Thick Origami
Thick Origami
2014
In recent years, the ancient artform of origami has become an area of high interest to scientists and engineers. One reason for this is its ability to take on completely different forms throughout a model's folding motion. Another reason is origami's natural combination of simple fabrication methods with the capability to create an infinite number of simple to complex models. In order to take advantage of these characteristics and use origami as a source of inspiration for innovative solutions, engineers have developed mathematical models which assist in predicting the behavior of origami patterns. Most of these mathematical models assume rigid panels and zero-thickness materials. The assumption of rigid panels is often fitting for engineering problems, but seldom is the zero-thickness approximation appropriate.
A handful of methods for accommodating thickness in origami design have been developed. These include axis-shift method, offset joint method, membrane folds
method, tapered panels method, center membrane method, and the offset panel technique. Each of these, except for the Offset Panel Technique, preserves either the kinematics or the range of motion. The OPT enables the use of thick materials while preserving the kinematics of the zero-thickness models and maintaining the source model's full range of motion. The OPT provides designers with a great deal of flexibility as it accommodates uniform and varying panel thickness, gaps between panels, and boundless joint plane placement.
My graduate research is centered around the OPT which I helped to develop. My work in this field includes a kinetic sculpture which is currently being displayed in BYU's Museum of Art, a publication in the Origami6 book, an entry to the DETC mechanism contest, and a conference paper for ReMAR 2015.
Here's a link to my interview on BYU Radio.