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 ofRoboFold Ltd, 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.

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