Unfold/Unroll Incrementally

Hi guys,

I'm trying to develop a script for unrolling surfaces in such a way that each phase of the unroll can be analyzed as the geometry becomes flattened.  For example, in rhino if you had a faceted strip around a curved surface that you wanted to unfold, you could rotate3d each face of the strip until the geometry becomes planar (as opposed to using an unrollsrf, which just gives you the flattened result). 

I've searched the discussions for something like this, but have only found components and scripts which essentially copy the unrollsrf command in rhino, none of which offer the kind of control necessary to study the complexities and angles of the unfolding process. 

attached are screenshots of diagrams I've create in attempts to better understand this problem. 

Does anyone have any tips on how to start something like this? 

best,

jordan