Programmable Constant-Force Multistable Mechanisms

Programmable multistable mechanisms exhibit stability behavior whereby the stiffness and the number of stable states can be controlled via programming inputs. In this paper, we report the zero stiffness behavior of a 2-degree of programming (DOP) T-combined, axially loaded double parallelogram multistable mechanism. We demonstrate zero force monostability, constant force monostability, zero force bistability, constant force bistability and zero force tristability behaviors by tuning the programming input. We derive analytically the reaction force of the mechanism for each configuration and verify our analytical results using numerical simulations and experimental measurements, showing less than 10% discrepancy. The concept of constant force programming can be extended to N-DOP T-combined, serial combined and parallel combined programmable multistable mechanisms. Finally, we present potential applications of stability programming.