mecha-
nisms have wide applications in spacecraft design. In space, 2 Background
the capability of pointing a thruster could eliminate the need
for multiple thruster arrays, reducing part count and poten- Various types of pointing mechanisms have been evaluated
tial failure points. The ability to accurately point a commu- for use in space. The classic gimbals, or Cardan suspension,

Published by Copernicus Publications.

382 E. G. Merriam et al.: Monolithic pointer

Table 1. Design objectives of space pointer.

Description Target Achieved

Value Value
Rotational range ±15◦ ±15◦
Repeatability (% RSD) < 2.5 % 0.75 %
Center Shift < 0.5 mm 0.28 mm
Thruster load 445 N 445 N
Mass < 200 g 93.2 g
First Natural Frequency > 50 Hz 55 Hz
Life (cycles) > 1000 100 000
Allows space for electronics/fuel lines Yes Yes

the Canfield joint (Canfield and Reinholtz, 1998). The Can-

Figure 1a. Annotated photograph of a 3-D printed titanium 2 DOF field joint has a large workspace and parallel architecture that
pointing mechanism. allows wires and plumbing to be routed without risk of pinch-
ing or shearing, and served as early inspiration for this work.
This new pointer design is approached by applying the ad-
vantages of compliant mechanisms. Compliant mechanisms
achieve their mobility through deflection of flexible mem-
bers (Howell, 2001; Howell et al., 2013). This avoids sliding
contact, eliminating friction and wear along with the need for
lubrication. These improvements are especially useful when
operating in a vacuum. Reducing the number of traditional
joints can reduce or eliminate backlash, which is a contribut-
ing factor to the use of compliant mechanisms in precision
instrumentation (Motsinger, 1964). Additionally, compliant
mechanisms lend themselves to monolithic construction, giv-
ing all components an equal coefficient of thermal expansion.
This avoids both binding and loss of precision due to large
changes in temperature (Fusaro, 1999). Finally, compliant
mechanisms can often be designed with significant weight
savings when compared to traditional mechanisms (Howell,
2001).

3 Rigid body replacement synthesis

Figure 1b. The pointer mechanism integrated with a small atti-
tude control thruster demonstrating compliant mechanism design Numerous mechanism topologies were evaluated and a five-
in a space-centered application. bar spherical mechanism was selected. It requires only two
actuators and can passively support the applied thruster load.
It is superior to a Cardan suspension in this application be-
can provide good accuracy but proper arrangement of actu- cause with the addition of the driver dyad both actuators
ators is a non-trivial problem. Single-pivot pointing mecha- can be attached to ground, reducing rotational inertia. With
nisms using Hooke or ball-and-socket joints have several fea- proper attention to geometry, it can have the aforementioned
sible configurations, but their actuation is complex. Azimuth- desirable qualities of the Canfield joint, i.e. plumbing and
over-elevation pointing mechanisms are essentially two tilt- wiring are not at risk of damage from pinching or shearing.
ing mechanisms mounted in series with orthogonal axes of Rigid body replacement synthesis (Howell et al., 2013;
rotation. These tend to be heavier than other pointing mech- Olsen et al., 2010) was used to convert the selected kine-
anisms and have slip rings or cables with a service loop for matic concept to a compliant mechanism. To select a com-
signal transfer (Fusaro, 1999). pliant pivot for use in the mechanism, four pivot types
Other developments have addressed the issue of position- were evaluated for suitability: the cross-axis flexural pivot
ing and orienting an object with devices such as the Agile (CAFP) (Jensen and Howell, 2002), the split-tube flex-
Eye (Gosselin and Hamel, 1994; Gosselin et al., 1999) and ure (STF) (Goldfard and Speich, 1999), the cartwheel

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E. G. Merriam et al.: Monolithic pointer 383

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

(e)

Figure 2. Rigid body replacement for the spherical five-bar mechanism. (a) Rigid link representation. The arrow is located at the intersection
of the axes of the spherical mechanism and represents the mechanism to be oriented. (b) Symmetry added to increase stiffness under load.
(c) Basic mechanism with CAFPs and a STF. (d) Representation of full mechanism. (e) Rendering of CAD model.

hinge (CH) (Pei, 2009), and the small-length flexural pivot structure. Figure 2 shows graphically the progression from
(SLFP) (Howell and Midha, 1994). Metrics for comparison rigid kinematic mechanism to the fully compliant mecha-
were stiffness, material volume, envelope, and center shift. nism.
The results are shown in Table 2. For comparison, the flex- In this application, flexure design is limited by space,
ure geometry was chosen for minimum mass and equal stress manufacturing, stability, and stress. To increase the range
(486 MPa) at a specified deflection (15◦ ). Joint material was of motion and decrease actuation torque, a thin, narrow,
assumed to be titanium. Where applicable, flexure thickness long flexure is desired. Electron Beam Melting (EBM, see
was chosen to be 1.0 mm. Ultimately, the CAFP was selected Sect. 5) material data (EOS GmbH, 2008; MorrisTech, 2013;
for most rotary joints because of its low stiffness, low mass, Svensson, 2009) provided an estimated ultimate tensile stress
and small envelope. The split-tube flexure was selected to re- (1034 MPa) and standard deviation (62 MPa). A conservative
place one rotary joint because of its high off-axis stiffness and S–N fatigue curve (Norton, 2006) was generated for EBM
the ease with which it could be integrated into the mechanism produced titanium parts, shown in Fig. 3.

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384 E. G. Merriam et al.: Monolithic pointer

Table 2. Comparison of flexures for equal stress at 15◦ deflection.

Metric STF CH CAFP SLFP

Torsional Stiffness 20.38 16.22 3.26 3.03
(N m rad−1 )
Material Volume 3.09 6.27 0.52 0.52
(cm3 )
Envelope 17.79 294.60 5.24 0.52
(cm3 )
Center Shift – 0.20 0.33 –
(mm)

The maximum stress occurring in the CAFP can be ap-

proximated as
S θ θEt Figure 3. Estimated S–N curve for EBM produced Ti6Al4V.
σ= (1)
2l cos(45◦ )
where σ is stress, S θ = 0.965 is a CAFP coefficient, θ is
rotation, E is elastic modulus, t is thickness, and l is seg-
ment length (Jensen and Howell, 2002). Using θ = 0.261 rad,
E = 111 GPa, t = 1 mm, and l = 4.06 cm, the stress was esti-
mated to be 494 MPa. The S–N curve in Fig. 3 approximates
a fatigue life of 100 000 cycles, which is well above the de-
sign objective of 1000 cycles. However, this estimate is for
low load applications such as positioning communications or
solar-power systems. When a load (such as firing a thruster)
is applied to the pointer, increased stress will reduce the num-
ber of cycles to failure.

4 Mechanism models

Before a comprehensive model of the mechanism could be

Figure 4. Angle nomenclature used to develop Eq. (2).
developed, it was desirable to establish accurate models of
the component flexures. The flexures were modeled using
commercial Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software (AN-
SYS). The CAFP was represented with BEAM4 elements, which can be solved for unknowns θ, γ, and η:
and this model was compared to the model presented by
Jensen and Howell (2002). The STF was modeled with
BEAM188 elements and defined as an arbitrary cross sec- s(γ)s(η)
c(φ) = c(γ)c(η) − √
tion. Section properties were determined from Pilkey (2002) 2
and elementary beam theory. The STF FEA model was ver- s(γ)s(ψ) s(γ)s(η)
!
ified using the analytical solution by Goldfard and Speich 0= √ − c(γ)s(η) + √ s(ψ)
(1999). Table 3 contains comparisons of the analytical and 2 2
! !
FEA models of both the CAFP and STF. Agreement between 1 c(γ) s(γ)s(η) 1 c(γ)
c(θ) = + c(ψ) − − √ + (− + )c(η) s(ψ)
the FEA and analytical solutions gave confidence that the 2 2 2 2 2
models used have a sufficient degree of accuracy. (3)
The kinematics were derived using 3-D rotation matrices,

[R x (90◦ )][Ry (θ)][Rz (90◦ )][Ry (φ)] = where γ and η were found using function fmincon in Matlab,
[R x (−90◦ )][Ry (−g)][R x (γ)][Ry (−g)][R x (η)][Rz (−90◦ )][R x (ψ)] while θ could be found directly once γ and η were known.
(2) Combining the kinematics, analytical models of the flex-
ures, the pseudo-rigid-body model (Howell and Midha,
where variables are depicted in Fig. 4 and g = π4 . Multiply- 1994), and the principle of virtual work (Howell, 2001), an
ing the matrices gives nine equations, the following three of analytical model of the mechanism was developed that is

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E. G. Merriam et al.: Monolithic pointer 385

Table 3. Comparison of FEA and analytical predictions of stiffness

for CAFP and STF. All stiffnesses are in N m rad−1 .

FEA Analytical % Difference

CAFP 3.05 3.26 −6.94 %
STF 21.34 20.38 4.5 %

Table 4. Modal analysis of connecting structure sections. First and

second frequencies correspond to the desired degrees of freedom.
Frequencies in Hz.

Natural Solid Hollow Square

Frequency Square Circle Channel
1st 15.5 15.6 14.8
2nd 19.6 19.7 19.3
3rd 55.2 73.8 50.3 Figure 5. FEA representation of the mechanism at a deflected po-
4th 86.4 126.1 68.0 sition. Contours are Von Mises stress in lbs in−2 .
5th 108.5 135.8 84.2

ter shift (see Table 5). Although increasing structural stiff-

capable of predicting input torques. ness increases stress in the flexures, the benefits of improved
precision dictate that the connecting structure be as rigid as
 n k θ̃ dθi   dφ possible while still maintaining low mass. Therefore, round,
P 
i i dq1  dψ  " #
 T φ hollow tubes were selected for the structure.
 =  dφ
   dq1 dq1 
i=0
n dψ 

 Tψ (4)
 ki θ̃i dθi   dq
P
2 dq2
dq2
i=0
5 Prototypes
The FEA flexure models were combined and expanded to
represent the entire mechanism. A mesh refinement study A parametric CAD model was built in the commercial pack-
was implemented to find an element size for a mesh- age Solidworks to allow geometry to be easily altered.
independent solution. The resulting FEA model is shown in Mounting points were added to the ground link, and hex
Fig. 5. Figure 6 shows FEA and analytical predictions of stubs were incorporated along the φ and ψ axes to enable
required torque for ten combinations of input angles. The actuation during testing. During the testing of early proto-
models agree closely on T ψ , but T φ predictions show a dis- types, torque watches and torque wrenches were used to ap-
crepancy roughly proportional to the magnitude of the com- ply and measure actuation torques, and protractors provided
manded angle. This discrepancy is due to parasitic motion in angle measurement.
the FEA model; the reduced stiffness of that model results in First prototypes were built from FlexLinks (BYU CMR
a lower torque prediction. Damping is not modeled but may Group, 2013) (custom compliant mechanism prototyping el-
be an important issue for some conditions. ements) and LEGO® bricks (see Fig. 7a and b). The proto-
type in Fig. 7b was used to further validate the FEA and ana-
lytical models, and to better visualize the mechanism behav-
4.1 Connecting structure
ior. The FEA model correctly predicted the torque required
Three section types were evaluated for use in the structure to deflect the prototype to several positions.
that connects the pivots: solid square, hollow round, and Before full-scale prototyping in metal, several titanium
square channel. The section dimensions were determined by flexures were fabricated (see Fig. 7c and d) to examine
using a constant cross sectional area (0.403 cm2 ) and a wall their suitability for EBM and test their behavior. The torque-
thickness (where applicable) of 1.27 mm. This approach al- displacement behavior of these flexures compared with FEA
lowed connecting structures of equal mass to be evaluated and analytical predictions is shown in Table 6. The differ-
based on their relative stiffness only. To compare each struc- ences in stiffnesses for different flexures are attributed to vari-
ture’s stiffness, an FEA modal analysis was conducted for ations in manufactured flexure thickness. The differences be-
each section type. The results are listed in Table 4, and in- tween measured and predicted values is also due to high sur-
dicate that for equal mass the round tube structure is stiffer face roughness, causing the effective thickness of the pivot
than either of the competing section types. It was found that to be less than the measured thickness. Applying a correc-
increasing the stiffness of the connecting structure signifi- tion factor of 0.83 to the flexure thickness in the FEA model
cantly improved the mechanism’s precision by reducing cen- brings it into good agreement with measured stiffness.

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386 E. G. Merriam et al.: Monolithic pointer

Table 6. Predicted and measured stiffnesses of two flexure types.

A, B, C, α, and β designate average values of stiffness for each
prototype flexure.

(a) CAFPs
FEA A B C
Stiffness (N m rad−1 ) 6.0 5.6 3.8 4.1
(b) STFs
FEA α β
Stiffness (N m rad−1 ) 23.6 10.4 12.9

Additionally, the wall thickness should be at least 1.0 mm,

and the maximum cross section of one build layer is 100 cm2 .
Figure 6. Comparison of FEA and analytical models at ten sets of
command angles. T φ and T ψ are torque required for given rotation
about the φ and ψ axes, respectively. 6 Testing

Table 5. Static analysis of connecting structures. All values are av- To confirm that the final titanium prototype behaves as de-
erages over eight representative sets of command angles. Rotational sired, a testing regime was implemented using techniques
error is a root sum square difference from zero and command an- more refined than the simplified methods used for initial pro-
gles.
totypes.
Solid Hollow Square
Square Circle Channel 6.1 Test method
Center Shift (mm) 0.259 0.256 0.363
Rotational Error (rad) 0.019 0.017 0.024 Custom fixtures were built to attach the mechanism to an op-
Max Von Mises Stress (MPa) 453 475 422 tical breadboard. Worm-and-wheel gear sets were used to
apply pure rotational displacements in series with Omega
torque transducers. Transducer output was measured with a
National Instruments USB carrier coupled with a LabView
As a final check of the CAD model before creating a tita-
DAQ. Transducer calibration was accomplished by hanging
nium mechanism using EBM, the mechanism was produced
masses from a lever arm of known length to apply a known,
on an FDM printer in ABS plastic. This ABS prototype is
constant torque.
shown in Fig. 7e. After minor cosmetic changes the design
Stereoscopic imaging was used for position measurement
was produced in Ti6Al4V using EBM at NASA Marshall
because of its ability to rapidly determine locations in three
Space Flight Center. This final prototype is shown in Fig. 7f.
dimensions. Images were captured using Dino-Lite AM3011
Digital Microscopes. The test set-up is shown in Fig. 8. Pro-
Manufacturing considerations cessing and position finding was done using scripts written
To enable the manufacture of the complex geometry in Tita- in Matlab. Platform orientation was found by identifying the
nium, Electron Beam Machining (EBM) was selected as the location of points A, B, and C (see Fig. 9) and using N =
manufacturing process for the final device. EBM is a vari- AB × AC. The output angles were found as φ = arctan( NNxz )
−N
ant of 3-D printing, where the part is built from successive and ψ = arctan( Nzy ).
layers of metal powder that are melted together. This addi- Center shift was found using points B, C, D, and E from
tive manufacturing process allows geometries to be created Fig. 9. These points were chosen because they are equidistant
that would be difficult to fabricate using traditional methods. from the center of rotation.The point locations were found
EBM allows parts to be designed with reduced manufactur- for all 45 data sets. Gradient based optimization (the Matlab
ing constraints (ArcamAB, 2013). Adherence to certain de- function fmincon) was used to determine the sphere radius, r,
sign guidelines can greatly improve part quality, and were that best fit these points to its surface. Using this calculated
incorporated in the space pointer to facilitate manufacturing. r and the undeflected positions of B, C, D, and E, a center
For example, overhanging geometry should be avoided, es- of rotation (X0 , Y0 , and Z0 ) was also found. For each data
pecially when features are thin (Cansizoglu et al., 2008). In set a relative center of rotation was found (x0 , y0 , and z0 ).
cases where overhangs are unavoidable, support geometry The distance from this displaced center to the non-displaced
should be included that is removed during post-processing. center was then calculated and recorded as center shift.

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E. G. Merriam et al.: Monolithic pointer 387

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

(e) (f)

Figure 7. Titanium prototype. (a) Spherical 5-bar with central pointing platform. Rotations at A and B give two DOF. (b) Compliant
prototype to confirm rigid concept. (c) Titanium CAFPs. (d) Titanium STFs. (e) Monolithic ABS prototype. (f) Titanium prototype.

Repeatability was tested by selecting four sets of com- the mechanism center moves from the undeflected position.
mand torques T φ and T ψ and actuating the mechanism to each Center shift data is tabulated in Table 7, which shows that
set four times. The rotations were measured and compared. center shift is larger than anticipated but still quite small. It
was found that the repeatability of the mechanism is high.
6.2 Results Figure 13 shows that differences in measured position are
less than the measurement error for four sets of command
To verify the FEA model, torque and displacement were torques.
measured at a variety of command angles. The flexure thick-
ness correction factor (0.83) described previously was used
to correct for changes between the designed and as-fabricated 7 Conclusions
flexure thicknesses. Good agreement between measured be-
havior and the FEA model was achieved, as shown in We have described the modeling and development of a fully
Figs. 10, 11, and 12. Table 1 tabulates the final values of the compliant spherical pointing mechanism suitable for use in
design metrics. All values meet or exceed the design goals. space applications. Monolithic construction avoids many de-
Note that rotational accuracy will depend on the method of sign challenges of the space environment. Adequate preci-
actuation and associated control system, and was not quanti- sion was obtained while providing a platform capable of sup-
fied here. Center shift was used as an alternate metric of per- porting thruster loads up to 450 N. The design objectives in
formance in lieu of rotational accuracy. This is the amount Table 1 were met or exceeded. Advantages of the mechanism

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388 E. G. Merriam et al.: Monolithic pointer

Figure 10. Comparison of measured and predicted T φ and T ψ at

ψ = 0 and φ = 0, respectively for the titanium prototype.
Figure 8. Test set-up for measuring applied torque and resulting
displacement.

Figure 11. Comparison of measured and predicted input torques

(T φ ) at two values of ψ for the titanium prototype.

include low part count, small mass, low friction, small vol-
ume, and high reliability due to the elimination of articulating
components.
The monolithic pointing mechanism could be prepared for
use in a range of spacecraft applications. Figure 14 illustrates
its implementation for orienting a communications antenna
on a satellite. Use as a two-degree-of-freedom thruster mount
was illustrated in Fig. 1b. The device enables orientation of
the thruster while maintaining ready routing of required fuel
lines.
The performance of the pointer mechanism shows that
combining compliant mechanisms with the manufacturing
capabilities of 3-D printing has the potential to influence
Figure 9. Points A, B, C, D, and E with vector N used for measure- the way space mechanisms are designed. This work shows
ment of φ and ψ on the titanium prototype. that monolithic mechanisms can provide high performance
in multi-axis systems while eliminating friction, wear, back-
lash, and lubrication issues. Possible future work includes

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E. G. Merriam et al.: Monolithic pointer 389

(a)

Figure 12. Comparison of measured and predicted input torques

(T ψ ) at two values of φ for the titanium prototype.

(b)

Figure 14. Possible application of the pointer for orienting a com-

munications antenna. To see the full video, go to http://youtu.be/
xIAvIIoRw8w. (a) The pointer mechanism on a possible satellite.
(b) The same satellite as in 14a, with communications antenna
mounted to the pointer output stage.

Table 7. Center shift data for analytical model, numerical model,

and measured behavior. Analytical maximum center shift is a root
sum squared total for a single hinge. Numerical and measured data
were collected from 45 distinct sets of applied torques. All data are
Figure 13. Measured rotation for applied torques T φ and T ψ at ψ =
in millimeters.
0 and φ = 0, respectively. All data are absolute values with the sign
indicated by the legend. Data is for the titanium prototype.
Metric Analytical Numerical Measured
Mean – 0.18 0.28
efforts to utilize static balancing as a strategy for reducing ac- Standard Deviation – 0.10 0.12
tuation effort, incorporating the capacity for structural damp- Max 0.57 0.46 0.63
ing, and optimizing for desirable frequency response. With Min – 0.02 0.08
feasibility demonstrated and the model verified, the pointer
is available to be optimized for mass, volume, and other per-
formance metrics for specific applications.
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Acknowledgements. The authors acknowledge Eric Wilcox for
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was supported by the National Science Foundation and Air Force 2013.
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