You may not know this yet, but in Japanese culture, Kirigami is the art of cutting and folding paper. Professors David Mélançon and Frédérick Gosselin of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Polytechnique Montréal, Canada, used this technique to revolutionize parachute design. The idea was born at a conference in the United States, where Gosselin discovered how kirigami patterns could modify the properties of plastic sheets. He then collaborated with French researcher Sophie Ramananarivo, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanics at École Polytechnique.
An Ingenious Design
The concept is based on applying kirigami patterns to a plastic sheet. By cutting it according to a closed-loop pattern, the researchers were able to modify its mechanical properties. When a weight is suspended from the center of the sheet and it is released in free fall, it transforms into an inverted bell, instantly stabilizing its trajectory. Unlike traditional parachutes, this model requires only a single suspension line, reducing the risk of tangling and speeding up deployment. "Regardless of the release angle, the parachute stabilizes quickly and follows a precise ballistic trajectory," explained David Mélançon, according to our source.
Watch the video and be inspired!
