Minimal Mass Design of Tensegrity Structures

This paper provides a unified framework for minimal mass design of tensegrity systems. For any given configuration and any given set of external forces, we design force density (member force divided by length) and cross-section area to minimize the structural mass subject to an equilibrium condition and a maximum stress constraint. The answer is provided by a linear program. Stability is assured by a positive definite stiffness matrix. This condition is described by a linear matrix inequality. Numerical examples are shown to illustrate the proposed method.