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Folding

The project presented in this post focuses on some folding skills. The folding process requires in the digital environment  a clear understanding of what are the forces that derives a form to illustrate the motion of folding and unfolding under its given limits. The project was to create a paper thin object (surface) to demonstrate motion and folding. What challenges the creation of this digital object is that, the characteristics of its motion are controlled by the digital environment, unlike the physical paper which can, for example, warp. So, some analysis of the constrains and parameters were established to create this movement and the outcomes are illustrated below.

The project was inspired by one of the paper models shown in Paul Jacksons book Folding Techniques For Designers From Sheet To Form (image 1 below).


Image 1

The following step was to recreate this form in Digital Project. The form must be first analyzed to establish its constraints and parameters for a single unit. Then the unit could be copied and attached to the previous unite. 


Image 2: is of the framework, in this image the frame in which the unit will function through is established (creating constraints and parameters).


Image 3: is creating the surface, the surface is the layer that is going to be attached onto the framework and will operate under the constraints and parameters given to frame. 


Image 4: is another view of both the framework and the surface. The surface also has additional constraints that correspond to the constraints given to the framework; This helps both operate in the desired motion.


Image 5: after several attempts to create the form, the digital model did not respond, instead the approach was to remodel the cell using both the existing surface and the framework.  


Image 6: when the folding operation started, the unit started to behave deferentially, the folding and unfolding of the model worked, but required additional investigation to find and redefine the forces of its motion. 
 
Image 7: shows the model when it folds. 


Image 8: the model also broke during the folding operation, but this was a result of adding extreme inputs (values) for the model to perform under. 




  

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