Snap and Jump: How Elastic Shells Pop Out

Abstract

Soft Robots Indent an elastomeric shell and let it go. The spherical shells can store and release elastic energy. Desktop-scale experiments, material point method simulation, and analytical theory uncover the fundamental mechanism of soft jumping robots. Detailed analysis of children’s popping toys paves the way for designing principles for soft robots leveraging the flexibility of slender structures. More in article number 2500041, Tomohiko G. Sano and co-workers.