Origami Vibrobot
8 November 2013
Buddhist monks first brought origami to Japan. The etymology of the term derives from the words 'ori' (folding) and 'kami' (paper). Before the mass production of paper, origami was only used for religious purposes and each figure symbolized various sacred concepts. Well, our rocket is quite special too...
YOU'LL NEED:
- Origami paper
- 3VDC micro vibration motor
- CR2032 battery
- Vertical battery holder
- Double-sided tape
- Electrical tape
- Small piece of card (2 cm x 1 cm)
- scissors / hobby knife
If you're having trouble following the provided steps, feel free to contact us. We'd enjoy hearing from you!
Folding Rocket: Step One
Start with the color side of the origami paper facing up.
Folding Rocket: Step Two
Make a mountain fold over the diagonal of the square and unfold again. A mountain fold is a fold which, when unfolded, peaks up, so the colored side stays on the outside when folding.
Folding Rocket: Step Three
Repeat step two on the other diagonal of the paper.
Folding Rocket: Step Four
Unfold and flip the paper over so the white side is facing up.
Folding Rocket: Step Five
Make a valley fold in the middle from top to bottom. A valley fold means that when unfolded, and looking from the colored side, the fold peaks down.
Folding Rocket: Step Six
Unfold the previous fold and make a valley fold, this time folding in the middle from left to right.
Folding Rocket: Step Seven
Unfold the previous fold so the paper returns to the a square. Flip the paper over so the colored side is facing up.
Folding Rocket: Step Eight
Push the valley folds inwards and let the mountain folds pop out, so the paper becomes a pyramid.
Folding Rocket: Step Nine
Now flatten it all the way into a triangle.
Folding Rocket: Step Ten
Lift one of the corners up and slightly open it. You will see it resembles a pocket.
Folding Rocket: Step Eleven
Hold the pocket open and push down on the mountain fold to flatten it. This is called a squash fold.
Folding Rocket: Step Twelve
Repeat step eleven for all four corners until your paper looks diamond shaped, like the above image.
Folding Rocket: Step Thirteen
Flip one of the corners over from left to right. Now you can see white from the back of the paper at the bottom.
Folding Rocket: Step Fourteen
Take the top point of the diamond and fold it down to the bottom point. Unfold it again. This fold gives us a line of reference for the steps to come.
Folding Rocket: Step Fifteen
Lift the left corner of the diamond shape and fold it inward so it aligns with the center line. Repeat this for the right corner.
Folding Rocket: Step Sixteen
Unfold the previous two folds and lift up the center of the colored part between the folds. This again forms a pocket; lift it all the way out and up. Squash it along the line we made with the previous step. This is called a petal fold. Make sure the petal fold is squashed neatly to a point.
Folding Rocket: Step Seventeen
Take the top point of the petal you just created and fold it down.
Folding Rocket: Step Eighteen
Now repeat steps 15-18 to create petal folds on the other three sides as well.
Folding Rocket: Step Nineteen
Take one of the legs and slightly open it up, as if undoing the center fold. Now lift it up sideways, raising it to 90 degrees and push the fold through so it reverses and flatten it. This type of fold is called a reverse fold.
Folding Rocket: Step Twenty
Repeat the reverse fold on the other three legs.
Folding Rocket: Step Twenty-one
Now make another reverse fold halfway down the legs so they point downwards again. Take the leg and allow it to open up while pushing it down and allowing the fold to reverse. Make sure to flatten well.
Folding Rocket: Step Twenty-two
Repeat step twenty-one for the other legs. When all are pointing down again simply take your rocket and open it up so all legs point to their own corner.
Folding Rocket: Step Twenty-three
On the 'body' diamond shape fold the left and right corner towards the center but not totally against it. These folds are to reinforce the body and make it more pointy.
Folding Rocket: Step Twenty-four
Repeat step 23 on the remaining three sides. Now simply open up your rocket so that each leg points to it's own corner and your rocket is ready for blast off!
Vibrobotics: Step One
Now onto Vibrorobotics!
Take your battery holder and bend the small center and left metal pins carefully, so it becomes a tiny hook.
Take your battery holder and bend the small center and left metal pins carefully, so it becomes a tiny hook.
Vibrobotics: Step Two
Strip about 2 cm of the cable on your vibration motor and twist one of the ends around the middle metal pin on the battery holder.
Vibrobotics: Step Three
Secure the twisted bit and cable down with a small amount of electrical tape. Repeat step three with the other
cable and attach this one to the left bended pin.
cable and attach this one to the left bended pin.
Vibrobotics: Step Four
Take a longer strip of electrical tape and strap your motor tightly to the holder.
Vibrobotics: Step Five
Take your origami rocket. At the bottom the 4 sides meet in a point, push these outward so they form a sort of platform. This creates the place where you can stick the motor to.
Vibrobotics: Step Six
Now take some double-sided tape and stick the holder to the small piece of card. Stick another piece of double-sided tape on the back of the card and attach to the bottom of your rocket.
Vibrobotics: Step Seven
Insert the battery, turn the rocket right-side up and watch it go!