Groundbreaking Innovations in Wearable Robotic Technology

In the study led by our faculty member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özgür Atalay, a groundbreaking soft actuator with the potential to be used in daily life for people experiencing muscle weakness and mobility limitation was developed.

Istanbul Technical University (ITU) researchers introduced an innovative approach that can overcome current technological limitations in the field of textile-based wearable soft robotics. The study led by our Faculty of Textile Technologies and Design faculty member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özgür Atalay and involving researchers from ITU Textile Engineering and Computer Engineering as well as Marmara University Department of Mechatronics Engineering has features that will enable treatments such as mobility assistance and rehabilitation without disrupting daily life and at lower cost.

The research team adopted an innovative approach in line with the features desired in soft wearable robotic technologies such as lightness, silence, easy portability, scalability and low cost. In the study, a robotic textile actuator with sensing, heating and actuation functions was designed and manufactured. For the actuator, digital machine knitting was made, and thermally driven phase transition of a low-boiling liquid was utilized to provide actuation.

The textile-based soft actuator aims to provide comfort for people with its wireless and 3D seamless design. The actuator acts as an end effector (gripper) of an industrial robotic arm, and as a soft robotic glove, performs tasks such as grasping, carrying and relocating objects. The actuator’s tip force did not show a significant change during cycle tests, highlighting its durability for prolonged usage.

This research, supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon Research and Innovation Programme, is important for the development of manufacturing technologies and applications of textile actuators in the field of soft robotics, which has great development potential. Thanks to textile actuators, robotic grippers for automated crop harvesting and exoskeleton gloves that can mimic human fingers can be produced with less cost in the future.

Click to access the study.

Horizon Europe European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant had given a support of 1.5 million Euros to our Textile Technologies and Design Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özgür Atalay’s project titled “TEXWEAROTS”.