Deployable Solid: A New Folding Structure

Masayoshi Ebara¹* and Ken'ichi Kawaguchi²

¹Member of IASS and Japan Society of Civil Engineers, 2-27-1316 Toyama, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-0052, Japan
²Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan
*E-mail address: ebara-3dem@sam.hi-ho.ne.jp

(Received June 10, 2003; Accepted September 3, 2003)

Keywords: Deployable Solid, Foldable Connection, Bi-stable

Abstract. The idea from Japanese traditional Origami is applied to folding of three dimensional structures. A series of foldable structures called deployable solids are presented. Combinations of these assembled structures are investigated and some models are shown. Practical aspects of deployable solids are also discussed.