Description

The Ironhand system consists of a glove, covering all five fingers, and a power pack worn in a backpack or hip-carry. The pressure sensors in the glove activate the sophisticated control system in the powerpack and pull artificial tendons in the fingers, creating a strong and natural grasping motion. Each finger is actuated independently and the provided force is comparable to the human one. 

The Smart Assist function uses machine learning to adapt the behavior of the glove based on how the operator is using the glove. In addition to the Smart Assist function, the operator can configure the system manually and adjust force, sensitivity, locking tendency, force balance, and much more. Via the remote control or the IronConnect Pro app, the operator is meant to easily adjust the glove’s behavior if necessary.

Bioservo AB has integrated the most commonly used hand-related risk assessment methods. In this way us it is easy for ergonomists to automatically assess workstations and work tasks, creating ergonomic risk reports showing risk levels with and without Ironhand support, providing objective data on how Ironhand can reduce the risk for strain injuries.

Through the IronConnect Pro app, managers can get an overview of all Ironhand equipment at a site, assign gloves to operators, access diagnostics, and create ergonomic risk reports.

Ironhand is a powered glove exoskeleton intended to mimic the human body. The technology follows the user’s actions in an intuitive way and augments the grasping force, but only if the user initiates a grasp. The goal is to reduce fatigue, prevent strain injuries, lower the number of sick leave days, and allow for users to retire with healthier bodies. The Ironhand will not give workers “superpowers” nor will it take control over the user’s actions. It is strictly an aid to reduce the wear and tear of repetitive tasks on the human body.

Official video:

The Ironhand® is the successor of the Robotic SEM™(Soft Extra Muscle) glove.

Certifications and/or 3rd party testing results:

CE Marked

Regions and or countries where the exoskeleton can be purchased:

USA, Europe and Asia

Weight of the device:

2,7 Kg

Supplied power or torque:

80-100 N

Limited to users who are (age, weight, height, etc…)

No limitations

As of June 17, 2024, Skelex acquired the rights for Ironhand from Bioservo. “Through this agreement, Skelex takes over the rights to develop and sell Ironhand and expands its portfolio of exoskeletons for the industrial market. Bioservo will fully focus on the life science market and continue to develop and sell Carbonhand.”

Exoskeleton Report articles on Bioservo can be found here.

Skelex, Saturnusstraat 95, 2516 AG, The Hague, website

Bioservo AB, Isafjordsgatan 39B, 164 40 Kista, Sweden, website

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Exoskeleton Report does not endorse one exoskeleton product over another.  The exoskeleton catalog is purely for educational purposes.  The catalog is meant to provide an easily accessible birds-eye view of the exoskeleton industry, and a quick method to sort exoskeletons by type and purpose.  All prices are approximate and are meant to provide a general sense of the cost of the devices.

This exoskeleton catalog entry has been made with the assistance of Stefano Carisi, MS in BioRobotics and Biomechanical Design from the Delft University of Technology an experienced product manager in human-machine collaboration.