[Maths-Education] Maths-Art Seminar at London Knowledge Lab: January 12th, 'Curved Folding' by Gregory Epps

[Phillip Kent]

*** PLEASE CIRCULATE ** ALL WELCOME ***

CURVED FOLDING: FROM CRAFT TO ROBOFOLD®: CURVED FOLDING IN SHEET METAL

An LKL Maths-Art Seminar
by
Gregory Epps
Tuesday 12 January, 6.00 - 7.30pm

Most design which involves folding of flat surfaces, folds along straight lines. 
For example, traditional Origami is all based on straight lines. However by drawing a 
curved line on a sheet of paper, and scoring and creasing the line, a fold can 
be made that generates two curved surfaces. It is a simple process that allows 
complex shapes to appear in sheet material.

I have developed methods of curved folding to allow a wide range of sophisticated 
surfaces to be created from a flat sheet. The process has its own language of forms 
that can be folded within the constraints of the system. The forms must consist of sets 
of developable surfaces (surfaces which can be unfolded to give a flat surface); this 
challenges designers used to conventional folding. I will show how to manage this constraint 
by using process based methodologies; this takes decision making out of the hands of the 
designer and puts it back in the domain of the material itself. I will finish by demonstrating
some of the software tools under development.

GREGORY EPPS has been making things all his life since he started with 
Lego as a small boy. He became an expert in papercraft which eventually 
led to a Masters in Industrial Design Engineering at the Royal College 
of Art. He is the founder of RoboFold Ltd [www.robofold.com], a start-up 
comapny that is developing technology to enable efficient manufacturing. 
It takes his design ideas of curved folding into software which allows robots 
to form sheet metal, a genuine first.

TIME: 6.00 - 7.30pm, Tuesday 12 Janaury 2010
PLACE: London Knowledge Lab, 23-29 Emerald St, London, WC1N 3QS
[Travel information & maps at: http://bit.ly/LKL-MathsArt-venue ]

All welcome. No reservation required, but an email to
lkl.maths.art at gmail.com would be appreciated for planning purposes

Next seminars: February 9, Alan Sutcliffe and John Sharp on circles.

*Visit the website and seminar archive:
http://www.lkl.ac.uk/events/maths-art
*Join the email list for future seminar announcements:
http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/lkl-maths-art


++++++++
Dr Phillip Kent
London Knowledge Lab - Institute of Education
23 - 29 Emerald St
London WC1N 3QS
p.kent at ioe.ac.uk
tel 020 7763 2156   mobile 07950 952034
www.RISKatIOE.org , www.phillipkent.net
++++++++