In recent years, with the deepening research on exoskeletons for children with cerebral palsy, increasing evidence has highlighted their unique characteristics. Unlike adult exoskeletons, pediatric exoskeletons cannot be simply realized by scaling down adult designs; instead, special attention must be given to their unique training requirements. Although current studies have incorporated specific design adaptations and summarized the distinct features of these devices, a comprehensive review of control strategies remains lacking. This study adopts a structured narrative review approach, referencing the PRISMA framework to enhance transparency in the literature selection. Relevant publications were identified based on clearly defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, but no formal systematic review or meta-analysis was conducted. The exoskeleton control strategies from the 106 selected articles are classified using a hierarchical framework, dividing them into the supervision layer, action layer, and execution layer, with a further categorization into 12 specific control methods. Findings indicate that the supervision level primarily employs finite state machines and linear phase estimation, while the action level predominantly utilizes position trajectory control, torque trajectory control, and impedance control. At the execution level, closed-loop torque control and position control are commonly adopted. Overall, existing studies still face challenges in personalized adaptation, real-time control, and application scenarios. With advancements in controller hardware and the introduction of novel actuators, emerging technologies such as machine learning, virtual constraints, and sliding mode control may offer promising directions for future pediatric exoskeleton control design.

Chronic lower-extremity wounds in patients undergoing exoskeleton-assisted rehabilitation require materials that can both protect tissue and enable real-time physiological monitoring. Conventional dressings lack dynamic sensing capability, while current conductive hydrogels often compromise either adhesion or electronic performance. Here, we present a biointegrated hydrogel (CPSD) composed of carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) forming the conductive backbone, integrated with dopamine-functionalized sodium alginate (SD); the network is assembled via electrostatic complexation and carbodiimide (EDC/NHS)-mediated covalent crosslinking. The resulting hydrogel exhibits a dense, tissue-conformal porous network with tunable swelling, stable mechanical integrity, and high photothermal conversion efficiency. In vitro assays confirmed potent antioxidant activity, strong antibacterial performance (>90% under near-infrared), and excellent cytocompatibility and hemocompatibility. CPSD shows bulk conductivity ~1.6 S·m⁻¹, compressive modulus ~15 kPa, lap-shear adhesion on porcine skin ~9.5 kPa, and WVTR ~75 g·m⁻²·h⁻¹, supporting stable biointerfaces for motion/sEMG sensing. Integrated into a lower-limb exoskeleton, CPSD hydrogels adhered securely during motion and reliably captured electromyographic and strain signals, enabling movement-intent detection. These results highlight CPSD hydrogel as a multifunctional interface material for next-generation closed-loop rehabilitation systems and mobile health monitoring.

Conventional hip disarticulation prostheses often require amputees to produce limited leg-lifting torque through exaggerated pelvic motion, resulting in complex control and pronounced gait abnormalities. To overcome the limitations, we present a mapping control strategy for a powered hip disarticulation prosthesis aimed at improving gait symmetry. A quaternion-based method was implemented to capture hip joint kinematics, while a gated recurrent unit (GRU) neural network was trained to model the kinematic relationship between the intact and prosthetic limbs, enabling biomimetic trajectory control. Validation experiments showed that trajectory similarity between predicted and actual motions increased with walking speed, reaching 98.12% at 3.0 km/h. Comparative walking tests revealed an 84.00% improvement in hip flexion angle with the powered prosthesis over conventional designs. Notable improvements in gait symmetry were observed: stride symmetry (measured by SI and RII) improved by 23.21% and 19.28%, respectively, while hip trajectory symmetry increased by 68.07% (SI) and 47.59% (RII). These results confirm that the GRU-based kinematic mapping model offers robust trajectory prediction and that the powered prosthesis significantly enhances gait symmetry, delivering more natural and biomimetic motion.

Most pediatric exoskeletons for cerebral palsy (CP) focus on lower-limb assistance and neglect trunk control, limiting rehabilitation outcomes. This study presents a self-aligning trunk–limb exoskeleton that integrates trunk stabilization with active lower-limb support. The design includes a hip–waist rapid adjustment mechanism, a bioinspired gear-rolling knee joint, modular thigh–shank structures, a trunk support module, and a body-weight support device. To enable transparent and coordinated assistance under pathological gait conditions, a continuous gait progress-based multi-joint control framework is developed. Joint motion is described as continuous gait progress over the full gait cycle (0–100%), and joint-specific progress estimates are fused into a unified system-level reference using observability-weighted circular statistics. Inter-joint coordination is achieved through phase-consistency-based temporal modulation implemented, enabling smooth synchronization while preserving joint-level autonomy and motion continuity. Technical evaluation—comprising kinematic misalignment analysis, simulation validation, and gait trials—demonstrated a 66.8% reduction in hip misalignment and an 87.4% reduction in knee misalignment. Gait parameters under exoskeleton-assisted walking closely matched baseline walking, confirming natural kinematic preservation without interference. These results indicate that the proposed trunk–limb exoskeleton improves human–robot synergy, enhances postural stability, and provides a promising solution for pediatric gait rehabilitation in CP.

This paper presents the design and evaluation of a lightweight, minimally actuated lower limb exoskeleton that emphasizes hip–knee coordination for natural and efficient gait assistance. The system adopts a hip-only motorized actuation strategy in combination with an electromagnetically controlled knee locking mechanism, ensuring rigid stability during stance while providing compliant assistance during swing. To support sit-to-stand transitions, a gas spring–ratchet mechanism is integrated, which remains disengaged in the seated position, delivers assistive torque during rising, and provides cushioning during the descent to enhance safety and comfort. The control framework fuses foot pressure and thigh-mounted IMU signals for finite state machine (FSM)-based gait phase detection and employs a fuzzy PID controller to achieve adaptive hip torque regulation with coordinated hip–knee control. Preliminary human-subject experiments demonstrate that the proposed design enhances lower-limb coordination, reduces muscle activation, and improves gait smoothness. By integrating a minimal-actuation architecture, a practical sit-to-stand assist module, and an intelligent control strategy, this exoskeleton strikes an effective balance between mechanical simplicity, functional support, and gait naturalness, offering a promising solution for everyday mobility assistance in elderly or mobility-impaired users.

The flexible upper-limb exoskeleton robot (exosuit) is composed of fabrics, soft actuators and compliant force-transmitting structures, which provides assistance or rehabilitation training for the shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands. By realizing human–robot collaboration, this kind of system has the advantages of comfort, light weight and portability, thus promoting motor function recovery and neural plasticity. This review establishes a classification and comparison framework for flexible upper-limb exoskeletons based on the actuation modalities and systematically summarizes the research progress under different actuation modalities. The relevant literature published from 2015 to 2025 was retrieved from the EI, IEEE Xplore, PubMed and Web of Science databases. After screening according to the preset inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 64 original research papers meeting the criteria were finally included for analysis. According to the actuation modalities, the flexible upper-limb exoskeleton robot is classified, and all kinds of systems are summarized and compared. Motor–cable/tendon actuation and pneumatic/hydraulic actuation have advanced substantially and are approaching technical maturity for flexible upper-limb exoskeletons. Meanwhile, designs based on passive/hybrid mechanisms (e.g., elastic energy storage elements and clutches) and new intelligent material actuations are showing a diversified development trend. In the future, the development is expected to further focus on lightweight and compliance, and by integrating multimodal sensing and feedback control, motion intention recognition and human–robot interaction theories, actuation systems will be developed towards modularization, intelligence and high-power density, in order to achieve more comfortable, lighter and more effective flexible upper-limb exoskeleton systems.