Communications of the ACM
Powerpoint & Led Projector Enable New Technique For Self-Folding Origami
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Peking University have found a new use for the ubiquitous PowerPoint slide: producing self-folding three-dimensional origami structures from photocurable liquid polymers.
Credit: Rob Felt/Georgia Tech
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Peking University in China are using PowerPoint slides to generate self-folding three-dimensional origami structures from photocurable liquid polymers.
The researchers projected a grayscale pattern of light and dark shapes from a light-emitting diode onto a layer of liquid acrylate polymer in a plate or between two glass slides, which triggered a crosslinking reaction and induced the formation of a solid film. A light-absorbing dye in the polymer was used to function as a light regulator, and the interaction between the development of the polymer network and volume contraction during photo curing means areas receiving less light display more apparent bending behavior. Once the film is removed from the polymer, stress created by the differential shrinkage causes the onset of folding.
The researchers say flipping over the patterned film can support cross-linking on the other side, enabling shapes with bidirectional folding.
From Georgia Tech News Center
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