Bistable and Multistable Actuators for Soft Robots: Structures, Materials, and Functionalities

Abstract Snap‐through bistability is often observed in nature (e.g., fast snapping to closure of Venus flytrap) and the life (e.g., bottle caps and hair clippers). Recently, harnessing bistability and multistability in different structures and soft materials has attracted growing interest for high‐performance soft actuators and soft robots. They have demonstrated broad and unique applications in high‐speed locomotion on land and under water, adaptive sensing and fast grasping, shape reconfiguration, electronics‐free controls with a single input, and logic computation. Here, an overview of integrating bistable and multistable structures with soft actuating materials for diverse soft actuators and soft/flexible…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: 2126072, CMMI‐2126072
• NC
  North Carolina State University
• DF
  Directorate for Engineering

  Award: 2126072
• DO
  Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation