{"id":18593,"date":"2026-02-24T22:14:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T22:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/just-pull-a-string-to-turn-these-tile-patterns-into-useful-3d-structures\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T22:14:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T22:14:25","slug":"just-pull-a-string-to-turn-these-tile-patterns-into-useful-3d-structures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/24\/just-pull-a-string-to-turn-these-tile-patterns-into-useful-3d-structures\/","title":{"rendered":"Just pull a string to turn these tile patterns into useful 3D structures"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>MIT researchers have developed a new method for designing 3D structures that can spring up from a flat sheet of interconnected tiles with a single pull of a string. The technique could be used to make foldable bike helmets and medical devices, emergency shelters and field hospitals for disaster zones, and much more.<\/p>\n<p>Mina Konakovi\u0107 Lukovi\u0107, head of the Algorithmic Design Group at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), and her colleagues were inspired by kirigami, the ancient Japanese art of paper cutting, to create an algorithm that converts a user-specified 3D structure into a flat shape made up of tiles connected by rotating hinges at the corners.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"One String to Pull Them All [SIGGRAPH ASIA 2025] - Supplementary Video\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NfYkEx4YOmc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The algorithm uses a two-step method to find the optimal path through the tile pattern for a string that can be tightened to actuate the structure. It computes the minimum number of points that the string must lift to create the desired shape and finds the shortest path that connects those lift points, while including all areas of the object\u2019s boundary that must be connected to guide the structure into its 3D configuration. It does these calculations in such a way that the string path minimizes friction, enabling the structure to be smoothly actuated with just one pull.<\/p>\n<p>The actuation method is easily reversible to return the structure to its flat configuration. The patterns could be produced using 3D printing, CNC milling, molding, or other techniques.<\/p>\n<p>This method could enable complex 3D structures to be stored and transported more efficiently and with less cost. Applications could include transportable medical devices, foldable robots that can flatten to enter hard-to-reach spaces, or even modular space habitats deployed by robots on the surface of Mars.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe simplicity of the whole actuation mechanism is a real benefit of our approach,\u201d says Akib Zaman, a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science and lead author of a <a href=\"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/10.1145\/3763357\">paper<\/a> on the work. \u201cThe user just needs to provide their intended design, and then our method optimizes it in such a way that it holds the shape after just one pull on the string, so the structure can be deployed very easily. I hope people will be able to use this method to create a wide variety of different, deployable structures.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The researchers used their method to design several objects of different sizes, from personalized medical items including a splint and a posture corrector to an igloo-like portable structure. They also designed and fabricated a human-scale chair. The technique could be used to create items ranging in size from tiny objects actuated inside the body to architectural structures, like the frame of a building, that are deployed on-site using cranes.<\/p>\n<p>In the future, the researchers want to further explore designs at both ends of that range. In addition, they want to create a self-deploying mechanism, so the structures do not need to be actuated by a human or robot.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MIT researchers have developed a new method for designing 3D  [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[226],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18593\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}