Abstract: A lightweight, deployable structure capable of large displacements and sustaining high loads, and whose shape can be precisely monitored and controlled to acquire a wide variety of shapes and varying levels of stiffness, and precisely returned to a desired shape after being subjected to a disturbance force. As such, the structure is highly suitable for use in applications in which information concerning the shape and/or stiffness of the structure can be employed to precisely attain a desired shape, precisely return the structure to a desired shape after being subjected to a disturbance force, or to increase or decrease the structural stiffness in response to changing environmental conditions. The deployable structure is generally composed of one or more structural units, each of which can be articulated between two extreme configurations, one of which is a deployed configuration in which the deployable structure is fully extended.