A comprehensive review in the journal Robot examines the development and key technologies of pneumatic flexible wearable upper-limb robots, which are increasingly relevant for human-robot collaboration in industrial settings. These systems offer advantages over rigid exoskeletons, including lower cost, higher safety, lighter weight, and greater customization, making them suitable for assistive and augmentative applications.
Key takeaways
- Actuator diversity: Bending-type pneumatic actuators are classified into five categories—pneumatic artificial muscles, fiber-reinforced, pneumatic network, textile-based, and pneumatic expansion interference—each with trade-offs in output force, range of motion, and manufacturability.
- System integration: Representative systems for hand, wrist/elbow, shoulder, and multi-joint assistance demonstrate significant performance, such as finger forces up to 54.8 N and grip force improvements of 87% in clinical tests.
- Control and sensing: Key technologies include accurate user intent recognition via sEMG or EEG, model-based and learning-based control strategies, and integrated flexible sensors for real-time feedback, achieving high accuracy (e.g., 96.2% gesture recognition).
- Evaluation and challenges: Assistance efficacy is validated through metrics like range of motion and force output, but challenges remain in durability, modeling nonlinearity, and achieving seamless human-robot interaction.
For manufacturing automation, these robots offer potential in reducing worker fatigue and preventing injuries in repetitive tasks, though further development is needed for robust industrial deployment.
Source: 《机器人》期刊 (robot.sia.cn) · Published 2026-03-25 · “气动柔性可穿戴上肢机器人研究进展及关键技术分析”