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Origami-Inspired Artificial Muscle

Origami-Inspired Artificial Muscles from Wyss Institute on Vimeo.

Video caption:

Artificial muscles could make soft robots safer and stronger. Researchers at the Wyss Institute, Harvard SEAS, and MIT CSAIL have developed a novel design approach for origami-inspired artificial muscles, capable of lifting 1000x its own weight.
The muscles are made of a compressible skeleton and air or fluid medium encased in a flexible skin, and are powered by pressure difference. The muscle motions are programmed based on the structural geometry of the skeleton. Multi-directional motions can also be programmed into the material. Artificial muscles can also grip, lift, and twist objects.
A variety of materials and fabrication methods can be used to create low-cost artificial muscles. These artificial muscles are fast, light-weight, and powerful, and could be used for miniature medical devices, deployable structures, or wearable robotics.
For more information, please visit: wyss.harvard.edu/artificial-muscles-give-soft-robots-superpowers/

Hat tip:  Sanja Srbljinovic-Cucek

Paper Plane Launcher

I ordered two of these earlier from Amazon:

Tom Gun Live: "Launch Paper Airplanes!"

Yesterday, I was pretty tired from working all day; and still had a theater event to attend.

My coworker had tickets to a live theater performance called "Tom Gun Live".  Never heard of it.  Never been to anything like it (except maybe Rocky Horror Picture Show back at UCLA).  Videos do not do it justice.

Here's more on the show:





This made me realize how few iconic movies I’ve seen; or how few tom cruise movies.

 I’ve only seen bits and pieces of Top Gun and was strangely familiar with scenes I’ve not actually seen because I think they’ve so seeped into popular culture. The line “you have the need for speed”- I’ve used that line for kids doing vault but never knew it came from Top Gun- I was thinking it came from a Keanu Reeves movie (that I hadn’t seen either).

 I’ve not seen Rain Man. Risky Business. The cocktail one with the Kokomo song. A Few Good Men. The tropical one? I did see Jerry McGuire but don’t remember much about it.




I think this was the 2nd or maybe the 3rd time paper airplanes from the audience were called for. Maybe it was the 2nd because no one was ready to throw anymore planes. If I had only known in advance what to expect in regards to paper airplanes...

If you ever decide to see this show, bring a hundred pre-made paper gliders and have fun!

Mark Kennedy

Waking up to the news of Mark Kennedy passing.

For me, he was a fixture and featured attraction at Origami USA conventions in New York.

Like Mark and Arlene, I spent a good amount of my Convention time in the Gold Mine, selling items that helped fund for my trip. The Gold Mine had a lot of down time when most potential customers were in rooms taking folding classes. For me, Mark's jokes never got old because it was so funny to watch the reactions of kids and parents interacting with him. He'd always tell kids that it was their lucky day because he had a special going on for kids under 12 (or whatever age he said) and allow for them to choose a free pin from a special box of them (Mark and Arlene fold and lacquered origami pin/brooches).

He and Arlene were always generous with their time and energy, freely teaching models he knew and sharing diagrams in his possession.

My one regret was always taking such short trips to NYC, that I never made it to one of their after-Convention fold-and-feed gatherings.

Thank you for the treasured memories, Mark. You touched so many lives- mine being one among them.

The video clip is from OUSA June 24, 2007.

You can see more tributes and memories of Mark shared here.

Sunday Funnies

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Shafer's Heart Fireworks

Yami's original intention was to design connected hearts.

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8,000 Chopstick Sleeve tips

Japanese Waiter Exhibits 8,000 Chopstick Sleeves Left as Restaurant “Tips”:

In a culture without tipping, one Japanese waiter began to realize that customers were expressing their gratitude in a subtle (and in some cases even unintentional) way, by folding the sleeves in which their chopsticks came wrapped.

In 2012, Yuki Tatsumi began to collect these into a set he would come to display and call Japanese Tip. He started at the establishment in which he worked, then branched out to other restaurants around Japan to gather over 10,000 examples of all kinds.
Finally, half a decade later, he staged an exhibition of his collection in Tokyo. The variety is remarkable, from complex origami-style works to shredded and otherwise deformed sleeves.

See more


Hat tip:  Helen Sperber

Photo of the Week: Daschund!

What an elegant shape:

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"Be ashamed to die....."

Instant origami spray

Cool!  Just spray some tissue and "voila"!


Not really, of course.

Hat tip:  Peter Mielke on Origami-L

Previously posted:

Origamagic Crane

Origamagic Crane Arrived!

Magic Crane Review

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! (Chinese new year, February 16th, will be 🐕Year of the Dog🐶).

Here’s hoping 2018 won’t be a pooper!

The Pooper
Created by Ronald Koh
Folded by Michael Sanders
20” x 20” Japanese foil paper bonded to cloth-like unryu (for the 💩 texture 😬).

The unryu made the paper a bit too thick (you can tell from the tail) and I ended up ripping the spine of the neck 😕). Not the best shaping job. Oh well. Upward and onward! 🙂

Sunday Funies

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Yami Passed Away Christmas Evening

July 29, 1936- December 25, 2017

3-27-2013

Descanso Garden

Original photo taken by Yami's friend Kazuyoshi ITO

April 6, 2008
Cherry Blossom Festival, Little Tokyo 

From Chikako:

Dear Yami's friends,

This is Yami's daughter Chikako writing from Yami's account.

Yoichi "Yami" Yamauchi passed away yesterday. His health had been declining for some time. His body expired and he passed away peacefully yesterday evening. Per Yami's wishes, his body is being cremated and his ashes will be scattered at some point in the future. There will not be a public funeral or service. Condolences can be posted on Facebook. Even though Yami was a public figure, please respect his family's privacy.

Kind regards,
Chikako Yamauchi

may 26, 2007 
Natural History Museum, Los Angeles, CA