Soft actuators and soft actuating devices

1. A soft buckling linear actuator comprising:

a plurality of parallel bucklable, elastic structural components each having its longest dimension along a first axis; and

a plurality of secondary structural components each disposed between and bridging two adjacent bucklable, elastic structural components; wherein

every two adjacent bucklable, elastic structural components and the secondary structural components in-between define a layer comprising a plurality of cells each capable of being connected with a fluid inflation or deflation source;

the secondary structural components from two adjacent layers are not aligned along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis; and

the secondary structural components are configured not to buckle, the bucklable, elastic structural components are configured to buckle along the second axis to generate a linear force, upon the inflation or deflation of the cells.

2. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of cells are connected to each other and configured for connection with the same fluid inflation or deflation source but are otherwise isolated from the atmosphere.

3. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the secondary structural components from two adjacent layers are not aligned along their longest dimensions.

4. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein a secondary structural component of a first layer is positioned above a cell of an adjacent, second layer and a secondary structural element of the second layer is positioned below a cell of the first layer.

5. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the linear force is an expansion or contracting force.

6. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the first axis is horizontal and the second axis is vertical.

7. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the bucklable, elastic structural component is one of the walls of the cell.

8. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the bucklable, elastic structural component is configured to buckle upon the deflation of the cell and return to its original position when the deflated cell is re-inflated.

9. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the bucklable, elastic structural component is configured to buckle upon the deflation of the cell to generate a contracting force.

10. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the bucklable, elastic structural component is configured to buckle upon the over-inflation of the cell which generates a pressure above the atmosphere pressure and returns to its original position when the over-inflated cell is deflated.

11. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the bucklable, elastic structural component is configured to buckle upon the over-inflation of the cell to generate an expansion force.

12. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the bucklable, elastic structural component has high aspect ratio.

13. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the secondary structural component is one of the walls of the cell.

14. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the secondary structural component has its long dimension along the second axis.

15. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the secondary structural component is thicker, shorter and/or more rigid than the bucklable, elastic structural component.

16. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the fluid is a gas or liquid.

17. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the fluid is air.

18. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the cell is connected to a gas inflation/deflation source via a fluid chamber.

19. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the cell is in the form of a rod, slit, sphere, cube, hexahedron, or cylinder.

20. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the bucklable, elastic structural component is in the form of a pillar, a lever, or beam.

21. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the cells are connected to a fluid chamber configured for connection with the fluid inflation or deflation source.

22. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , wherein the fluid inflation or deflation source is a gas pump, a gas vacuum, or a gas pump and vacuum.

23. The soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 , further comprises a hard body portion.

24. An artificial skeletal muscle system, comprising:

one or more artificial skeletal elements; and

a soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 connected to the artificial skeletal element;

wherein upon the inflation or deflation of the cells, the soft buckling linear actuator generates a linear force so that the artificial skeletal element performs a human or animal-like motion.

25. The artificial skeletal muscle system of claim 24 , wherein the artificial skeletal muscle system is an artificial limb, finger, toe, heart, or stomach.

26. A soft robotic machine, comprising:

a soft machine element; and

a soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 connected to the soft machine element,

wherein upon the inflation or deflation of the cells, the soft buckling linear actuator generates a linear force so that the soft machine moves to mimic a human or animal-like motion or structure.

27. The soft robotic machine of claim 26 , wherein the soft robotic machine is a soft robotic millipede or climber.

28. The soft robotic machine of claim 26 , wherein the soft machine element is another soft buckling linear actuator, a hard or soft body part, or a pneumatic expansion actuator.

29. The soft robotic machine of claim 26 , wherein the soft robotic machine has a whole soft body or a predominantly soft body.

30. The soft robotic machine of claim 26 , wherein the soft buckling linear actuator is configured to generate a contracting force or an expansion force.

31. A method of actuation, comprising:

providing the soft buckling linear actuator of claim 1 ; and

deflating the cells or over-inflating the cells to cause the bucklable, elastic structural component to buckle to generate a linear force.

32. The method of claim 31 , further comprising causing the soft buckling linear actuator to expand or contract.

33. The method of claim 32 , wherein causing the soft buckling linear actuator to expand comprises over-inflating the cell(s) to cause the bucklable, elastic structural component to buckle to generate an expansion force.

34. The method of claim 32 , wherein causing the soft buckling linear actuator to contract comprises deflating the cell(s) to cause the bucklable, elastic structural component to buckle to generate a contracting force.

35. A method of actuation, comprising:

providing the artificial skeletal muscle system of claim 24 ; and

independently deflating or over-inflating the cells of the plurality of the soft buckling linear actuators to cause the bucklable, elastic structural components to buckle to generate linear forces and the artificial skeletal muscle system to move to mimic a human or animal-like motion or structure.

36. The method of claim 35 , further comprising causing the soft buckling linear actuators to expand or contract.

37. A method of actuation, comprising:

providing the soft robotic machine of any one of claim 26 ; and

independently deflating or over-inflating the cells of the plurality of the soft buckling linear actuators to cause the bucklable, elastic structural components to buckle to generate linear forces and the soft machine to move to mimic a human or animal-like motion or structure.

38. The method of claim 37 , further comprising causing the soft buckling linear actuators to expand or contract.