Publications by Yingying Ren | EPFL Graph Search

Computational Homogenization for Inverse Design of Surface-based Inflatables

Mark Pauly, Florin Isvoranu, Uday Kusupati, Seiichi Eduardo Suzuki Erazo, Yingying Ren, Francis Julian Panetta

Surface-based inflatables are composed of two thin layers of nearly inextensible sheet material joined together along carefully selected fusing curves. During inflation, pressure forces separate the two sheets to maximize the enclosed volume. The fusing c ...

2024

Computational Inverse Design of Shape Morphing Structures

Yingying Ren

Shape-morphing structures can transform between multiple geometric configurations, enabling a wide range of applications in architecture, robotics, personalizable medical devices, emergency shelters, and space technology. This thesis presents computational ...

EPFL2024

Reach For the Arcs: Reconstructing Surfaces from SDFs via Tangent Points

Yingying Ren

We introduce an algorithm to reconstruct a mesh from discrete samples of a shape's Signed Distance Function (SDF). A simple geometric reinterpretation of the SDF lets us formulate the problem through a point cloud, from which a surface can be extracted wit ...

Association for Computing Machinery2024

Tencers: Tension-Constrained Elastic Rods

Mark Pauly, Michele Vidulis, Yingying Ren

We study ensembles of elastic rods that are tensioned by a small set of inextensible cables. The cables induce forces that deform the initially straight, but flexible rods into 3D space curves at equilibrium. Rods can be open or closed, knotted, and arrang ...

2024

BamX: Rethinking Deployability in Architecture through Weaving

Mark Pauly, Stefana Parascho, Seiichi Eduardo Suzuki Erazo, Yingying Ren, Tian Chen

Deployable gridshells are a class of planar-to-spatial structures that achievea 3D curved geometry by inducing bending on a flat grid of elastic beams. However, theslender nature of these beams often conflicts with the structure’s load-bearing capacity.To ...

De Gruyter2023

C-shells: Deployable Gridshells with Curved Beams

Mark Pauly, Seiichi Eduardo Suzuki Erazo, Quentin Christian Becker, Yingying Ren, Francis Julian Panetta, Davide Pellis

We introduce a computational pipeline for simulating and designing C-shells, a new class of planar-to-spatial deployable linkage structures. A C-shell is composed of curved flexible beams connected at rotational joints that can be assembled in a stress-fre ...

2023

From kirigami to hydrogels: a tutorial on designing conformally transformable surfaces

Tian Chen, Yingying Ren, Yue Wang

Elastic surfaces that morph between multiple geometrical configurations are of significant engineering value, with applications ranging from the deployment of space-based PV arrays, the erection of temporary shelters, and the realization of flexible displa ...

2023

Computational Exploration of Multistable Elastic Knots

Mark Pauly, Michele Vidulis, Yingying Ren

We present an algorithmic approach to discover, study, and design multistable elastic knots. Elastic knots are physical realizations of closed curves embedded in 3-space. When endowed with the material thickness and bending resistance of a physical wire, t ...

2023

Umbrella Meshes: Elastic Mechanisms for Freeform Shape Deployment

Mark Pauly, Florin Isvoranu, Uday Kusupati, Yingying Ren, Tian Chen, Davide Pellis

We present a computational inverse design framework for a new class of volumetric deployable structures that have compact rest states and deploy into bending-active 3D target surfaces. Umbrella meshes consist of elastic beams, rigid plates, and hinge joint ...

2022

3D Weaving with Curved Ribbons

Mark Pauly, Florin Isvoranu, Tian Chen, Yingying Ren, Samuel Jean Bernard Poincloux, Francis Julian Panetta, Christopher Brandt

Basket weaving is a traditional craft for creating curved surfaces as an interwoven array of thin, flexible, and initially straight ribbons. The three-dimensional shape of a woven structure emerges through a complex interplay of the elastic bending behavio ...

2021