Abstract: A lightweight, deployable, portable shelter is described. The portable shelter may be a tent. The tent can be used indoors as well as outdoors. The structure of the portable shelter is determined by compression elements and tensile members such that the compression elements do not touch. The forces acting on each component of the structure are axially-loaded, thereby taking advantage of the characteristics of the compression elements and tensile members to provide a tent with improved strength.

Abstract: A lightweight, deployable, portable shelter is described. The portable shelter may be a tent. The tent can be used indoors as well as outdoors. The structure of the portable shelter is determined by compression elements and tensile members such that the compression elements do not touch. The forces acting on each component of the structure are axially-loaded, thereby taking advantage of the characteristics of the compression elements and tensile members to provide a tent with improved strength.

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.