Medicine and the Body
Wearable assistive frames, soft robotics, artificial muscle and skin.
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A plain-language history of powered exoskeletons, from early patents and 1960s prototypes to today's rehabilitation and workplace devices, and why progress was slow.
The long search for materials that contract like living muscle, from 1950s pneumatic tubes and shape memory alloys to polymer fibers and modern soft actuators.
How two separate fields, burn-treatment skin substitutes and sensor skins for robots and prosthetics, each began and why both still have limits today.
How researchers found polymers and fibers that change shape with electricity or heat, from nineteenth-century rubber experiments to dielectric elastomers and coiled nylon.
How researchers moved from rigid powered frames to fabric garments with cables and sensors, and what soft exosuits can and cannot do for walking assistance.
Where robots made of flexible materials came from, including early pneumatic and snake-like designs, the 2010s soft-robot boom and some early uses outside wearables.
From programmable factory arms in the 1960s to research robots that sense their surroundings and household machines, a history of how robots gained independence.
How wearable walking aids grew from spinal cord and stroke rehabilitation into devices aimed at older adults with mobility problems, and what remains unproven.
Defense-funded exoskeleton projects meant to help soldiers carry heavy loads, from Hardiman to DARPA and TALOS, and why few have reached everyday field use.
How powered and passive exoskeletons moved from defense research into factories, logistics and rehabilitation products, and what the commercial market looks like.
How robots built to assist people in hospitals, homes, shops and public places developed after factory arms, from early delivery machines to today's cleaners and companions.
A history of robot-assisted surgery from the 1985 PUMA biopsy to ROBODOC and the da Vinci, with an honest look at which claims of a first are debated.
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