Variable stiffness for shared authority control in robotic walkers

Marco Andreetto, Placido Falqueto, Stefano Divan, Daniele Fontanelli, Luigi Palopoli, Centro Ricerche Fiat, Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science , University of Trento, Polytec Intralogistic, Department of Industrial Engineering , University of Trento

The International Journal of Robotics Research

Published online on March 11, 2026

Abstract

The International Journal of Robotics Research, Ahead of Print.
This paper presents a robotic solution to assist older adults with mild cognitive impairments in navigation. The system is based on a passive robotic walker, calledFriWalk,which features actuated front steering wheels. Its key contribution is a guidance ...