APS March Meeting: Know When to Fold 'em

Photo: Scott Waitukaltis/Leiden University

Photo: tai Cohen Group/Cornell University

At the APS March Meeting 2015 researchers showed how origami can inspire new devices. A group at Leiden University reported that 2D panels joined along fold lines (left) can pop in and out of stable 3D configurations. A similar toggle effect was seen with joined tiles (middle). A team at Cornell and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, used a square-twist pattern to create structural toggle switches in paper (bottom) and in microscopic gel sheets that are actuated by temperature changes.