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Kazuya Saito, PhD

Engineering Scientist

Kyushu University

Faculty of Design, Lecturer

ERATO Kawahara Universal Information Network Project​

New paper on earwig wing folding was published on PNAS. 

 ・Press Release

 ・Link to Paper (Open Access)

​New origami engineering research space, “Paper Lab.” has opened in Ohashi Campus. 

MY LATEST RESEARCH

We developed the oblique honeycomb panels, whose cell dividers incline at 45 degrees to the panel surface with Shiroyama Industry and Taiyo Kogyo. ECTFE film was experimentally used as the face material for the honeycomb cores. It is a new membrane material with high transparency and weather resistance. 

Combining oblique honeycomb panels and highly transparent membrane, this sliding panels produce complex visual effects; reflective, transmissive, and shielding effects in a thickness of only 25 mm. Its transparency change depending on the viewing angle.

(Photo: Yashiro Photo Office)

​If you are interested in the honeycomb partition, please contact us from "Contact"

Earwigs (Dermaptera) fold their fanlike hind wings in a unique, highly sophisticated manner, granting them the most compact wing storage among all insects, which has large potential for engineering applications. However, the geometrical rules required to reproduce their complex crease patterns have remained uncertain. We proposed the method to design an earwig-inspired fan by considering the flat foldability in the origami model, as informed by X-ray microcomputed tomography imaging. As our dedicated designing software shows, the earwig fan can be customized into artificial deployable structures of different sizes and configurations for use in architecture, aerospace, mechanical engineering, and daily use items. 

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