Inexpensive 3D printers often have a problem called “Warpage,” in which objects printed by them tend to curl up as they harden. Fused Deposition Modelling 3D printers are the cheapest kind, and build objects up by laying down a continuous filament of melted thermoplastic. It uses a standard FDM printer to create flat sheets, by depositing two types of thermoplastic – one that’s warp-prone, and another that’s warp-resistant. Based on what shape the user wants the finished folded product to have, custom software automatically controls the speed at which the warp-prone plastic is laid down in specific areas of the sheet, plus it controls the order in which the two plastics are deposited in different places. What’s the point? Well, according to the university, self-folding flat materials are quicker and cheaper to produce than solid 3D objects, plus they’re easier and less expensive to ship. While the objects created so far have been relatively small, the team believes that the technology could be easily scaled up, to create flat-pack products that are “Assembled” simply using a heat gun. “We believe the general algorithm and existing material systems should enable us to eventually make large, strong self-folding objects, such as chairs, boats or even satellites,” says research intern Jianzhe Gu. You can see the folding action for yourself, in the video below.

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