Page 23 - Journal 2018A

A4 paper template printed with a pattern of red and blue lines to create a collapsible tessellated ‘Miura structure’ of alternating mountains and valleys.
Koryo Miura a Japanese researcher at
Tokyo University’s Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science, is credited with making
the original connection between origami and folding solar arrays in space. He focused
on a traditional form of origami which uses non-right-angle folds to produce a springy concertina structure comprising a series of congruent parallelograms. Miura folds create
‘shape-memory’ origami capable of being a ‘compliant mechanism’ – a device that gets its
motion from bending and exing. Effective compliant mechanisms have the bene t of being low cost, simple to maintain and able to operate in harsh environments such as space.
The activity we developed for the IAC program used a simpli ed colour-coded template
to ensure students had the best chance of success in the limited time available. By folding along the guidelines on the template, the students could with a little persistence, fold the A4 sheet into a small ‘package’ with elastic properties such that it could be ‘deployed’ or expanded to full size in one smooth action by pulling on two diagonal corners.
The activity was a little challenging at rst but with some scaffolding and peer support, most
students from years 3 to 10 were able to complete
the task. Students with different needs were also generally able to follow the pattern with support to create the structure which is also interesting to ‘play’ with when complete.
An online search will yield
instructions on how to
achieve the fold either from a blank sheet of paper or by using a printed template (a link is given below). With more time and classroom application of this activity, Miura folding could be used as the basis for investigating a range of concepts at different levels of complexity including the mathematics of tessellation
and ratio and also exploring other, more
‘down to Earth’ applications such as map or instruction sheet folding known as ‘Miura-ori’ maps. The engineering concepts of compliant mechanisms and movable structures with
‘memory’ can also be explored once students have mastered the basic fold with scope for investigating different folds and materials.
The application of origami principles to
solve engineering challenges highlights the importance of being open to creative thinking and that inspiration for design can come from anywhere.
Bibliography and Resources
1. The Fold Pattern for the Miura Folding Pattern used in this the SA Museum IAC activity can be found here: www.ingenia.org.uk/Content/ingenia/issues/issue61/amiura-ori-fold-pattern.pdf
2. The James Webb Space Telescope www.jwst.nasa.gov/index.html www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40878960
3. Bain, Ian (1980), “The Miura-Ori map”, New Scientist. Reproduced in British Origami, 1981, and online at the British Origami Society web site. www.britishorigami.info/academic/miura.php
4. Miura, K. (1985), Method of packaging and deployment of large membranes in space, Tech. Report 618, The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
5. Yutaka Nishiyama International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Volume 79 No. 2 2012, 269-279 www.ijpam.eu/contents/2012-79-2/8/8.pdf
6. How Origami is Inspiring Scienti c Creativity, with BYU and Origami Artist Robert Lang www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYf7nReaGPw
7. See a NASA Physicist’s Incredible Origami www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ4hDppP_SQ
8. Origami in Space: BYU-designed solar arrays inspired by origami www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E12uju1vgQ
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