Solar heat powered deployable structure

Abstract

An embodiment of the present method may comprise: heating up at least one structural element beyond a change state temperature thereof; changing the configuration of the structural element from an extended configuration to a reduced size configuration; cooling the structural element to below the change state temperature thereof; covering the structural element with a thermal protection device; removing the thermal protection device to expose the structural element to heat radiation; and heating, via the heat radiation, at least a portion of the structural element to thereby cause the structural element to change from the reduced size configuration to the extended configuration. In one embodiment each of the structural elements is formed from a thin elastic memory composite material.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.