Assistive Robotics

Ask about this topic

Overview

Assistive robotics studies how robots and wearable devices can help people with disabilities, older adults, and patients perform tasks and participate more independently. Approaches include prostheses and exoskeletons controlled by biosignals or learned policies, shared-autonomy systems for manipulation and navigation, and social robots for therapy and care. Systems are tested in simulations, laboratory tasks, clinical or home settings, and user studies that measure safety, task success, physical effort, workload, and user experience. A central challenge is balancing useful autonomy with user agency and safety while making assistance both personalized and reliable across people, tasks, and real-world environments.

Latest papers

CardsList

208 papers27 papers in the last four weeks, down 16% on the four weeks before. 0.2% of all new papers.

  1. Musculoskeletal Motion Imitation for Learning Personalized Exoskeleton Control Policy in Impaired Gait

    Apr 10, 2026Itak Choi, Ilseung Park, Eni Halilaj +1Hip Exoskeleton ControlAssistive Robotics

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213 USA.

  2. Simulation of Adaptive Running with Flexible Sports Prosthesis using Reinforcement Learning of Hybrid-link System

    Apr 10, 2026Yuta Shimane, Ko YamamotoAssistive RoboticsRobotics Simulation

    Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan · Institute of Systems and Information Engineering, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8573, Japan

  3. Hazard Management in Robot-Assisted Mammography Support

    Apr 7, 2026Ioannis Stefanakos, Roisin Bradley, Radu Calinescu +3Robot SafetyAssistive Robotics

    Department of Computer Science, University of York, York, United Kingdom · York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundations Trust, York, United Kingdom · York Law School, University of York, York, United Kingdom +1

  4. AnyUser: Translating Sketched User Intent into Domestic Robots

    Apr 6, 2026Songyuan Yang, Huibin Tan, Kailun Yang +2Human-Robot InteractionAssistive Robotics

    the College of Computer Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, Hunan 410073, China · the School of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and the National Engineering Research Center of Robot Visual Perception and Control Technology, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China

  5. A Novel Hybrid PID-LQR Controller for Sit-To-Stand Assistance Using a CAD-Integrated Simscape Multibody Lower Limb Exoskeleton

    Apr 4, 2026Ranjeet Kumbhar, Rajmeet Singh, Appaso M Gadade +2Assistive RoboticsLinear Quadratic Regulator

    Department of Mechanical Engineering Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology Patiala, India · Khalifa University Center for Autonomous Robotic Systems (KUCARS) Khalifa University Abu Dhabi, UAE

  6. Low-Burden LLM-Based Preference Learning: Personalizing Assistive Robots from Natural Language Feedback for Users with Paralysis

    Apr 1, 2026Keshav Shankar, Dan Ding, Wei GaoAssistive RoboticsRobot Learning

    Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. · Rehabilitation Science and Technology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

  7. An Ergonomic, Customizable Soft Robotic Glove toward Personalized Hand Rehabilitation

    Apr 1, 2026Rui Chen, Firman Isma Serdana, Domenico Chiaradia +11Robotic Hand DesignAssistive Robotics

    Institute of Mechanical Intelligence and Department of Excellence in Robotics and AI, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (SSSA), 56127, Pisa, Italy · The Biorobotics Inst. and Dept. of Excellence in Robotics and AI, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy · CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, Institute of Humanoid Robots, School of Engineering Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China +3

  8. StretchBot: A Neuro-Symbolic Framework for Adaptive Guidance with Assistive Robots

    Apr 1, 2026Luca Vogelgesang, Ahmed Mehdi Soltani, Mohammadhossein Khojasteh +4Assistive RoboticsHuman-Robot Interaction

    Faculty of Science, Department of Computer Science and Robotics, University of Montpellier, 30 Pl. Eug`ene Bataillon, Montpellier, 34095, France. · Faculty of Science, Department of Computer Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, Netherlands.

  9. An Edge-Host-Cloud Architecture for Robot-Agnostic, Caregiver-in-the-Loop Personalized Cognitive Exercise: Multi-Site Deployment in Dementia Care

    Apr 1, 2026Wenzheng Zhao, Ruth Palan Lopez, Shu Fen Wung +1Dementia CareAssistive Robotics

    Worcester Polytechnic Institute

  10. Reconfiguration of supernumerary robotic limbs for human augmentation

    Mar 31, 2026Mustafa Mete, Anastasia Bolotnikova, Alexander Schuessler +1RoboticsAssistive Robotics

    Reconfigurable Robotics Lab, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland. · Laboratory for Analysis and Architecture of Systems (LAAS), CNRS, Toulouse, France.

  11. Control Without Control: Defining Implicit Interaction Paradigms for Autonomous Assistive Robots

    Mar 30, 2026Janavi Gupta, Kavya Puthuveetil, Dimitra Tsakona +3Human-Robot InteractionRobotic Control

    Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA · Imperial College London, London, UK

  12. User Involvement in Robotic Wheelchair Development: A Decade of Limited Progress

    Mar 27, 2026Mario Andres Chavarria, Santiago Price Torrendell, Aude Billard +7Participatory DesignAssistive Robotics

    Geneva School of Health Science, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, Geneva, Switzerland · Institute Of Systems and Information Engineering, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan · Learning Algorithms and Systems Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland +7

  13. Event-Driven Proactive Assistive Manipulation with Grounded Vision-Language Planning

    Mar 25, 2026Fengkai Liu, Hao Su, Haozhuang Chi +6Assistive RoboticsHuman-Robot Collaboration

    The University of Osaka · Nanyang Technological University · The University of Tokyo

  14. Versatile Exoskeleton Control Supports Elderly Joint Energetics During Hip-Intensive Tasks

    Mar 23, 2026Jiefu Zhang, Nikhil V. Divekar, Chandramouli Krishnan +1Hip Exoskeleton ControlAssistive Robotics

    Robotics Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

  15. Characterizing the onset and offset of motor imagery during passive arm movements induced by an upper-body exoskeleton

    Mar 21, 2026Kanishka Mitra, Frigyes Samuel Racz, Satyam Kumar +2Brain-Computer InterfacesMI Classification

    Chandra Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA. · Department of Neurology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA. · Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.

  16. Not an Obstacle for Dog, but a Hazard for Human: A Co-Ego Navigation System for Guide Dog Robots

    Mar 20, 2026Ruiping Liu, Jingqi Zhang, Junwei Zheng +8Safe Robot NavigationAssistive Robotics

    The authors are with Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany. · The author is with ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland. · The author is with INSAIT, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria. +1

  17. "You've got a friend in me": Co-Designing a Peer Social Robot for Young Newcomers' Language and Cultural Learning

    Mar 19, 2026Neil Fernandes, Cheng Tang, Tehniyat Shahbaz +4Participatory DesignHuman-Robot Interaction

    University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada · United for Literacy, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

  18. Final Report for the Workshop on Robotics & AI in Medicine

    Mar 18, 2026Juan P WachsRoboticsAssistive Robotics

  19. Real-Time Decoding of Movement Onset and Offset for Brain-Controlled Rehabilitation Exoskeleton

    Mar 17, 2026Kanishka Mitra, Satyam Kumar, Frigyes Samuel Racz +3Brain-Computer InterfacesAssistive Robotics

    Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. · Chandra Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA. · Department of Neurology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA. +3

  20. Beyond Cybathlon: On-demand Quadrupedal Assistance for People with Limited Mobility

    Mar 17, 2026Carmen Scheidemann, Andrei Cramariuc, Changan Chen +2Assistive RoboticsHealthcare Robotics

    ETH Zurich, Robotic Systems Lab, Zurich, Switzerland.

  21. User-Tailored Learning to Forecast Walking Modes for Exosuits

    Mar 16, 2026Gabriele Abbate, Enrica Tricomi, Nathalie Gierden +3Assistive RoboticsWearable Sensing

    Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence (IDSIA), USI-SUPSI, Lugano, Switzerland · Munich Institute for Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MIRMI), Department of Computer Engineering, School of Computation, Information and Technology, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany.

  22. Navigation beyond Wayfinding: Robots Collaborating with Visually Impaired Users for Environmental Interactions

    Mar 15, 2026Shaojun Cai, Nuwan Janaka, Ashwin Ram +4Visually Impaired Navigation AssistanceAssistive Robotics

    National University of Singapore Singapore Singapore · City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong China · Saarland University Saarbrücken Germany +3

  23. Towards Equitable Robotic Furnishing Agents for Aging-in-Place: ADL-Grounded Design Exploration

    Mar 15, 2026Hansoo Lee, Changhee Seo, Subin Park +1Assistive RoboticsHuman-Robot Interaction

    Imperial College London, United Kingdom · KIST, Republic of Korea

  24. See, Learn, Assist: Safe and Self-Paced Robotic Rehabilitation via Video-Based Learning from Demonstration

    Mar 15, 2026Ali Alabbas, Camillo Murgia, Joanne Regan +1Assistive RoboticsRobotic Control

    Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Atlantic Technological University, Galway, Ireland. · Department of Health and Nutritional Science, Atlantic Technological University, Sligo, Ireland.

  25. SAATT Nav: a Socially Aware Autonomous Transparent Transportation Navigation Framework for Wheelchairs

    Mar 14, 2026Yutong Zhang, Shaiv Y. Mehra, Bradley S. Duerstock +1Robot NavigationSocial Robot Navigation

    Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA · Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA

  26. Fabric Pneumatic Artificial Muscle-Based Head-Neck Exosuit: Design, Modeling, and Evaluation

    Mar 13, 2026Katalin Schäffer, Ian Bales, Haohan Zhang +1Soft Pneumatic ActuatorsAssistive Robotics

    Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA. · Faculty of Information Technology and Bionics, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, 1083 Budapest, Hungary. · Department of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 USA.

  27. From Woofs to Words: Towards Intelligent Robotic Guide Dogs with Verbal Communication

    Mar 13, 2026Yohei Hayamizu, David DeFazio, Hrudayangam Mehta +7Human-Robot InteractionAssistive Robotics

    The State University of New York at Binghamton 4400 Vestal Pkwy E, Binghamton, NY 13902 USA

  28. Learning to Assist: Physics-Grounded Human-Human Control via Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

    Mar 11, 2026Yuto Shibata, Kashu Yamazaki, Lalit Jayanti +3Humanoid Robot ControlAssistive Robotics

    Carnegie Mellon University · Keio AI Research Center · Keio University

  29. A gripper for flap separation and opening of sealed bags

    Mar 11, 2026Sergi Foix, Jaume Oriol, Carme Torras +1Robotic Gripper DesignRobotic Grasping

    Institut de Robòtica i Informàtica Industrial, CSIC-UPC, Llorens i Artigas 4-6, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

  30. Characterizing Healthy & Post-Stroke Neuromotor Behavior During 6D Upper-Limb Isometric Gaming: Implications for Design of End-Effector Rehabilitation Robot Interfaces

    Mar 10, 2026Ajay Anand, Gabriel Parra, Chad A. Berghoff +1Surface ElectromyographyAssistive Robotics

    The authors are with the Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and Mathematics, the Kahlert School of Computing, and the Robotics Center at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.