Automated Design and Optimization of Origami Electromagnetic Structures [EM Programmer's Notebook]

Origami electromagnetic (EM) structures are promising technologies for deployable and reconfigurable EM structures such as antennas and frequency-selective surfaces (FSSs). However, these structures present CAD modeling difficulties due to their complex geometries. Studying the effects of origami substrate folding on EM performance demands multiple CAD models at different fold angles. Also, optimization of such structures for desired EM performance requires analysis of many CAD models. To enable fast CAD modeling, we introduce a toolset for automated modeling of origami EM structures. The proposed toolset uses origami mathematics for generating thin origami models. The thin models are then converted to thick substrates with conductive regions by implementing additional mathematical algorithms. Automated CAD modeling is achieved using Visual Basic Scripting (VBS) of the entire design and simulation process in Ansys high-frequency structure simulator (HFSS) using MATLAB. This toolset is important for future research of origami EM structures because it enables automated CAD modeling and optimization.