Artpaper folding box6/24/2023 Effective problem-solving usually starts with a plan. He approaches each new design as a creative problem. Most times, Lang doesn’t start his origami projects with the folding. Today, he is a leading origami master known for fashioning very complex folds. He’s combined his artistic and math skills to create more than 700 original designs - everything from woodland animals to three-dimensional multi-pointed stars. Lang has experienced this relationship firsthand throughout more than 40 years of folding. They combine the power of science, art and math. These and other origami-inspired scientific innovations are powerful because they pack a triple punch. Origami has even inspired scientists to tackle a vast variety of projects, from creating shape-shifting pasta to improving noise barriers for roads. It might involve folding DNA, metals - even plant leaves. “The one I prefer is: ‘A form of sculpture in which folding is the primary means of creating the form.’” Here, he argues, origami does not have to be limited to paper. “The art form called origami has many definitions,” he says. He admits, however, that the term “is an abuse of the word.” After all, no paper is involved. “‘DNA origami’ had the feeling of ‘DNA folding,’” he notes. On his webpage, he apologizes for use of that phrase. Together, they translate to “paper folding.” Yet not all origami involves paper.įor instance, Paul Rothemund is credited with inventing a research field known as DNA origami. Origami comes from two Japanese words - oru and kami. But this is a myth, Lang notes.Įspecially for work that may be exhibited, he observes, “quite a few artists (including the great master Yoshizawa) use glue to stiffen the paper or hold parts together.” Beyond paper Some people say origami artists don’t use glue. And sometimes paper is actually cut away.” “Origami is mostly folding, with at most a few cuts, but no paper is cut away. “Most people consider origami and kirigami to be distinct,” Lang notes. In another type, artists combine cutting and folding to create their designs. These units are then folded together to create one larger design. Each individual sheet is folded into a module, or unit. Here, artists use multiple sheets of paper to create complex designs. There are different approaches to origami. And origami-inspired folding serves as the basis for these. Today, Lang helps design everything from solar arrays for outer space to medical implants. In the end, he says, “I sort of just never went back.” And being self-employed allowed him to aid other scientists with their origami research. But “working in origami was really fun,” he realized. He thought he might return to work when the book was done. It provided the motivation for Lang to quit his job. His career began to morph after he decided to write a book on paper folding. Eventually, he got a job researching lasers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. By age 10, he was creating unique designs.īut this art wasn’t Lang’s first career. At first, he copied patterns he found in books. Origami artist Robert Lang started folding when he was six years old. So unfolding one of these designs returns the creation to the original square of paper.īut some types of origami may break one or both of the rules of folding uncut, single sheets of paper. Maybe it’s a simple box, a paper crane or an elaborate dragon. When they hear the word “origami,” most people envision designs made from a single square of paper. Watch a video about the CRAM cockroach robot. Jayaram is just one of many researchers who are combining math and origami techniques to create clever, new products. Doing splits helps these mini-robots navigate through tiny spaces, he explains. “We can kind of make the robot do a split,” he says. That has allowed him to help the robot perform a gymnastic feat known as sprawling. Jayaram uses one type of math (algebra) to compute the force that will act on his robots - and, therefore, how much energy those robots will need to carry out their tasks.įor CRAM, Jayaram used a second type of calculations - geometry, the math of shapes - to figure out the range of motion that each of his robot’s joints will need. The computer-controlled devices must use energy to overcome such forces. Gravity, friction and other forces slow or limit the movement of robots.
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