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Course 140 · Create course 19

Explore Paper Folding with Simulation

Turn an original crease pattern into a folding study and compare how angles and panel widths change its shape.

Before you start

Use a desktop browser that can run the free Origami Simulator WebGL app. If GPU support is unavailable, the supplied local preview and scrap-paper route complete the same geometry study.

See everything you’ll need

Practice materials and a worked example · Free download. Download the starter pack

What you’ll leave with

An original accordion fold study with three SVG variants, checked geometry, target-angle comparisons and an honest simulation or paper-model record.

Start course Start without an account. Sign in to save lesson progress across devices.

Your project

Start with the practice files. Build your project one lesson at a time.

Practice files are free without an account. Sign in to save your project record in My Proof: a description, checklist, and optional work link. Keep the original files in your own app or notebook; saving a project record does not upload them.

  1. Get your materialsDownload practice filesStart with the supplied materials, follow the lessons, and compare your work with the annotated example.
  2. Make your projectView the project checklist Work in your own notebook, document, or software. Use the supplied practice examples when you prefer.
  3. Keep a private recordSave a project record Sign in to save a description and checklist, then return to update them.
Optional course overview

Watch an introduction.

This overview from MIT OpenCourseWare introduces ideas you’ll practice in the lessons.

Watch directly on YouTube
MIT OpenCourseWareClass 1: Overview for MIT 6.849 Geometric Folding Algorithms: Linkages, Origami, PolyhedraYouTube
Course handbook

Know the route before you begin.

Here’s what you’ll need and what you’ll make. You can return to this guide during any lesson.

Who this is for

Learners ages 14+ who want practical creative and technical skills.

Prepare before lesson one
  • Use a desktop browser that can run the free Origami Simulator WebGL app. If GPU support is unavailable, the supplied local preview and scrap-paper route complete the same geometry study.
  • No cutting, gluing, printing, VR headset, paid hardware or outside cooperation is required. Setup and optional MIT overview video time are additional.
Your final project

Finish with proof you can use.

An original accordion fold study with three SVG variants, checked geometry, target-angle comparisons and an honest simulation or paper-model record.

Save a project record in My Proof
See project checklist and review criteria

Keep your working files in your own notebook or software. Save a private description, checklist, and work link in My Proof.

What to include

  • An original four-panel pattern with M/V assignments and checked dimensions.
  • A three-state partial-fold log or labeled paper-state sketches.
  • A comparison of 90-degree and 45-degree targets.
  • A width revision from 120 to 160 coordinate units.
  • Original input files, comparison notes and simulation exports or paper-model descriptions.

Review and revise

Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.

  • Crease assignments and panel geometry match the specifications.
  • Target-angle calculations are correct.
  • Controlled comparisons identify what changed.
  • The method and limits are stated accurately.
Three ideas to help you along the way
Three useful ideas

The rules behind the steps.

01

Read the pattern

Identify boundaries, panels and crease directions.

02

Change one input

Compare angles and dimensions under stated conditions.

03

Keep the original

Preserve flat patterns alongside simulation states.

What do these words mean?
Key words

Key terms worth knowing.

Crease pattern
A flat map of where a sheet folds.
Mountain fold
A crease that forms a ridge from a chosen viewing side.
Valley fold
A crease that forms a trough from that side.
Target angle
The requested change in angle from the flat state.
SVG
A text-based vector image format that can encode the crease geometry.
Your route

6 lessons.
One useful project.

Work in order the first time. Each lesson makes something the next lesson can use.

  1. 1
    Up next

    Read a crease pattern

    Interpret a flat drawing as panels and fold instructions.

  2. 2
    36 min

    Load an original fold model

    Import a known crease pattern and check that its meaning survives.

  3. 3
    36 min

    Compare partial folds

    Observe one pattern at several target settings.

  4. 4
    36 min

    Change the target angle

    Compare the same crease geometry with a shallower target.

  5. 5
    36 min

    Change the panel width

    Revise geometry while keeping the fold pattern and targets fixed.

  6. 6
    36 min

    Save and explain the fold study

    Deliver the original pattern, revisions and an inspectable comparison.

Use the tools

Tools to help you practice.

See all tools
ZIP · practice files

Explore Paper Folding with Simulation practice files

Start with the supplied materials, follow the lessons, and compare your work with the annotated example.

Text worksheet

Your course project worksheet

A downloadable text worksheet with each lesson’s working output, space for your answers, and the shared final-project checklist. Save your own copy.

Source transparency

Sources and further study.

Explore the references behind the lessons and take your learning further. Source notes explain access and reuse.

Origami Simulator: instructions and SVG design tips
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-12

Read Fold Percent, SVG stroke/opacity rules, import, pattern view, strain explanation and export controls. WebGL simulation was not operated.

Access: Public reading without a paid account; reviewed September 12, 2026.

Reuse: Link only. Lessons and practice assets are original; free access does not grant permission to copy the provider's material.

Amanda Ghassaei: Origami Simulator project
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-12

Read original project description, simultaneous-fold solver, constraints, SVG/FOLD input and GPU method.

Access: Public reading without a paid account; reviewed September 12, 2026.

Reuse: Link only. Lessons and practice assets are original; free access does not grant permission to copy the provider's material.

Ghassaei, Demaine and Gershenfeld: Fast interactive origami simulation
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-12

Read authors, research abstract and publication metadata. No claim of validating the numerical solver.

Access: Public reading without a paid account; reviewed September 12, 2026.

Reuse: Link only. Lessons and practice assets are original; free access does not grant permission to copy the provider's material.

Origami Simulator: author repository and license
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-12

Read original project README, supported inputs and MIT license declaration.

Access: Public reading without a paid account; reviewed September 12, 2026.

Reuse: The simulator repository declares MIT licensing. This course links to the hosted tool and supplies an independently written crease generator; no third-party patterns or source files are copied.

Ready when you are

Start with the first useful move.

You’ll always know what to do, what to make, and where to go next.

Start lesson one