Optimizing Tensegrity Structures for Variable Shock Environments

Determining the sizing of a protection system for a given shock environment is challenging. The sizing depends on several key factors, such as the mass of the payload, the maximum acceleration the payload can experience, the velocity of the system, and the mass of the actual system. This paper explores a method to determine the size of an icosahedral tensegrity system designed to protect a payload using a surrogate model of that system. The surrogate system is then tested iteratively using a genetic algorithm to determine the optimal system parameters. The surrogate model was validated to ensure that assumptions used to construct that model preserve the desired characteristics of the physical system. Once validated, a physical prototype was built to test an optimal condition solution that was calculated and was tested to ensure that the payload remained within the design constraints.