The jumping motion is adapted by Earth’s creatures to achieve rapid maneuverability and energy-efficient hurdling over uneven terrains or large obstacles. Herein, the continuous photomechanical jumping of polymer monoliths with on-demand height and angle programmability is reported. Upon exposure to actinic light, self-assembled spring-like molecular geometry of azobenzene-functionalized liquid crystalline polymers provide on-demand jumping via snap-through of non-isometric structures. The finite element method simulation quantitatively describes stress–strain responsivity of the experimental jumping. Remarkably, the maximum jumping height reaches 15.5 body length (BL) with the maximum instantaneous velocity of 880 BL s⁻¹. We demonstrate programmable jumping height and angle by varying macroscopic geometry and light intensity profile. Finally, four continuous and directional jumping sequences are demonstrated within 5 s to overcome an obstacle.

跳跃运动由地球上的生物调整，以实现快速机动性和高能效跨越不平坦地形或大型障碍物。在此，报道了具有按需高度和角度可编程性的聚合物整料的连续光机械跳跃。在暴露于光化光，自组装弹簧状偶氮苯官能化的液晶性聚合物的分子几何形状提供按需跳跃经由卡扣通过非等距结构。有限元方法模拟定量地描述了实验跳跃的应力应变响应性。值得注意的是，最大跳跃高度达到了 15.5 体长 (BL)，最大瞬时速度为 880 BL s ^-1. 我们通过改变宏观几何形状和光强度分布来展示可编程跳跃高度和角度。最后，在 5 秒内演示了四个连续和定向跳跃序列以克服障碍。