Lagrangian approach to origami vertex analysis: Kinematics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a Lagrangian method to analyze the complex kinematics of origami vertices, providing exact solutions for multi-degree of freedom vertices and enabling better understanding and design of foldable structures.

Contribution

It develops a Lagrangian-based approach to derive reduced-order compatibility conditions for symmetric origami vertices, yielding exact multi-degree solutions and a systematic way to break symmetry for lower symmetry solutions.

Findings

Derived exact kinematic solutions for degree 6 and 8 vertices.

Analyzed the topology of allowable kinematics including self-contact.

Provided a method to systematically break symmetry in solutions.

Abstract

The use of origami in engineering has significantly expanded in recent years, spanning deployable structures across scales, folding robotics, and mechanical metamaterials. However, finding foldable paths can be a formidable task as the kinematics are determined by a nonlinear system of equations, often with several degrees of freedom. In this work, we leverage a Lagrangian approach to derive reduced-order compatibility conditions for rigid-facet origami vertices with reflection and rotational symmetries. Then, using the reduced-order conditions, we derive exact, multi-degree of freedom solutions for degree 6 and degree 8 vertices with prescribed symmetries. The exact kinematic solutions allow us to efficiently investigate the topology of allowable kinematics, including the consideration of a self-contact constraint, and then visually interpret the role of geometric design parameters on these admissible fold paths by monitoring the change in the kinematic topology. We then introduce a procedure to construct lower symmetry kinematic solutions by breaking symmetry of higher order kinematic solutions in a systematic way that preserves compatibility. The multi-degree of freedom solutions discovered here should assist with building intuition of the kinematic feasibility of higher degree origami vertices and also facilitate the development of new algorithmic procedures for origami-engineering design.