Origami discovery by means of digital resources

Abstract

Most well-known classic origami patterns to date come from human inspirations. The present article is aimed to make use of the exceptional computational capabilities of computers, so as to systematically devise a routine for netting origami bearing desirable properties from a vast pool of candidates. A gene coding strategy, which is carried out through ternary strings, is introduced to enhance the portability of digital origami representation. The proposed gene codes are found highly compressible on binary infrastructures underpinning modern computers. Then a simulation scheme is then given to hunt for origami structures bearing high folding ratios, which see a potential use in solar panel design. After several hours of simulations on a standard computer, five configurations bearing high folding ratios are singled out among 1044 theoretical possibilities. One of them just coincides with a conceptual solar panel design by NASA, and the other four, as far as the authors know, have not been reported in literature yet.