Bistable Valve for Electronics-Free Soft Robots

Recently, there has been a notable shift towards electronics-free designs, which offer promising integration possibilities with soft robots, reducing reliance on traditional electronics. Despite numerous demonstrations showcasing logical control, contact sensors, and gait control, the conventional quake valve-based design is gradually struggling to meet the demands of electronics-free soft robots with increasingly complex functionalities. Integrating multiple tubes, channels, and valves has led to larger and bulkier overall systems. In this study, we introduce a simple yet powerful electronics-free pneumatic valve that excels in various aspects: it allows for flexible function configurations (operating individually, in pairs, or in larger groups), offers high-frequency synchronous reverse outputs, stores valve status, and ensures efficient maintenance. We believe that this work lays the groundwork for developing straightforward yet highly effective fully autonomous soft robots.