Abstract: Taking the octahedron for example, a novel plan-space polyhedral metamorphic mechanism is abstracted based on the metamorphic mechanism concepts and the edge forming principle of polyhedral packaging carton by making each edges and each corner of the polyhedron equivalent to the links and hinges of the novel mechanism. The mobility conditions of the novel plan-space polyhedral metamorphic mechanism are analyzed, and the connection and movement relationship between the links of the novel mechanism are analyzed by using the adjacent matrix and the screw theory. A novel plan-space polyhedral metamorphic mechanism with the reconfigurable function is designed based on the reconfigurable theory. The novel mechanism not only can achieve the structural transformation between plane topology and space topology, but also can obtain different sizes and different shapes polyhedron configuration. The novel plan-space polyhedral reconfigurable metamorphic mechanism can be used as skeleton or actuator of machine and used in packaging robots, aerospace and other industrial applications.

Key words: Adjacent matrix, Metamorphic mechanism, Polyhedron, Reconfigurable, Screw theory