MIURA-ORI

https://www.dropbox.com/s/eawezipsw253smj/Miura-Ori.mp4?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zxcadu9j6dqbtfb/AADc2EwhRgdP9xWwBR1wYGW8a?dl=0

Art-meets-science 

Petals unfurl,

from a delicate flower,

closer to picked

with each

passing hour,

losing the I

and gaining

an our.

- Michael Faudet

The JWST will enable us to see further than ever before, potentially unfurling the mysteries of the very building blocks of our universe. Like a delicate flower blooming, our understanding of our universe and our place within it will blossom, bringing together a global awareness of our humanity on this remarkable planet. We believe seeing deep into space and time is not just scientifically fascinating but has the power to bring us together. Our idea to explore the art-meets-science approach for this challenge was borne from our imagining of the stunning images that JWST will return. Together we thought about exploring colour, nature, geometry, metaphor and most importantly conveying a sense of awe. We settled on an unfurling flower to inspire our project – to represent the unfurling elements of the telescope as they are deployed in space as well as our unfurling understanding of the universe. The unfurling flower imagery inspired our digital and paper origami models.

Why Miura-Ori?

'Miura’ is a type of origami fold that is used to fold a flat surface into a much smaller area, it is named for it’s inventor Japanese astrophysicist Kōryō Miura. We loved the idea of exploring Miura-Ori because of the unfolding nature of the JWST sunshield. We recognise the importance of something foldable and small enough to be launched into space that then ‘unfurls’ to a much larger area to protect the telescope. We also couldn’t help but love the analogy of these infinitely expandable surfaces mirroring the expanding nature of the universe – something JWST has to grapple with!

We were attracted to this challenge because we were excited to play with complex geometries in 3D software as well as to create something that would be accessible to everyone. It was important to us to create a paper origami product that anyone can build.

Tachi, T., 2016. 6. Freeform Rigid-Foldable Structure Using Bidirectionally Flat-Foldable Planar Quadrilateral Mesh (pp. 87-102). Ambra Verlag.

Detailed digital modelling 

We experimented with digital modelling our origami ideas using a collection of tools: Rhino 3D, Grasshopper & Kangaroo. Rhino3D is a CAD platform, It’s geometry kernel is based on the Non-uniform rational basis spline (NURBS) mathematical model. Grasshopper is a visual programming environment which allows for implementation of logic & algorithmic geometries. “Kangaroo” is a physics engine. Using a combination of these digital tools, we were able to parametrically model foldable geometries that resembled the JWST primary mirror array and an unfolding flower as well as creating collapsible-extendable surfaces that mimicked the properties of the JWST sunshield & solar panels. The parametric nature of these tools allowed us to experiment with a wide domain of origami designs. Custom made C# grasshopper components were utilised in the design of the flower.

Paper origami models 

Alongside our digital modelling we also wanted to create a product that was accessible to everyone. We believe that engaging with the JWST - it’s creation, it’s mission and it’s outputs shouldn’t be reserved to the realm of the scientists and experts but should be accessible to all. Rather than using special origami paper we decided to use a simple piece of normal A4 printer paper for our origami designs to make them accessible to the widest possible audience. While the product we created works best if printed due to the artistic design we have created, the hexagonal folded origami design itself can be created by anyone by following the instructions – even without a printer.

Our JWST Primary Mirror origami model is inspired by the hexagonal form of the JWST Primary Mirror array. The origami project is easy to follow thanks to the clear fold lines shown in the PDF and the step-by-step instructions given in the animated gif below. To tie in the imagery of the unfurling flower we superimposed a bird of paradise onto our design of the ‘face’ of the mirror array. This three-pronged bird of paradise nods to the three-pronged struts that hold the secondary mirror of the JWST. We loved the idea of the primary mirror array reflecting these struts while floating through space and how the opening bird of paradise flowers mimic the opening struts as they unfurl during deployment.  

A haiku:

Miura-Ori

Inspired by Earth

Unfurling like a flower

Peers into the past

Our sunshield origami model is based on a hyperbolic paraboloid form. While more complex than the hexagon origami model it is still achievable with an A4 piece of paper – and some patience! We love the way this origami model uses traditional techniques to create an expandable form from something very compact – just the way the JWST sunshield will behave when it unfurls in space.

Project outputs

• 3D digital model (Rhino3D + Grasshopper files) – unfurling hexagonal flower – JWST Primary Mirror
• XCF – JWST Primary Mirror -Origami GIMP Project - MIURA-ORI
• PDF – JWST Primary Mirror -Origami Poster - MIURA-ORI
• PDF – JWST Primary Mirror -Origami Foldlines - MIURA-ORI
• PDF – JWST sunshield expandable surface pattern
• MP4 – Miura-Ori demo video
• Animated GIF – JWST Primary Mirror - Origami Hexigon Letterfold - Build Process (5 sizes)
• Animated GIF – Sunshield (3 speeds)
• DOCX – Planning document
• Plus lots of photos and patterns from our ideation and iteration phase!

We used information from https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/ to aid us in addressing this challenge topic. 

Before this challenge none of us knew much about the JWST and we loved learning more about this incredible telescope using the NASA website. We started by understanding the mission of the JWST and why it is so different to anything that has come before it. We enjoyed reading the educational content on the NASA website to understand what each of the components of the JWST does and why it is important. Most of all we were fascinated by the deployment animations and videos that showed JWST unfurling in space – this is what led to our unfurling, blooming flower metaphor that was the creative and inspirational thread that led us through our project.

Team Miura-ori

Our team was composed of four people, only two of whom has ever met before. We came together with a shared interest to do something fun and new and connect with people during the Australian Covid-19 lockdown. Due to the lockdown all our interaction was virtual which sometimes proved challenging given the physical building that was part of our solution. Read on to learn how we approached the challenge, divided tasks, collaborated and what we learnt along the way.

How we approached the challenge

Because we didn’t know each other before the weekend our first task was breaking the ice, setting up communication channels and understanding what we could each bring to the project. We identified early on that we had a wide range of skills but were all from a technical background so we were quite clear from the outset about dividing the challenge into two parts – the actual solution that we would build and then how we would communicate that solution.

 Our first exercise was understanding the different component parts of the JWST and classifying their complexity and importance. We decided that the two most important components of the JWST that really conveyed the geometry were the hexagonal primary mirror array and the sunshield. We decided to focus on these two critical parts of the JWST in our project.

Once we knew which components we wanted to focus on we started modelling in Rhino3D, we experimented with different shapes and different combinations of shapes to represent the geometries we were after. At times we found it challenging to strike the balance between an accurate representation of the JWST and creating a ‘likeness’ that was more in line with our overarching theme of ‘blooming’ and ‘unfurling’. Ultimately we decided to push ahead with the ‘art-meets-science’ approach and settled on an unfurling flower style shape for the primary mirror and an expandable ‘miura-ori’ style surface for the sunshield.

 It became clear by the end of day one that we needed to focus our efforts on a minimum viable product and this is when we really started to focus on accessibility by asking the question – ‘how can we mirror these complex shapes in something that can actually be built with paper?!’. We were clear that we wanted something tangible, buildable and beautiful and focussed our efforts on creating our simple origami models on the second day. In order to convey the complexity of the JWST (secondary mirror struts) and to carry through the flower motif we put a lot of effort into designing a beautiful bird of paradise ‘face’ to our origami model.

 Finally, we pulled together our story into our 30 second video demo which shows both the complex geometric modelling and the paper models that we designed. This video highlights the complexity of the JWST as well as providing educational content.

How we resolved challenges and setbacks

Through the ideation process we got excited by so many ideas that at times it felt like we were going nowhere. There were times throughout the weekend where we would meet for a couple of hours to share screens and talk through ideas and all leave feeling more frustrated and confused than where we began! Ultimately though we all embraced this as part of the process. We gave each other space to share ideas, to make mistakes and suggest something different while also making sure that we kept the end goal in mind.

The fact that we were all collaborating virtually due to the Covid-19 lockdown also made it challenging but we made an effort to be patient with each other and supportive while all committing to delivering the work we each said we would deliver.

What we learnt

We learnt so much this weekend – about the JWST, about origami, about hackathons and about teamwork. We learnt that complex geometric models might look beautiful on a computer screen but that doesn’t mean that they translate well to paper! We also learnt the importance of telling a story and that a challenge like this doesn’t call for an exact geometric representation of something but rather a likeness that conveys the complexity and beauty of the JWST. We learnt how to use Grasshopper, how to fold origami, how to use video editing software (for the first time) and how to work with new people remotely on a broad challenge. Ultimately, we are really proud of what we created this weekend and we can’t wait to share our video and origami models with others!

Thank you

We would like to thank FrontierSI (https://frontiersi.com.au/) for letting us know that Space Apps existed! Special thanks to Brendon McAtee for giving us information about the Space Apps process and to Eva Rodriguez Rodriguez for her constructive feedback to some of our ideas. Thanks to the Space Apps community for all the resources, support and encouragement!

• https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/
• Rhino3D
• Kangaroo
• Grasshopper
• Kheper plugin
• Storyblocks
• GIMP

#NASASpaceApps #Unfurling #Blooming #Expanding #Universe #Artmeetsscience #Origami #MiuraOri #JWST #NASA #Hackathon

This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.