Where has the Power Gone? A Five-Year Review of Rigid Powered Exoskeletons

Powered rigid exoskeletons have existed since General Electric's Hardiman model in 1965. While work on them surged in the early 2000s, there has been a reduction in the work done on new models, while investigations of soft and/or passive exoskeletons have exploded through the field. Rigid exoskeletons have the benefits of providing greater support for users and having greater options for mounting equipment. This is a literature review set to capture a snapshot of the last five years of the work into rigid, powered exoskeletons to provide insight into the current work and what future work could explore.