Flexpal (Flexible Pneumatic Actuated Linkage): The Future of Assistive Robotics to Improve Quality of Life

Over 1.3 billion people, about 16 % of the global population, suffer significant mobility impairments as of 2024. People with mobility impairments usually struggle with performing activities of daily living (ADLs), reducing their living quality. Assistive robots are a solution to support ADLs. However, the rigid structure of current assistive robots may cause secondary injuries due to safety, comfort, and suitability challenges for delicate health conditions. To overcome these challenges, this research introduces a novel soft wheelchairmounted assistive robot named FlexPAL (Flexible Pneumatic Actuated Linkage) to provide safer, more comfortable and userfriendly daily assistance for people with mobility impairments. FlexPAL's lightweight ($\mathbf{3.88kg}$) modular design allows size adjustments for diverse user needs. Its soft design ensures users' safety through controlled and gentle assistance. Its adaptable structure integrates seamlessly into daily scenarios within its $400 \times 400 \times 400 \text{mm}$ workspace, delivering precise assistance (mean error $=15.95 \text{mm}$) for payloads up to 1 kg, suitable for most ADLs. The usability was evaluated based on the user case study with one healthy participant. The results of this research illustrate the high potential of soft wheelchair-mounted assistive robotics (FlexPAL) to address the limitations of rigid systems by offering higher adaptability, safety (i.e. assistance and humanrobot interaction) and user comfort, making it more effective for assistance.