3/25/2019 Andrew S. Gillman; Kazuko Fuchi; Philip R. Buskohl
J. Mech. Des. 141(4), 041401 (Jan 11, 2019)
doi: 10.1115/1.4041782

Origami, the ancient art of paper folding, is finding numerous uses in scientific and engineering applications because of the combined advances in mathematics, computer science, and computational geometry. From deployment of solar arrays and antennas to design of robots and modeling of protein folding, origami provides an efficient means of compaction and coordinated motion. Many of the design and analysis tools for origami have relied on both rigid body mechanics and adaptation of well-known fold patterns for engineering applications. This work expands on these approaches through development of an automated design tool for fold pattern discovery, while accounting for non-rigid (deformable) facets through a novel nonlinear mechanics model. The nonlinearity presents challenges for finding the optimal design, and we employ an evolutionary algorithm for navigating this complex design space. With this framework, fold patterns satisfying targeted motions can be identified automatically and thus enables discovery of fold patterns designed specifically for engineering applications.

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