DofTNet Origami

Origami Globes

Origami Globes by DofTNet

This is the home for DofT's origami globe kits. Currently he's managed to dig up the original icosahedron globe kits that he created several years ago, and has the scripts that he wrote to generate the kits from any suitibly projected map. When he finds the time, he's going to scour the internet (NASA, NOAA, other useful sites) for updated planetary maps and will post new and improved globe kits as soon as they are available.

The Inspiration

The idea for this project was inspired by this kit that DofT found at the NOAA website. He liked making origami icosahedrons, and wanted to figure out how to apply the graphics from the NOAA project to the triangle edge modules.

After a lot of tedious work, he managed to chop up the original graphics from the NOAA kit and apply the parts to 30 half-squares that could be folded into triangle edge modules and, if properly assembled, gave the same result.

DofT used the kit he created as a template and with a few other programs and some scripting to tie it all together, managed to make it possible to wrap any suitibly projected map around an icosahedron.

He then set about making similar templates and scripts to build dodecahedrons and traditional waterbomb cubes.

Special Companion Project

Paper Hubble Space Telescope

April 24th, 2020, marks the 30th anniversary of the launch STS-31 in which Space Shuttle Discovery carried the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit. DofT has been a fan of the Space Shuttle program as far back as he can remember, having been nearly four years old when the first shuttle launched. This particular mission was of particular interest to DofT, not just because of what it carried, but also because he happened to be attending Space Camp in Florida the week it launched.

While this project isn't really origami, it is definitely a papercraft project and DofT feels like it makes a lovely companion to his Origami Globes. Maybe eventually DofT will come up with a modular origami version for this as well, but for now you can visit HubbleSite.org to download the instructions and templates.