Bioinspired multisegment knee exoskeletons with variable stiffness and kinematic compatibility

Ming Xu, Zhihao Zhou, Wenjie Lou, Xiaolin Dai, Run Wang, Sunil K. Agrawal, Qining Wang, School of Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics, and Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Peking University, The Robotics and Rehabilitation , Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, New York

The International Journal of Robotics Research

Published online on May 19, 2026

Abstract

The International Journal of Robotics Research, Ahead of Print.
The knee joint plays a critical role in locomotion but is susceptible to overuse injuries, motivating the development of assistive exoskeletons. Current designs face a fundamental trade-off between achieving kinematic compatibility with the knee’s complex ...