Origami-Inspired Objects Convert From 2D To 3D On Light Exposure - NC State University

Origami-art lovers are fascinated by the large number of 3D objects that they can create just by folding a sheet of paper. Taking cue from this age-old Japanese art, when engineers and designers from different universities came together in a team led by North Carolina State University, exciting innovations were bound to happen. This team plans to use various computational models on the photo-responsive 2D materials and demonstrate them being converted into 3D objects when exposed to light. So, we will see the 2D material forming a 3D-structured shape by folding itself precisely in fixed patterns under light-exposure. This technology can find immense applications in green manufacturing process such as hands-free assembly of electronics.

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This research work is inspired from the NC State's #-Link-Snipped-#, which demonstrated how conversion of 2-D patterns into 3-D objects is possible under light. It used plastic-sheets that had printed bold black lines over it for a desired pattern. Once under infrared light these black lines attracted more energy and the plastic contracted at the right angles. See a video to see the actual process here -



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