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The Kid Should See This

Origami Changes Everything: Mass-producing an ancient art with 3D printing

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Can origami, the art of folded paper, be used to 3D-print parts for our cars, pieces of clothing, art that we display, and other products? Can we build machines that can create patterns based on scans, and then cut, fold, and glue those patterns into needed objects of the near future? This video from Meiji University explores those possibilities. It’s part of their Incredible Senseis (teachers) series:

Origami can create various shapes from a single sheet of paper, and its techniques have even been used in space. The only obstacle to exerting its full potential is achieving mass production. Professor Ichiro Hagiwara is working to solve this problem with 3D origami printers and robots. He believes origami-based manufacturing will change our lives in the near future.

Related reading: Innovation from Origami and Tessellation and Miura Folds.

Related watching: The Kresling-Pattern and our origami world, an origami-inspired model for reconfigurable materials, a LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Pipe Cleaner Bending Robot, and this mini origami robot self-folds, performs tasks, & can be dissolved.

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