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Jitterbug
Buckminister Fuller gave the name Jitterbug to this transformation. I first came across the Jitterbug in Amy C. Edmondson’s A Fuller Explanation (1987). As I didn’t have dowels and four-way rubber connectors, I made several cuboctahedra that worked as Jitterbugs but were not very reversible. Some were from paper and others from drinking straws and elastic thread.
My first unit, Triangle Unit, was partly successful as a Jitterbug. A better result came from using three units per triangular face (or one unit per vertex) which was published in 2000.
This improved version is slightly harder to assemble but has a stronger lock. The sequence is pleasingly rhythmical and all steps have location points. The pleats in step 18 form the spring that make the model return to its cuboctahedral shape.
My first unit, Triangle Unit, was partly successful as a Jitterbug. A better result came from using three units per triangular face (or one unit per vertex) which was published in 2000.
This improved version is slightly harder to assemble but has a stronger lock. The sequence is pleasingly rhythmical and all steps have location points. The pleats in step 18 form the spring that make the model return to its cuboctahedral shape.
