Self-folding Self-folding Origami

School of Physics, Soft Condensed Matter & Physics of Living Systems Seminar: Prof. Christian Santangelo, UMass Amherst University

There are now a number of experimental platforms for fabricating self-folding origami structures. In these platforms, individual folds on an initially flat sheet are patterned so that the structure folds autonomously into a desired three dimensional shape.

The dream is to develop a system in which three-dimensional structures can be fabricated from a rapid roll-to-roll process. Yet, in our experiments with self-folding origami, structures sometimes misfold, especially as they become more complicated.

In this talk, I will discuss a model to understand why self-folding origami misfolds by counting the number of folding pathways of “random” origami. Finally, I will discuss methods that may circumvent the problem and suppress misfolds.