Self-balancing wheelchairs can help people move in tight spaces, but they must stay upright when starting from a large tilt, carrying different users, or facing sudden pushes. We developed and tested a two-stage control approach that first brings the chair back safely from larger tilts and then keeps it steady near upright. Simulations and prototype tests showed faster recovery, better stability under disturbances, and stronger tolerance to user-weight changes, supporting safer designs.

This paper proposes a novel dual-tunnel soft pneumatic origami actuator to provide a large maximum shrinkage rate for reciprocating motion. A programmed design method is proposed based on the geometric parameter model and stiffness model of the actuator. In comparison to other actuators, this actuator weighs only 5 g, and the force-to-weight ratio is 600. The maximum shrinkage rate of the actuator is 61 %, increasing the potential for lightweight and compact devices.

This paper presents a novel soft bionic elbow exoskeleton based on shape metal alloy (SMA) actuators (Sobee-SMA). The exoskeleton adopts a bionic design, combining active deformation material SMA and high elastic material rubber band to simulate the contraction and relaxation of the elbow skeletal muscle. According to the static analysis of the human–exoskeleton coupling model and experiments, the exoskeleton provides elbow-assisted motion and ensures the safety of the thermal heating process.

This paper proposes a novel EMG-based motion compensation controller in active training control to improve patients’ active participation. After proposing an upper limb rehabilitation robot and doing the path plan, the EMG compensation experiments and the active training control experiment are done to prove that the method can control the robot in providing auxiliary force according to patients’ motion intents. The robot can guide the patients in implementing reference tasks in active training.

This paper proposes a bionic, multi-posture wheelchair, based on the proposed human–wheelchair coupling model, according to the movement characteristics and requirements. The two key factors in designing the multi-posture wheelchair, the consistency of the motion center and the compensation of the shifting center of gravity, are analyzed in this paper. The novel multi-posture wheelchair can implement the sit-to-lie and sit-to-stand transformations with a maximum slipping distance of 10.5 mm.