6. Applications

Tensegrity mechanisms have many applications in robotic manipulation. Their use is also being considered in many other fields, taking advantage of the special properties of these systems. In descending order of number of applications, these include the development of :

• mobile robots (e.g. for exploring rugged terrain) ;

• deployable systems (e.g. for antennas or deflectors, or for temporary towers or bridges);

• adaptive structures: (e.g. for earthquake-proof buildings or variable-stiffness systems).

Tensegrity thus makes sense not only to obtain large reconfigurations, but also to obtain significant changes in stiffness around the same equilibrium configuration, as is the case when designing adaptive structures.