New Origami-inspired Design Turns Pushing Into Pulling

The series of paper cells developed by researchers at the University of Washington uses origami folds to absorb the force of impacts.

By Korey Haynes
May 24, 2019 9:46 PMFeb 24, 2020 2:56 AM
Origami-inspired metamaterials - University of Washington
Origami-inspired metamaterials (Credit: Kiyomi Taguchi/University of Washington)

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Whether applied to auto collisions or rocket landings, absorbing energy from impacts is a valuable trait, and industries have been working on various solutions for years. For spacecraft, landing safely has entailed everything from inflatable airbag systems to sky cranes to retro-thrusters. But what if the force of impact never made it to the spacecraft at all?

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