People who are weakened by osteoarthritis or myositis may need help with everyday tasks such as watering plants, filling the kettle or peeling potatoes. The Carbonhand robo-glove is designed to support such activities and is now available to anyone in the United States.
Bioservo’s work on a soft robotic glove for use in rehabilitation, aimed at strengthening human grip, preventing stress in repetitive tasks or supporting daily activities, began in the Mechatronics laboratory at the Royal Swedish Institute of Technology. The company was founded in 2006 to develop its first commercial product, the SEM Glove.
General Motors licensed the RoboGlove technology we created with NASA to Bioservo in 2016. This appears to have led to the launch of the Ironhand system in early 2018 as the world’s first soft robotic muscle augmentation system. It was designed to “combat strain injuries and support factory workers to stay healthy and reduce the impact of their daily tasks.”
Bioservo is also working on a grip-enhancing glove for use by people who need help grasping or holding things to regain their independence at home — those with conditions such as multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, myositis, osteoarthritis and those weakened by stroke or traumatic injuries.

Bioservo
Carbonhand sports pressure sensors in each semi-open glove that send signals back to a control system to activate motors when extra help is needed to grip objects firmly. The motors pull on artificial tendons to create a “natural and dynamic grip,” applying the force needed to grasp (up to 20 newtons per finger).
The index finger and pinky remain exposed, while the thumb, second and third fingers are gloved. A small power pack can be worn at the waist or on the back, arm straps are provided to hold the cables in place, and custom settings can be applied via a companion mobile app.
The company first offered the Carbonhand system to patients in Sweden, Norway and Germany, but recently began offering it exclusively to veterans in the U.S. The first application was prescribed in February to John Lamb of Montana, who has a rare condition called inclusion body myositis, which causes muscle weakness/damage.
Accessibility is now available to all patients and they are asked to complete an online survey – then an expert will contact you to talk things over and start the purchasing process. Pricing has not yet been announced.
Product page: Carbonhand