Origami: Tapping new frontiers in engineering tech

There was a time when there was no 3D printers and origami was the key to creating lifelike forms out of a flat surface. The art of origami- folding, collapsing, flexing and unfurling structures at will- lies at the heart of many modern engineering applications from digestible origami pills that provide alternatives to invasive surgery to solar panels that could be tightly packed in an aircraft and deploy after launch.

Origami has been transforming ever since Buddhist monks carried paper from China to Japan in the 6th century. Because paper was expensive and not widely available, its first origami applications were for religious ceremonies. And for a long time, it continued in the same vein. But by the 17th century, origami had extended beyond its ceremonial origins to a popular form of recreation, thanks to the advent of mass-produced paper. Millions of paper cranes ensued.

Again forms stayed relatively stagnant until the 1950s when the Japanese artist Akira Yoshizawa inspired a new generation of artists and scientists with his complex and lifelike renderings of animals. It was, however, physicist Robert Lang, who led from the front taking the charge in computational origami and uniting mathematical formulas with the art of folding. Among Lang’s many practical origami-inspired applications has been improving the safety of airbags in automobiles.

This eclectic approach can have a bearing on the whole lot of global engineering problems mainly because origami is a compliant mechanism. It gets its motion from bending and deflection rather than hinges or bearings, and the motion relies on the paper’s flexibility.

Huge untapped potential

In an interesting demonstration last year, researchers at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute showed how a series of folds to a DNA strand could result in better drug delivery methods.

Because the shape is multidimensional, the DNA strand is spread out on every edge of the origami structure. This method stems from a mathematical equation known as Eulerian circuits, and it allows circular DNA molecules to remain flexible while easily being folded.

“We can now create structures that can be folded in, and remain viable in, physiological salt concentrations that are more suitable for biological applications of DNA nanostructures,” according to lead researcher BjörnHögberg. This breakthrough method has already led to smarter drug delivery to cancerous tumors.

Another breakthrough has been achieved by researchers at MIT who have developed a novel approach of treating a common ailment among children: swallowing batteries. Imagine being able to swallow a tiny origami pill that would then expand in your stomach and, with the help of a magnet, usher the battery out of your system. So far research has been successful in a pig’s stomach, but no humans have been tested yet. The potential here for non-invasive surgery without the need for anesthesia is huge.

MIT has also built the world’s smallest #action=share" target="_blank">self-assembling robots that can walk, dig, swim and then dissolve into nothing. At just 1.7 centimeters, these robots are made of magnets and PVC sandwiched between layers of laser cut paper or polystyrene. When placed on a heating element, the PVC contracts, making the pre-formed cuts, which, along with electromagnetic coils under the surface, “power” the robot to fold and move.

Space is the limit

Origami could prove critical in space research because of its ability to fold down for compact storage and then expand upon deployment. Imagine orbiting solar panels that could beam down energy from outer space.

Because solar panels depend on a large flat surface area, the challenge has always been how to get them into space. How about clever folding? This is precisely the theory behind NASA working on a prototype of a solar array that could be packed in a spacecraft to only take up 8.9 feet across, and then unfurl to an impressive 82 feet in diameter once deployed.

Then there’s NASA’s new Bigelow Expandable Activity Model (BEAM), which looks like a giant airbag that can be inflated to expand the habitable area of a space station.

Origami isn’t new to human beings, it’s just that we have only begun to unlock its potential to change the world as we know it.