{"id":186051,"date":"2025-10-02T22:47:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T22:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/186051\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T22:47:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T22:47:09","slug":"polytechnique-engineers-design-low-cost-japanese-kirigami-inspired-parachute-montreal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/186051\/","title":{"rendered":"Polytechnique engineers design low-cost, Japanese kirigami-inspired parachute – Montreal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers at Polytechnique<\/a> Montreal<\/a> have created a concept for a parachute inspired by the Japanese art of kirigami, one that engineers<\/a> hope could be used in everything from humanitarian airdrops to scientific exploration.<\/p>\n

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The innovative project, which earned the researchers an article in the science journal \u201cNature,\u201d published this week, demonstrates the new possibilities of a traditional art form, said Fr\u00e9d\u00e9rick Gosselin, who alongside colleague David M\u00e9lan\u00e7on led the work.<\/p>\n

Kirigami\u00a0is a\u00a0Japanese\u00a0art of folding and cutting paper to create three-dimensional designs.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you probably made snowflakes with your kids around Christmas \u2014 you fold paper, you cut it, and when you unfold it, you get this pattern,\u201d said Gosselin, a professor of mechanical engineering at\u00a0Polytechnique\u00a0and one of the authors of the study.<\/p>\n

The prototype developed by\u00a0Polytechnique\u00a0engineers\u00a0is a flat sheet of material, cut into a pattern that unfolds into a\u00a0parachute\u00a0as it drops to the ground.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe were able to make a\u00a0parachute\u00a0for very little\u00a0cost\u00a0and simple materials like a sheet of paper, plastic, cardboard,\u201d Gosselin said. \u201cSo we can make parachutes that are cheap to make but also they could be recyclable, reusable or even biodegradable.\u201d<\/p>\n

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However, the current prototype is cut with a laser that costs tens of thousands of dollars, with each\u00a0parachute\u00a0taking about 25 minutes to produce. The size of the\u00a0parachute\u00a0is limited by the laser machine\u2019s two-by-three-foot dimensions.<\/p>\n

During a demonstration at\u00a0Polytechnique\u00a0this week, Gosselin used a bristol board from a dollar store.<\/p>\n

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A key challenge was determining which of the infinite possible cutting patterns would be effective, Gosselin said. What they created, he said, is an exceptionally stable\u00a0parachute\u00a0that falls to the ground in a straight line with little drift.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese kinds of parachutes could limit material losses during airdropping as well as decrease manufacturing costs and complexity,\u201d researchers wrote in the article.<\/p>\n

The parachute\u2019s behaviour doesn\u2019t change as its size changes, which suggests it could be scaled up, Gosselin added.<\/p>\n

Gosselin believes the parachutes could be used for multiple purposes, everything from drone delivery, humanitarian airdrops, or perhaps even to carry sensors during hurricanes that can measure properties of a storm at different altitudes.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAnd so these\u00a0Kirigami\u00a0parachutes could be made very cheap to achieve these kind of applications,\u201d Gosselin said.<\/p>\n

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The project took two years to develop and was the focus of Danick Lamoureux\u2019s master\u2019s thesis, which won the award for the best master\u2019s dissertation at\u00a0Polytechnique\u00a0for 2024. A federal grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada paid for Lamoureux to travel to \u00c9cole\u00a0polytechnique\u00a0in Paris to test\u00a0parachute\u00a0designs.<\/p>\n

Gosselin says his plan is to continue researching the best\u00a0kirigami\u00a0patterns to achieve more functionality in the parachutes, including to improve their descent, to make them rotate and allow a camera to scan the surroundings.<\/p>\n

Other logistical hurdles include how to manufacture them in large quantities and at scale.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still at the stage of fundamental research,\u201d Gosselin said. \u201cThe novelty was to bring this new idea of\u00a0kirigami\u00a0parachutes forward and show that it\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

While space is a potential long-term goal, there are significant challenges, Gosselin noted.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0parachute for Mars, for example, would need to function in an atmosphere that is only about one per cent as dense as Earth\u2019s and at supersonic speeds, a completely different environment to the one the chute has been tested in so far.<\/p>\n

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