Elastic Energy Storage Enables Rapid and Programmable Actuation in Soft Machines

Abstract Storage of elastic energy is key to increasing the efficiency, speed, and power output of many biological systems. This paper describes a simple design strategy for the rapid fabrication of prestressed soft actuators (PSAs), exploiting elastic energy storage to enhance the capabilities of soft robots. The elastic energy that PSAs store in their prestressed elastomeric layer enables the fabrication of grippers capable of zero‐power holding up to 100 times their weight and perching upside down from angles of up to 116°. The direction and magnitude of the force used to prestress the elastomeric layer can be controlled not only to define the final shape of the PSA but also to program its actuation sequence. Additionally, the release of the elastic energy stored by PSAs causes their high‐speed recovery (≈50 ms), which significantly improves the actuation rates of soft pneumatic actuators, especially after motions requiring large deformations. Moreover, judicious prestressing of PSAs can also create bistable soft robotic systems, which use their stored elastic energy as a source of power amplification for rapid movements. These strategies serve as a basis for a new class of entirely soft robots capable of recreating bioinspired high‐powered and high‐speed motions using stored elastic energy.