Wearable Exoskeletons for Hand Assistance: Concept and Design of a Thumb Module with Hybrid Architecture

Robotic devices for rehabilitation and assistance are becoming crucial tools for improving life quality of people with disabilities. Wearability, customizability, and compliance are the main features of such devices. Significantly, the hand is one of the most affected upper-limb parts. This paper will introduce a new hybrid design for wearable hand exoskeletons that merges rigid and soft architectures. An in-depth study of the thumb module will be presented as a base concept to be adapted to the other fingers.