Movie S7.

Actuation time. Actuation time for a soft actuator consisting of two interconnected fluidic segments, characterized by (Lbraid,Ltube)=(44,30) and (48,26) mm. We first inflate the actuator to v=16 mL, and then decouple it from the syringe pump and connect it to a small reservoir containing only 1 mL of water. When the system is inflated with water it takes more than 1 s for the changes in length, pressure, and internal volume induced by the instability to fully take place. By replacing water with air, the time is reduced from 1.4 s to 300 ms. Moreover, by adding an additional reservoir of air to increase the energy stored in the system, the actuation time can be further decreased to 100 ms.