Fig. 1

Design and actuation of the soft exosuit for the elbow. a-b The exosuit comprises three straps that wrap around the shoulder, arm and forearm, highlighted in blue, orange and green, respectively. The last two act as anchor points: the Bowden cables’ outer sheath is attached to the arm strap and the inner tendons to the forearm strap. A load cell and an encoder sense the interaction force and the elbow position. c The actuation stage comprises a brushless motor, equipped with a gearhead and encoder, that drives a spool around which the suit’s tendons are wrapped. d Stiffness of the exosuit. The Bowden cables and the fabric introduce compliance in the transmission, this series-elasticity can be exploited to achieve a safe and robust interaction-force control.Photography by ⒸStefano Mazzoni