Origami and Flex PCBs

Ben Hencke of Pixelblaze asked a question for Elecia:

Do you know of any origami applications for flex PCB? Maybe not pure origami but related folding structures or self arranging structures? Kirigami? Was thinking about different ways a folded structural flex PCB could be interesting. It reminded me of this packing material (video also has some tech examples of origami /kirigami): This piece of paper could revolutionize human waste. Of course, I’m wondering about some kind of neat led screen, or other circuit art, but what else could it be used for? Have you run across stuff like that?

This is definitely a topic I noodle on. Flex PCBs don't fold and crease like paper does. But cutting a channel means you can make it bend in a way that looks like a fold. (Paper sculptors call these hinges instead of folds.) I see electrical engineers make cutouts to allow sharper curves inside small packages.

I've had this idea regarding a circular antenna and what I call chaos noodle (origmisimulator.org Examples -> Curved -> Circular Pleat). To get the bends in flex, it would have to be a flat donut of paper with a copper antenna (circular). Then add cuts that were arcs around the circle to give it bendy-ness. I think with a little manipulation, it would create a wavy saddle. Why? I don't know. But it would be neat. I don't know if it would still work as an antenna.

That's the first (and simplest) idea. Carl Bugeja's PCB actuators are where things get interesting. Say I start with the above wavy toroid with arc-cuts to facilitate the bending. If it had power and was laid out as an actuator (vs. an antenna), instead of going back and forth, it might undulate and that would be freaky and neat. Or maybe it wouldn't.

I tend to want to play more with curved origami or the crossover of straight lines and curves (as in Curved-Folding Origami Design). I have wondered if I could get some breathing-type actuation with curves.

The straight line pieces are well known in engineering, especially Miura folds which is a way to make an object that can be expanded or collapsed, handy in the hugeness of space and in the tininess of blood vessels. Tomoko Fuse is an artist that plays with angles and Miura folds, some of her work has gone on into 3D antennas (Spirals book). I think there may be some possible built-up flexes in the whirlpools section. I have a Python-based pattern generator if you want to play…

In summary: with a non-paper material, usually the term of interest is hinges (instead of folds) and, yes, totally a thing. But flex PCBs and curved origami should be explored…

Weekly links:

• Phillip Johnston's Embedded Artistry is running a member book club starting March 18. They'll be reading Head First Design Patterns?(O'Reilly) (Amazon), a great intro to the topic. ?The club will cover one chapter a week and discuss in the forums and group chats. Join here.
• A nice multi-part survey of the top 7 most used C++ idioms. Idioms are similar to design patterns but tend to be language specific and smaller in scope.?
• A direct, optical sensor approach to acoustic guitar pickups. It has some issues with noise (and string clearance), but it's a cool idea.
• If you're interested in reverse engineering and software exploit analysis, this thorough exploration of breaking Fortinet firewall firmware encryption will be right up your alley.

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