Truchet tiles

One uninterrupted zone of these patterns can extend for a great distance, seemingly going virtually forever.

Truchet tiles are named for their inventor, Sébastien Truchet, 1657-1729. Their basic structure is simplicity itself (Figure 1).

Figure 1 The basic Truchet Tile structure is simplicity itself.

We can make an array of Truchet Tiles to form a simple and repetitive pattern (Figure 2).

Figure 2 A Truchet array forms a repetitive tile pattern.

However, we can alter that repetitive pattern into something a bit more interesting (Figure 3).

Figure 3 An altered tile pattern forms something more interesting.

Next, we can eliminate the squares, extend the presented area and add some color, and then just look at the pattern generated by the quarter-circle arcs (Figure 4).

Figure 4 An extension of the altered tile pattern is also color-enhanced.

The really unexpected thing about these patterns is how one uninterrupted zone, such as the zone colored in red for example, can extend for a great distance. As large as we might choose a displayed area to be, we can find at least one zone that just seems to go on virtually forever.

John Dunn is an electronics consultant and a graduate of The Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (BSEE) and of New York University (MSEE).

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