• Insights
    • Webinars
    • Blog
    • Perspectives
    • Toolboxes
    • Events
    • Awards
  • Offering
    • Academy
      • Innovation courses
      • Innovation programs
    • Consulting
      • Onsite consultants
      • Project management
    • Services
      • Scout it
        • Business & strategy
        • Technology management
      • Invent it
        • Proposition management
        • Feasibility & IP development
      • Create it
        • Strategic design
        • Demonstrators & prototypes
      • Scale it
        • Go-to-market
        • Industrialization & production
    • Funding
      • Innovation grants
      • Seed capital
      • Subsidy applications
    • Solutions
      • MyStartUp
      • MyStartUp Portfolio
      • MyInnovationFactory
      • MyInnovationTalent
      • MyFutureProduct
  • Markets
    • Smart Space & Security
    • Smart FMCG
    • Smart Life Sciences
    • Smart Industry
  • Capabilities
    • Strategic Innovation
      • OpenLab
      • DesignLab
      • InnoLab
    • Digital innovation
      • AILab
      • DigitalLab
      • EmbeddedLab
    • Product innovation
      • MechLab
      • PhysicsLab
      • FabLab
    • High-tech innovation
      • OpticsLab
  • Technologies
    • Technology portfolio
    • IoT & sensors
    • AI & data science
    • Robotics & autonomy
    • Cooling, heating & fluidics
  • About
    • Our story
    • News
  • Jobs
  • Contact
Verhaert Masters in InnovationVerhaert Masters in Innovation
Verhaert Masters in InnovationVerhaert Masters in Innovation
  • Insights
        • Insights on current innovation and technology trends

        • Perspectives
        • Blog
        • Webinars
        • Toolboxes
        • Awards
  • Offerings
        • Services

        • Consulting

        • Solutions

        • Strategic innovation
          • Value propositions
            • Business & strategy
            • Proposition management
            • Strategic design
            • Go-to-market
          • Acceleration & incubation
          • Training & mentoring
          • Early stage & R&D funding
        • Digital innovation
        • Product innovation
          • Technology management
          • IP management & feasibility
          • Demonstrators & prototypes
          • Industrialization & production
        • High-tech innovation
        • Design & engineering
        • Project & innovation management
        • MyStartUp - Disruptive innovation
        • MyInnovationFactory - Adjacent innovation
        • MyFutureProduct - Adjacent innovation
        • MyInnovationTalent - Core innovation
  • Markets
        • Smart Space & Security

        • Microgravity
          Earth observation
          Navigation
          Exploration
          Security
        • Smart FMCG

        • Dispensers
          Cooling & heating
          Servers
          Smart packaging
          Vending equipment
        • Smart Life Sciences

        • MedTech
          BioTech
          HealthTech
          Ophthalmic
        • Smart Industry

        • Mobility & logistics
          Chemical & material
          Home, building & construction
          Manufacturing & equipment
          Energy
  • Capabilities
        • Labs fueling integrated teams

        • OpenLab
        • DesignLab
        • InnoLab
        • DigitalLab
        • AILab
        • EmbeddedLab
        • MechLab
        • PhysicsLab
        • FabLab
        • OpticsLab
  • Technologies
        • Technologies

        • IoT & sensors
        • AI & data science
        • Robotics & autonomy
        • Cooling, heating & fluidics
        • Portfolio

  • About
        • About

        • News
        • Our story
  • Careers
  • Contact

Wearable robots: the ultimate Human-Robot Interface

3 June 2022 Posted by Michiel Celis My Technology, Perspectives, Product innovation, Smart Industry & Chemistry

Wearable robots are mechatronic systems that snugly interface with its user. Some recognizable examples are exoskeletons, active prostheses and haptic control devices while applications broadly range from rehabilitation and prosthetics over industry and logistics to remotely operated machines.

Perspective wearable robots

The drivers behind the rise of wearable robots

Long only a subject of science fiction, wearable robots are now emerging with increasing rate in and beyond aforementioned applications. This increase can be attributed to a couple of technological enablers, cultural mind shifts and socio-economic drivers.

  • Specific active components such as batteries, drivers and actuators are reaching a critical power density and power-to-weight ratio at a reasonable cost which finally allows them to be used for wearable robotics.
  • Also small high-reduction back-drivable power transmissions (such as harmonic drives) are becoming more widely available due to its increased use in other robotic applications. These small back-drivable transmissions are often crucial in wearable robotics for both safety and proper operation such as torque sensing.
  • Bio-hacking has boomed in the past decade and has lowered the threshold for users to adopt performance enhancing equipment such as exoskeletons.
  • Lastly, the past pandemic has provided us with several new insights, two of which are related to wearable robotics. Firstly, any method of alleviating the pressure on our healthcare systems has gained increased awareness. The potential of telecare – enabled by rehabilitation robotics amongst other technologies – is attracting investors towards said technologies. Secondly, our ever-growing e-commerce is continuously searching for new ways to optimize. As has become painfully clear the past years, working conditions in warehouses are hard with a high prevalence of work-related injuries. Performance-enhancing exoskeletons can literally reduce the workload and reduce the risk
    of such injuries.

The challenges of Human-Robot Interface

Despite these enablers, wearable robotics still face some challenges. Regardless of form or application, they have one unique characteristic in common: they represent the ultimate Human-Robot Interface (HRI). Human and robot are literally connected by mechanically coupling specific degrees of freedom of both entities, which has several implications.

Download the perspective to read more on the challenges of Human-Robot Interface and the technological framework to develop wearable robots as innovative solution.

Tags: Robotics

You also might be interested in

Robotic innovation, the intersection of our digital & physical realm

Robotic innovation, the intersection of our digital & physical realm

Dec 1, 2021

In this webinar we explore the opportunities & pitfalls of virtual & hybrid prototyping techniques with system modelling & real-life testing.

6 ways in which AI complements robotics

6 ways in which AI complements robotics

Jul 15, 2022

Robotics is one of the most interdisciplinary fields of the moment This blog post presents 6 subcomponents of robotics and their AI impact.

Rethinking construction: 7 green building blocks for the future

Rethinking construction: 7 green building blocks for the future

Mar 29, 2023

The construction industry’s rapid growth worldwide is undeniably putting the[...]

OTHER CONTENT
  • AI-infused innovation
  • A new era in minimally-invasive spine surgery
  • Wave energy: the new frontier of renewable energy?
NEWSLETTER



Verhaert Masters in Innovation is a pioneering innovation group helping companies and entrepreneurs to innovate, creating new products, businesses and services.

Verhaert icon LinkedIn Verhaert icon Facebook Verhaert icon SlideShare Verhaert icon YouTube Verhaert icon Twitter

SERVICES
FUNDING
SOLUTIONS
MARKETS
CAPABILITIES
TECHNOLOGY
PERSPECTIVES
BLOGS
WEBINARS
ABOUT
NEWS
JOBS
CONTACT

© 2023 Verhaert New Products & Services NV • BE 0439.039.420 • Privacy policy • Terms of use