Skip to content Along with Velcro, zippers have become an integral part of every day life, being a quick and easy way to usually temporarily join fabric together. Which isn’t to say that you cannot do more with the basic zipper concept, including using them to turn floppy 2D shapes into rigid 3D ones, such as with the Y-zipper concept proposed and demonstrated by [Jiaji Li] et al. Although not a fully new idea, the Y-zipper is compared with a range of similar mechanisms that do not feature the same abilities, including the standard zipper ease of zipping up, the possibility of having curved geometry and automatic actuation. Plus there is that the Y-zipper is designed from the start to be 3Dprinted, while still following the same basic pattern of interlocking teeth that the slider mechanism alternately pushes together or pulls apart. By modifying the basic straight design of the flat strips, the resulting zipped-up form can take on a distinct bend, as well as turn into a coil or a screw.…