|
Abstract:
What forms of origami can be designed automatically by algorithms?
What shapes can result by folding a piece of paper flat and making one
complete straight cut? What polyhedra can be cut along their surface and
unfolded into a flat piece of paper without overlap? When can a linkage of
rigid bars be untangled or folded into a desired configuration? Folding
and unfolding is a branch of discrete and computational geometry
that addresses these and many other intriguing questions. I will give a taste
of the many results that have been proved in the past few years, as well as
the several exciting open problems that remain open. Many folding problems
have applications in areas including manufacturing, robotics, graphics, and
protein folding.
|
