Frequency selective surfaces (FSS) filter specific electromagnetic (EM) frequencies defined by the geometry and often fixed periodic spacing of a conductive element array. By embedding the FSS pattern into an origami structure, we expand the number of physical configurations and periodicities of the FSS, allowing for fold-driven frequency tuning. The goal of this work is to examine the fold-dependent polarization and frequency behavior of an origami-inspired FSS under normal incidence and provide physical insight into its performance. The FSS is tessellated with the Miura-ori pattern and uses resonant length metallic dipoles with orthogonal orientations for two primary modes of polarization. A driven dipole model with geometric morphologies, representative of the folding operations, provides physical insight into the observed behavior of the FSS. Full-wave simulations and experimental results demonstrate a shift in resonant frequency and transmissivity with folding, highlighting the potential of origami structures as an underlying mechanism to achieve fold-driven EM agility in FSSs.

The modularization of 28 GHz multi-mode circular arrays and 60 GHz phased sub-arrays onto N-sided convex polygons is presented. This includes a study on the basic impact of phase error arising from this mapping and the achievable radiation performance from both bands. The intent of this mapping is to investigate the manufacturability and modularization of dual-band mm-wave phased arrays operating at 28 GHz and 60 GHz. The faceted 28 GHz design is operated as a non-uniform multi-mode array, where the polygon is used to approximate the ideal uniform circular array. This gives rise to a subarray concept for a multi-band (or wide band) antenna that operates as a traditional phased array panel in this architecture. In this work, we constrain the resulting design space to provide an approximation of uniform spacing based on the geometric parameterization of the structure for half-wave spacing in the 28 GHz band. The basic layout of the design is presented first and constrained to examine the error arising from modularization. A wavelength-scaled prototype operating at 2.4 GHz is used to demonstrate the measurement and error of the system.

This work examines the array behavior of a quadric circular canonical family bound to the locus of zeros of n-sphere and n-ball geometry. This topological family is investigated for its total variability suitable for a wide variety of mobile autonomous systems. The generation of sum and difference beam radiation patterns is of particular interest in this work, and is explored in detail along with simulated and measured scan behavior for further developments.

The physical reconfiguration and deployment of a 2×2 corporate-fed microstrip patch antenna array is investigated. The origami-inspired antenna array reconfigures structurally using a Miura-ori fold pattern to deploy to/from a compact folded state from/to a flat state. The impact of folding on the electromagnetic performance is evaluated across a range of physical states to study the impact of physical reconfiguration. In particular, the input impedance and beamforming capabilities are used to characterize the performance as a function of the primary folding parameter. These performance metrics are impacted by a feed network that extends across the folds and the beamforming capabilities that are impacted by the changing element spacing and orientation. Results from simulation and a fabricated structure are provided for a 2.4 GHz design.

This work examines the even and odd characteristic modes of circularly distributed ad hoc array topologies with independently controlled element radiators. Fourier and Laplacian probabilistic methods are applied to derive the associated n-th order characteristic functions governing the radiation patterns of their circular topological family. Ultraspherical harmonics are then used to derive the m-th order even and odd characteristic modes for each respective topological family. Additionally, we derive a means of generating orthogonal radiation excitations using complete basis functions.