Implementation of parametric modeling to design Miura origami-inspired canopy toward adaptive urban habitat

Abstract

The search for efficient and elegant geometric forms is always the center of structural design. With advances in parametric modeling, countless geometric forms can be generated for architects and engineers. This powerful digital tool is applicable to the design of many structural systems, in particular modular structures. This technical note develops and implements a general framework of the design, parametric modeling, and manufacturing for modular structures based on the modification of a classic Miura origami pattern. Guided by the geometric analysis, we compared three modified Miura origami units and tessellations. A representative origami-based canopy with varying angles in the Hcircumferential direction was designed through the proposed framework and numerically simulated to evaluate the kinematic and structural behavior. Finally, a meter-scale canopy prototype was constructed with digitally fabricated modular thick panels and assembled rapidly on the site. We envision that the proposed framework using parametric modeling can enable diverse designs and applications of origami-inspired deployable structures that can be later integrated into the development of adaptive and responsive structures in the future.