Artificial Muscle-Driven Wearables for Safer, Stronger Workers

Conventional hard-robotic systems, while powerful, frequently constrain or override natural human movement — posing real challenges in sensitive operational settings such as glovebox environments. Soft-robotic systems offer a compelling alternative: one that augments human capability while preserving the intuitive, adaptive qualities of natural motion.

Recent advances in Liquid-based Electro-active Artificial Muscle (LEAM) technology have created new opportunities across material engineering, fluid mechanics, robotic engineering, and biomimetics. A defining advantage of LEAM is its applicability to small- and medium-scale structures of virtually any shape — making it exceptionally well-suited for wearable, body-conforming designs.

This project advances a specialized class of LEAM currently under development in Dr. Kim’s laboratory at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with the goal of translating this technology into functional wearable soft-robot systems that meaningfully improve worker safety and physical capability in demanding environments.