Origami

Tokyo Researchers Demonstrate Unaided Self-Folding 4D Printed Origami

A group from The University of Tokyo’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Systems recently published an article about their method to 4D print high resolution self-folding origami structures. Their…

Origami Inspires 3D Printed Soft Robotics

Researchers from China have been inspired by origami structures and materials, leading them to the more complex development of robotics, as presented in the recently published “Origami spring-inspired metamaterials and…

3D Printing to Study Behavior of 3D Miura-Ori Column Structures

In the recently published ‘Study on the compressive behavior of Miura origami column structure,’ authors I.G.R. Permana, M. Rismalia, S.C. Hidajat, A.B. Nadiyanto, and F. Triawan explored the mechanical properties…

TU Delft: Researchers 3D Printing Minimal Surface Structures Inspired by Origami

Although Japan is famous for their creations in origami, the craft is appreciated around the world, and recently by TU Delft researchers in the Netherlands who sought to understand more…

China: Origami Used to Strengthen 4D Metamaterials Resulting in a Tunable Miura-ori Tube

Chinese researchers explore not only the inspiration of origami designs and structures in science and technology today, but also the uses of 4D printing in a range of industrial applications….

Researchers Make Strong, 3D Printed Expandable Origami Structures for Engineering Applications

A collaborative team of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Beijing Institute of Technology, and Peking University are using 3D printing to directly build reconfigurable origami assemblages that…

Earwig Wings Inspire Researchers to 3D Print Multimaterial, Self-Folding Origami Elements

Many scientists have been inspired by wings, be they bat, bird, or butterfly, in their 3D printing research projects. A team of researchers from ETH Zurich and Purdue University have…

UCSF Uses 3D Cell Patterning Technology to Fold Living Tissue Into Complex Shapes

The concept behind the ancient, well-known paper folding art known as origami can also be applied to an organism’s development process – as an egg turns into an embryo, and…

Researchers Inspired by Origami to Develop 3D Printing Alternative to Building Lattice Structures

3D printing technology is often combined with the principles of origami to fabricate things like face masks, robots, and self-folding electronics. Notably, researchers at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in…

Electric Eel Inspires 3D Bioprinting Research That Could Lead to Soft, Biocompatible Power Sources

Electric eels are not evil, as much as Flotsam and Jetsam from The Little Mermaid would have you believe otherwise. The electric eel is the only species in its genus, and…

Researchers Use 3D Printed End Plates and Paper Origami Mechanisms to Create Flexible, Inching Robots

A team of students and professors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been working on innovative research that illustrates how they used bio-inspired design and origami structures to…

MIT CSAIL’s Interactive Robogami System Makes it Easy to Design and 3D Print Your Own Origami-Inspired Robots

For years, researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have been working with 3D printing and robotics, making robots 3D printed in one step and 3D printed…

3D Printing and Recycling in Space Among New NASA and Freelancer.com Design Challenges

It’s become obvious over the last several years that NASA loves a good contest. The agency is enthusiastic about crowdsourcing ideas and inventions from the general public through design challenges,…

Lézar3D Collaborates with Quebec Hair Salon to Create and Install Massive 3D Printed Lighting Fixture

While lamps and other lighting fixtures serve the very basic purpose of illuminating our homes, offices, and other buildings, that doesn’t mean they have to look totally utilitarian. 3D printing…

Researchers Use PowerPoint Slide and LED Projector to Create Self-Folding 3D Origami Structures

I remember learning about Microsoft PowerPoint for the first time when I was in junior high, and since then I have used the program often; little did I know that a…

NASA’s PUFFER Microbot Has 3D Printed Wheels to Climb Up Martian Slopes

The rovers that could be used to explore the moon, or other planets in our galaxy, are increasingly being designed and built using 3D printing technology, like Part Time Scientists’ Audi-sponsored…

Bre Pettis Launches New Creative Venture: Bre & Co. Offers 3D Printed Ceramics and More

When Bre Pettis left Stratasys last year, it was with ambitious goals – the creator of MakerBot stated that he intended to “change the world” through 3D printing with the help of…

Self-Folding Medical Implants Combine 3D Printing & Origami

Origami can be nearly magical, but there’s more to it than artistry; there is also some highly complex mathematics. As with so many artistic endeavors, it turns out there are…

Researchers Use Origami to Design Tiny 3D Printed Surgical Instruments

When I was in elementary school, I read a book called Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, which tells the true story of a young Japanese girl who contracted leukemia from…

Engineers Create Origami-Inspired 3D Printed RF Antennas

Japanese origami is providing inspiration for a range of bleeding edge 3D printing and design research projects. The ancient art of paper folding can be traced to the work of Akira Yoshizawa,…

How Ancient Origami Will Influence the Design Future and Speed of Additive Manufacturing

Japanese origami, the art of paper folding, began some time after Buddhist monks first carried paper to Japan during the 6th century. Initially, it was used for religious ceremonial purposes,…