Structural instability is a hazard that leads to catastrophic failure and is generally avoided through special designs. A trend, however, has emerged over the past decades pointing to the harnessing of mechanisms with instability. Inspired by the snapping of a hair clip, we are finessing the unique characteristics of the lateral-torsional buckling of beams and the snap-through of pre-buckled dome-like thin-wall structures in a new field: the in-plane prestressed mechanism. Analyses reveal how the 2D-3D assembly of an in-plane prestressed actuator (IPA) is achieved and how the post-buckling energy landscape is pictured. Combining them with soft robotics, we show that the inclusion of a bistable IPA can enormously enhance the performance of an underwater fish robot as well as inspire a finger-like soft gripper.

翻译：结构失稳是一种可能导致灾难性破坏的危险，通常需要通过特殊设计来避免。然而，在过去几十年中，一种利用失稳机制的趋势逐渐兴起。受发夹弹开的启发，我们正在精化梁的侧向扭转屈曲以及预屈曲穹顶状薄壁结构的突跳特性，应用于一个新领域：面内预应力机构。分析揭示了面内预应力驱动器（IPA）的二维-三维组装如何实现，以及后屈曲能量景观如何描绘。结合软体机器人技术，我们展示了引入双稳态IPA可以极大地提升水下仿生鱼机器人的性能，并启发设计一种手指状软体夹爪。