Sonobe Origami Polyhedra – Links
Instructions for Making Origami Polyhedra
Instructions for Making Other Origami Figures
Mathematics in Origami
Using Origami to Teach Standard Mathematics Topics
Origami as a Field of Mathematics
Applications of Mathematical Origami
History of the Sonobe Module
Applications of Mathematical Origami
- The October 2001 Siam News article "In the Fold", available in PDF format, presents a range of applications of mathematical origami.
- Tom Hull wrote a paper, available as a PDF file, that discusses a practical map fold that allows a user viewing one small section to shift in any of the four cardinal directions without completely opening and refolding the map.
- Koryo Miura invented a widely celebrated procedure for folding a map called the Miura-Ori fold that is vastly superior to the conventional method. With his fold, a map opens and closes more easily and has less of a tendency to tear at folded corners. This method also has applications in other technologies, such as designing foldable solar sails. Erik Demaine's photo collage from the 3rd International Meeting of Origami Science, Math, and Education includes some pictures of the Miura-Ori map and a model of the solar sail unfolding in space.
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is developing a number of foldable space telescopes. SPACE.com's web site has an article with additional information about the design of one of the solar panels. Erik Demaine has some photos of a model of a folding telescope.
- EASi Engineering GmbH used folding algorithms from origami to create a software system that tests the safety of airbag packings for car manufacturers. Robert Lang has an article about airbag folding on his web page.
The TRUMPF Group uses ideas from origami in their sheet metal designs.
- Radhika Nagpal is using ideas from biology and origami in the field of artificial intelligence. Radhika's thesis presented a language for a self-organizing system that achieves global goals via local computations. The global language is based on Huzita's axioms of geometric origami, and the local instructions are inspired by developmental biology.
- A number of engineers combine origami with biomimetics (engineering that mimics mechanisms found in nature) to develop new technologies. The Deployable Structures Laboratory at the University of Cambridge has a number of projects relating to biomimetics and origami.
