Nature offers bionic inspirations for elegant applications of mechanical principles such as the concept of snap buckling, which occurs in several plants. Exploiting mechanical instabilities is the key to fast movement here. We use the snap-through and snap-back instability observed in natural rubber balloons to design an ultrafast purely mechanical elastomer actuator. Our design eliminates the need in potentially harmful stimulants, high voltages, and is safe in operation. We trigger the instability and thus the actuation by temperature changes, which bring about a liquid/gas phase transition in a suitable volatile fluid. This allows for large deformations up to 300% area expansion within response times of a few milliseconds. A few degree temperature change, readily provided by the warmth of a human hand, is sufficient to reliably trigger the actuation. Experiments are compared with the appropriate theory for a model actuator system; this provides design rules, sensitivity, and operational limitations, paving the way for applications ranging from object sorting to intimate human-machine interaction.

中文翻译：

---

高速软机器人的体温触发机械不稳定性

大自然为机械原理的优雅应用提供了仿生灵感，例如在几种植物中出现的快速屈曲概念。利用机械不稳定性是快速移动的关键。我们使用在天然橡胶气球中观察到的快速通过和快速回弹不稳定性来设计超快纯机械弹性体致动器。我们的设计消除了对潜在有害兴奋剂、高压的需求，并且操作安全。我们触发了不稳定性，从而触发了温度变化的驱动，这在合适的挥发性流体中引起了液相/气相的相变。这允许在几毫秒的响应时间内实现高达 300% 的区域扩展的大变形。几度的温度变化，很容易由人手的温暖提供，足以可靠地触发驱动。将实验与模型执行器系统的适当理论进行比较；这提供了设计规则、灵敏度和操作限制，为从对象分类到亲密人机交互的应用铺平了道路。