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Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Cutting Procedures, Tensile Testing, and Ageing of Flexible Unidirectional Composite Laminates
Published on: April 27, 2019
Collapsible scissored surfaces
Noah Toyonaga1, Seri Nishimoto2, Colter J Decker3
1Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.
Abstract:
We introduce an additive approach for the design of a class of transformable structures based on two-bar linkages ("scissor mechanisms") joined at vertices to form a two-dimensional mesh which we call a pantograph lattice. Our approach shows how these lattices unfold from a one-dimensional collapsed state to two-dimensional surfaces of single and double curvature. We provide an algorithm for growing pantograph structures that allows us to explore the full space of possible mechanisms, and we use it to computationally design and physically assemble a series of examples of varying complexity. We finally demonstrate a streamlined method for automated fabrication of pantograph lattices using multimaterial 3D printing.
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