- Miura-fold
The Miura-fold nihongo|(Japanese: ミウラ折り|Miura-ori is a rigid fold that has been used to simulate large
solar panel arrays for space satellites in the Japanese1995 Space Flight Unit [ [http://www.origami-resource-center.com/origami-science.html Origami science] ] . It was invented byJapan ese astrophysicistKoryo Miura . It is an example of the practical importance of "rigid origami", or treating hinges and rigid surfaces like the paper and creases inpaper folding problems.A folded Miura-fold can be packed into an area no larger than the size of one of the segments that make up the overall shape [ [http://www.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/teaching/undergrad/projects/2005/group_05/solar%20arrays.htm Solar Arrays] ] , its
thickness restricted only by the thickness of the folded material.The fold can also be unpacked in just one motion by pulling on opposite ends of the folded material, and likewise folded again by pushing the two ends back together. This was beneficial to the aforementioned solar array as it reduced the number of
motor s required to unfold it, reducing the overall weight and complexity of the mechanism.References
External links
* [http://www.merrimack.edu/~thull/combgeom05/handout7.pdf Miura Map Fold (PDF)]
* [http://www.miura-ori.com/English/e-index.html Miura-ori corporate site]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
