Is it possible that the exoskeleton and wearable robotics field is picking up some momentum? This week, there are a whopping 20 stories and highlights that were more than worth capturing; that is more than double the usual number for the weekly newsletter. If you are not subscribed already, or just want to use this for reference, below are the visual and searchable text-only versions of last week’s Exoskeleton Report newsletter:
Visual Archive:
Text-Only Archive:
Skip Lists Summer 2027 as the Next Available MO/GO Delivery Window
Skip’s current reservation page lists Summer 2027 as the next available delivery window for the MO/GO powered pants, with Winter 2026 and Spring 2027 marked full. A refundable $99 reservation applies toward a total price of $4,999. The package is expected to include Arc’teryx Gamma pants, four adjustable carbon-fiber cuffs, two powered knee modules, two batteries, and a charger, with more than three hours of stated battery life during continuous uphill walking. – Skip
Curious what the new model of Hypershell looks like? I have posted a short-form video of me unboxing the Hypershell X Ultra S on TikTok
TechMagnet Promotes the Stablego Lightweight Exoskeleton Hands-On – AI Meets Human Mobility – YouTube
ExR’s Perspective: the speed consumer exos being introduced (either new companies or new distribution names) is breath-taking.
From Lifting Loads to Lightening the Load on People
How does a company with its roots in rope-making see obvious alignment with occupational exoskeletons!?
Biomechanical Effectiveness and Wearability of a Passive Shoulder Exoskeleton in an Automotive Assembly
Researchers evaluated Hyundai Motor Company’s 1.4 kg passive X-ble Shoulder exoskeleton (this is the same exo that was presented at A+A ExoPark (short video) and CES 2026) with 16 male automotive workers performing genuine (non-lab simulated) underbody assembly tasks using a 1.8 kg impact wrench. After three days of familiarization, each worker assembled five vehicles with the exoskeleton and five without it, while researchers measured muscle activity, body motion and perceived workload; shoulder torques and joint forces were estimated through AnyBody musculoskeletal modeling. Wearing the exoskeleton reduced anterior deltoid activity by 15.2%, lateral deltoid activity by 11.1%, thoracohumeral flexion torque by about 29%, and modeled glenohumeral joint reaction force by 115 N, or about 30%. Perceived physical workload fell by approximately 44%. However, comfort remains a concern: half of the participants classified wearing comfort as unfavorable.
The study provides promising real-world evidence that the X-ble Shoulder can substantially unload the deltoids and shoulder joints during a specific overhead automotive task, but fit and comfort need improvement, and longer, larger studies are required before claiming injury-prevention benefits. – You can read the full paper on MDPI
Cyberdyne is currently testing the HAL Lumbar Type in nursing homes across Germany
The company predicts worker shortages in the care sector for Germany alone to be 280,000–690,000 unfilled nursing care positions by 2049, while care professionals continue to face physically demanding working conditions every single day. Common challenges remain:
Mobilizing and transferring patients
Lifting and carrying heavy loads
Reducing physical strain during repetitive daily care activities
see the original post on LinkedIn
ExR’s Perspective: It has been more than a decade since exoskeletons-for-caregivers became a validated idea, but implementation or use case studies remain illusive.
USE CASE: Airbus Company CTC Reports Quantified Benefits From the exoIQ S700
Composite Technology Center, an Airbus company, is using two exoIQ S700 active shoulder exoskeletons across four employees who perform sustained arm-elevated work while operating handheld 3D laser scanners. For employees, this entails constantly working with their arms raised, maintaining high levels of concentration, and enduring sustained strain on muscles and joints, with little opportunity for relief and two S700 active shoulder exoskeletons are shared by people in the metrology team – Full Post on ExoIQ
Brief use of a passive shoulder exoskeleton modifies muscle activation after removal
Brief Paexo Shoulder use alters muscle activation after removal. Link: Scientific Reports study; An exploratory study of 20 healthy participants found that 25 minutes of overhead work with the passive Paexo Shoulder produced subtle effects that continued after the device was removed. Hand accuracy and joint movement remained largely unchanged, but biceps activation increased in the exoskeleton group while decreasing in the control group, suggesting a short-term reorganization of muscle recruitment. The researchers argue that occupational exoskeleton testing should examine post-use muscle activity and whole-limb coordination, not only performance while the device is being worn.
VikingExos Moves Project Nora Into ASTM-Aligned Laboratory Testing
VikingExos says Project Nora, its lightweight passive lumbar-support exoskeleton, has progressed from outdoor and alpine field trials into structured laboratory testing. The planned work covers structural and load-bearing performance, repeatable controlled validation, and documentation organized around ASTM exoskeleton standards. – see more on VikingExos.com
WearHealth: Diagnose the Lift Before Choosing the Intervention
Not directly an exoskeleton article (also WearHealth seems to have declared war on paragraphs); a new warehouse-ergonomics article argues that lifting problems should not all be addressed with the same training or equipment. It separates risks involving load weight, reach distance, low storage, twisting, repetition, poor grip, equipment usability, and movement technique, then matches each problem with possible interventions… WearHealth.com
Intuitive therapist robot patient physical interaction is worth a thousand words
Haptic Teleoperation Could Put Therapists Back “in Touch” with Exoskeleton Rehabilitation – Researchers at TU Delft developed a therapist-in-the-loop teleoperation system allowing a remote trainer to physically guide a wearer’s elbow and wrist instead of relying only on video and verbal instructions. In a feasibility study involving 32 healthy participants, haptic guidance reduced pose-completion time by approximately 3.9 seconds, improved elbow movement smoothness, lowered the proportion of verbal instructions, increased trainers’ perceived competence, and reduced trainees’ perceived effort and physical demand. Read more on nature.com
ExR’s Perspective: This is starting to become an emerging trend now showing that direct input-output wearable system produces results and opens the door to more advance remote-physical rehabilitation.
Atalante X, Wandercraft’s Self-Balancing Rehabilitation Exoskeleton, Receives ARCSA Clearance in Ecuador, Advancing Latin American Expansion – GlobalNewswire
Enhancing sit-to-stand transitions and walking efficiency in older adults with a soft robotic suit
Researchers at the Technical University of Munich and Heidelberg University tested a 2.86 kg tendon-driven soft hip exosuit that uses thigh-mounted sensors to recognize sitting and walking, then provides task-specific hip-extension assistance. In a feasibility study involving ten older adults with reduced lower-limb performance, active assistance increased the number of sit-and-stand cycles completed in one minute by an average of 1.8, shortened each cycle by 9.0%, and reduced the metabolic cost of walking by 13.6% compared with wearing the suit with assistance switched off – individual responses varied. Read the full study in Nature Communications
Lower limb active exoskeletons, exosuits, assistive devices and specifications: a scoping review
Review of 467 Lower-Limb Exoskeletons (mostly medical) Finds Usability and User Control Remain the Biggest Barriers –
| Measure | Rows | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Research-like status | 394 | 84.4% |
| Commercial-like status | 71 | 15.2% |
| Other status: “Complete” | 2 | 0.4% |
| Plainly bilateral | 357 | 76.4% |
| Plainly unilateral | 95 | 20.3% |
| Claims sit-to-stand capability | 98 | 21.0% |
| Claims stair ascent/descent | 100 | 21.4% |
| Listed as own-weight-bearing | 306 | 65.5% |
See the full study and supplementary materials at Springer.Com
IUVO is a partner in EXOAIM, a new Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action coordinated by the Technical University of Denmark, running from June 2026 to May 2029.
The project will develop, test and validate a new generation of inclusive assistive technologies for children and adolescents with physical, motor, neuromuscular or neurological impairments. The solutions will combine soft EMG sensors and biosensors embedded in textiles, adaptive AI-based control and modular exoskeletons for lower-limb and head and neck support. – More on IUVO.com
LIFTYA Launches a CrowdFunme.IT Campaign
Health-tech developing a motorized, AI-based device for shoulder support, reducing pain and accelerating rehabilitation with a smart, scalable solution. Find out more on https://www.crowdfundme.it/projects/liftya/
REEV Launches Clinical Study of DREEVEN for Post-Stroke Mobility
REEV has launched a pivotal clinical study of DREEVEN, its knee-ankle orthosis for stroke survivors with chronic gait impairment. Led by Boston University’s Lou Awad and conducted with Encompass Health and Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital, the study will test walking on level and uneven ground, navigating stairs, and completing sit-to-stand transfers. Home monitoring will also assess performance and safety during daily life outside the clinic. DREEVEN remains investigational, but the study represents an important step toward FDA clearance and commercial launch. More on Reev.Care
Why Aren’t There More Exoskeletons Out There?
In this episode of Beyond The Skin, Matt Dickinson and Bill Billote look at the real barriers holding adoption back. Cost and ROI. Technology readiness. Standards and regulations. User acceptance. Practical challenges in the field. The gap between lab prototypes and everyday tools that people will actually put on and keep using.
It reminds me of the an episode I did with Tom earlier: Episode 7 Challenges to Mass Exoskeleton Adoption: Understanding the Barriers
UTA Soft Wrist Exoskeleton Wins 2026 Genspiration University Inventors Prize
University of Texas at Arlington students Suyog Neupane and Kritazya Upreti won first place in the university division of the 2026 National Academy of Inventors Genspiration Prize Competition for a lightweight pneumatic wrist exoskeleton designed to support stroke rehabilitation. The wearable device uses a single compact soft actuator to assist two wrist motions simultaneously, reducing weight and mechanical complexity while supporting repetitive and voluntary therapeutic exercises. Read the full announcement.
Angel Robotics releases ‘fact’ of actuator module for physical AI
Angel Robotics introduces new actuators featuring Active Friction Canceling (AFC) technology. Designed for physical AI, ‘phact (physics-ready actuator)’ integrates advanced control algorithms. Angel Robotics aims to contribute to the growth of the entire robotics industry ecosystem. “A reverse power compensation machine and a high-speed current control algorithm were also applied to realize the current control performance of 2.5kHz bandwidth… The module also has a 6-axis inertia sensor that measures acceleration and angular velocity. Through this, it is possible to estimate not only the rotation of the joint but also the operation status of the entire robot… ” See the full press release on Edaily.com
ExR’s Perspective: this is a rare (if not the first) example of an exoskeleton company selling its motors as a ready to buy solution (Fourier have had theirs as part of a research kit).
Towards optimizing human-exoskeleton interactions: simulating the soft-tissue interface – YouTube
Soft-tissues can absorb a substantial portion of the applied power by an exoskeleton and modeling the interface, including the soft-tissue behavior, is therefore essential for designing efficient and comfortable exoskeletons. Presented at the IEEE Cyborg and Bionic Systems Conference 2026, this video highlights soft-body, in MuJoCo© as an alternative to full FAE analysis.
Also, jobs, events, and special thanks to our Patreon Supporters! As you can imagine, compiling this newsletter every week takes a significant time commitment, and all of the financial support is more than appreciated (and very much needed)!
Add Comment