If you’ve ever folded a sheet of paper and placed small cuts throughout to create a snowflake design, you’ve participated in the Japanese artform of kirigami.

A team of researchers from Polytechnique Montréal and École Polytechnique has applied the kirigami technique using a laser cutter to create parachutes that demonstrate stable, predictable descents in real-world tests.

The results are a reduction in materials, more accurate landing and less complex designs, compared with traditional parachutes.

The chutes are made of thin, laser-cut polymer discs programmed to reconfigure themselves during descent. Upon release, kirigami patterns prompt the material to deform into shapes that slow their descent and reduce sideways drifts.

Unlike typical parachutes that must be released at a specifically angled trajectory, the new model descends vertically, regardless of the release angle.

The design’s practicality was proven during a full-scale test dropping a water bottle from a 60-meter drone flight.

Manufacturing of this technology can be achieved at scale utilizing die-cutters or laser processes and can offer ample cost and deployment advantages in situations where humanitarian airdrops or drone-based logistics are required. It could also potentially have aerospace applications.

Results are published in Nature and suggest geometric-cut patterns, not just material or size, play a significant role in parachute stability and performance.

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