ATOS 397 0 Kommentare Atos reveals design for optimized space control of solar panels

Team walks away with international award 'Best Design for Additive Manufacturing 2016'

Bezons, Madrid, 4 May 2016 - Atos, an international leader in digital services, reveals a conceptual design to optimize solar panels control. The revolutionary solution includes a self-adjusting ball joint to orientate the solar panels of a satellite. It offers an optimized and customizable support for space that can rotate in the three axes for orientation purposes. It can be manufactured in just one part with additive manufacturing.

Starting from different concepts and real space requirements, Atos focused on creating the mechanism in only one part to reduce weight. This means that the design includes an inner sphere as a ball-joint inside a structural support, which is totally new. It adds movement to what currently is just a hinge. It can only be created with additive techniques and its small size is feasible to be produced in most industrial Additive Manufacturing machines.

According to David Wong, Head of Additive Manufacturing Innovation Centre, Nanyang Polytechnic of Singapore: "As member of the jury, I was compelled by the depth of design optimisation, embedded functionalities and weight & parts reduction exploited by the ATOS designers in realizing this functional design"

Elvira León, Head of R&D and leader of the track Additive Manufacturing in the Scientific Community at Atos explains: "Innovation lies at the core of Atos business strategy and we're proud with this revolutionary design. Orientation of solar panels is vital for energy capture, and current solutions only deploy the panels to a fixed position. We looked for a holistic approach addressing structural integrity, functionality, material, energy consumption and assembly simplicity to a viable solution.

Javier Buhigas, Business Development manager at Atos: "We're proud with this design that can orientate each panel to capture the most sun light and hence play a vital role in the future of satellite power systems whilst contributing to the economics of satellite launching. The next revolution in aerospace is already happening and is using Additive Manufacturing solutions".

The achievements of this design are:

Integration of parts for assembly reduction: a mechanism printed in one step, reducing installation time and tolerances issues.
Reduced weight and therefore costs, as weight is critical in space.
New functionalities: added movement to a satellite support.
Universal solution: can be used as inspiration for applications in various sectors.
Auto-fitted bearing concept that solves precision and tolerances issues in metal printing.
Room for customization, like including an electric inductive engine inside the inner sphere for self-rotating.