Soft robotics is a branch of robotics that deals with mechatronics and electromechanical systems primarily made of soft materials. This paper presents a summary of a chronicle study of various soft robotic hand exoskeletons, with different electroenc...
Exoskeletons are being explored for assisting motion therapy for neurological impairment-related rehabilitation. Soft robotic exoskeletons are gaining more attention for upper-extremity applications due to their simplistic actuation mechanisms and co...
During the last decade, soft robotic systems, such as actuators and grippers, have been employed in various commercial applications. Due to the need to integrate robotic mechanisms into devices operating alongside humans, soft robotic systems concent...
With the emerging of wearable robots, the safety and effectiveness of human-robot physical interaction have attracted extensive attention. Recent studies suggest that online measurement of the interaction force between the robot and the human body is...
Musculoskeletal disorders are very common injuries among occupational and healthcare workers. These injuries are preventable in many scenarios using exoskeleton-based assistive technology. Soft robotics initiates an evolution in exoskeleton devices d...
Soft robotic exoskeletons have emerged as a transformative solution for rehabilitation and assistance, offering greater adaptability and comfort than rigid designs. Myoelectric control, based on electromyography (EMG) signals, plays a key role in ena...
We present the design and validation of a low-cost, customizable and 3D-printed anthropomorphic soft robotic hand exoskeleton for rehabilitation of hand injuries using remotely administered physical therapy regimens. The design builds upon previous w...
Spasticity following a stroke often leads to severe motor impairments, necessitating comprehensive and personalized rehabilitation protocols. This paper presents Rehabotics, an innovative rehabilitation platform incorporating a multi-component design...
This paper presents the mechatronic design of a biorobotic joint with controllable compliance, for innovative applications of “assist-as-needed” robotic rehabilitation mediated by a wearable and soft exoskeleton. The soft actuation of rob...
Stroke, the third leading cause of global disability, poses significant challenges to healthcare systems worldwide. Addressing the restoration of impaired hand functions is crucial, especially amid healthcare workforce shortages. While robotic-assist...
In recent years, the advent of soft robotics has changed the landscape of wearable technologies. Soft robots are highly compliant and malleable, thus ensuring safe human-machine interactions. To date, a wide variety of actuation mechanisms have been...
With the global ageing population and the increasing prevalence of mobility impairments, the demand for effective and comfortable rehabilitation and assistive solutions has grown rapidly. Soft exoskeletons have emerged as a key direction in the devel...
Robotic exoskeletons are active devices that assist or counteract the movements of the body limbs in a variety of tasks, including in industrial environments or rehabilitation processes. With the introduction of textile and soft materials in these de...
Bowden-cable-actuated soft exoskeleton robots are known for their light weight and flexibility of power transmission during rehabilitation training or movement assistance for humans. However, friction-induced nonlinearity of the Bowden transmission c...
Upper limb functionality is essential to perform activities of daily living. It is critical to investigate neurorehabilitation therapies in order to improve upper limb functionality in post-stroke patients. This paper presents a soft-robotic bilatera...
Over the past few decades, wearable exoskeletons of various forms have been developed to assist human activities or for rehabilitation of movement disorders. However, sustainable exoskeletons with efficient energy harvesting devices still have not be...
This paper presents a quasi-static model-based control algorithm for controlling the motion of a soft robotic exo-digit with three independent actuation joints physically interacting with the human finger. A quasi-static analytical model of physical...
Stroke, cerebral palsy, and spinal cord injuries represent the most common leading causes of upper limb impairment. In recent years, rehabilitation robotics has progressed toward developing wearable technologies to promote the portability of assistiv...
In recent decades, extensive attention has been paid to the study and development of robotic devices specifically designed for hand rehabilitation. Accordingly, a many concepts concerning rigid, soft, and hybrid types have emerged in the literature,...
Medical robotics nowadays can prevent, treat, or alleviate numerous severe conditions, including the dire consequences of stroke. Our objective was to determine the effect of employing a robotic soft exoskeleton in therapy on the development of the e...
Soft wearable actuators must align with anatomical joints, conform to limb geometry, and operate at low pneumatic pressures. Yet most twisting mechanisms rely on bulky attachment interfaces and relatively high actuation pressures, limiting practicali...
Scoliosis is a spinal disorder that is conventionally treated using rigid or soft braces. Computational methods such as finite element-based models are used to investigate the mechanics of the spine and the effect of braces. Most spinal braces are ei...
In recent years, more and more research has begun to focus on the flexible and lightweight design of wearable robots. During this process, many novel concepts and achievements have been continuously made and shown to the public, while new problems ha...
Wearable robotic devices for rehabilitation and assistive applications face a critical challenge: discomfort induced by prolonged pressure at the human–robot interface. Conventional attachment systems with static straps or rigid cuffs frequentl...
As the number of patients with amputations increases, research on assistive devices such as prosthetic limbs is actively being conducted. However, the development of assistive devices for patients with partial amputations is insufficient. In this stu...
Purpose: Soft robotic exoskeletons (SREs) are portable, lightweight assistive technology with therapeutic potential for improving lower limb motor function in children with cerebral palsy. To understand the effects of long-term SRE-assisted walking t...
Scoliosis is an abnormality of the spinal curvature that severely affects the musculoskeletal, respiratory, and nervous systems. Conventionally, it is treated using rigid spinal braces. These braces are static, rigid, and passive in nature, and they...
In this article, various investigations on soft exoskeletons are presented and their functional and structural characteristics are analyzed. The present work is oriented to the studies of the last decade and covers the upper and lower joints, specifi...
This paper presents the modeling design method for a novel hybrid-driven compliant hand exoskeleton based on the human-machine coupling model for the patients who have requirements on training and assisting. Firstly, the human-machine coupling model...
The soft pneumatic actuators of an assistive exoskeleton hand glove are here designed. The design of the actuators focuses on allowing the actuator to perform the required bending and to restrict elongation or twisting of the actuator. The actuator i...
In this study, we aimed to evaluate the short-term outcomes of a rehabilitation program with the Hybrid Assistive Limb® after soft tissue lengthening in young patients with cerebral palsy. We assessed six patients with cerebral palsy who underwen...
Background/Objectives: Spasticity commonly occurs in individuals after experiencing a stroke, impairing their hand function and limiting activities of daily living (ADLs). In this paper, we introduce an exoskeletal aid, combined with a set of augment...
Robotic exoskeletons are being actively applied to support the activities of daily living (ADL) for patients with hand motion impairments. In terms of actuation, soft materials and sensors have opened new alternatives to conventional rigid body struc...
The bipedal robot is one of the most attractive robots types given its similarity to the locomotion of human beings and its ability to assist people to walk during rehabilitation. This review summarizes the chronological historical development of bip...
Millions of individuals suffer from upper extremity paralysis caused by neurological disorders including stroke, traumatic brain injury, or spinal cord injury. Robotic hand exoskeletons can substitute the missing motor control and help restore the fu...
The development of soft robotics owes much to the field of biomimetics, where soft actuators predominantly mimic the movement found in nature. In contrast to their rigid counterparts, soft robots offer superior safety and human–machine interact...
In recent years, robotics has made notable progress, becoming an essential component of daily life by facilitating complex tasks and enhancing human experiences. While most robots have traditionally featured hard surfaces, the growing demand for more...
Exoskeletons can track the wearer’s movements in real time, thereby enhancing physical performance or restoring mobility for individuals with gait impairments. These wearable assistive devices have demonstrated significant potential in both reh...
Soft exosuits are an emerging class of robots that have been shown to significantly reduce the metabolic cost of daily human movement. However, most soft exosuits are currently being studied for walking and running, and relatively minor research has...
Control design of power-assist systems has been widely applied to human-robot interactive systems such as wearable exoskeleton systems, of which the range of motion limitation of human joints in the power-assist systems is essential. This paper prese...
Exoskeleton robots are frequently applied to augment or assist the user’s natural motion. Generally, each assisted joint corresponds to at least one specific motor to ensure the independence of movement between joints. This means that as there are mo...
Soft exoskeletons (exosuits) are expected to provide a comfortable wearing experience and compliant assistance compared with traditional rigid exoskeleton robots. In this paper, an exosuit with twisted string actuators (TSAs) is developed to provide...
This journal review article focuses on the use of assistive and rehabilitative exoskeletons as a new opportunity for individuals with diminished mobility. The article aims to identify gaps and inconsistencies in state-of-the-art assistive and rehabil...
In this paper, we present a kineto-static analysis on a wrist rehabilitation robot to compensate for joint misalignment between human and robot joints. Since joint misalignment has proved to generate user–device interaction forces, which reduce...
Soft pneumatic actuators/robotics have received significant interest in the medical and health fields, due to their intrinsic elasticity and simple control strategies for enabling desired interactions. However, current soft hand pneumatic exoskeleton...
A sensory apparatus to monitor pressure distribution on the physical human-robot interface of lower-limb exoskeletons is presented. We propose a distributed measure of the interaction pressure over the whole contact area between the user and the mach...
In this study, a fuzzy adaptive impedance control method integrating the backstepping control for the PAM elbow exoskeleton was developed to facilitate robot-assisted rehabilitation tasks. The proposed method uses fuzzy logic to adjust impedance para...
The development of wearable robotic exoskeletons has seen rapid progress in recent years, driven by the growing need for technologies that support motor rehabilitation, assist individuals with physical impairments, and enhance human capabilities in b...
Hand-function recovery is often a goal for stroke survivors undergoing therapy. This work aimed to design, build, and verify a pneumatic hand training device for its eventual use in post-stroke rehabilitation. The system was built considering prior r...
Soft compliant strain gauges are key devices for wearable applications such as body health sensor systems, exoskeletons, or robotics. Other than traditional piezoresistive materials, such as metals and doped semiconductors placed on strain-sensitive...
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