Advances in Sustainable and Wearable Textile Based Soft Robotics

ABSTRACT

The convergence of soft robotics, sustainable materials, and functional textiles is redefining the design of wearable robotic systems that are mechanically compliant, lightweight, and intimately conformable to the human body. In contrast to rigid robotic architectures, textile‐based soft robots offer intrinsic flexibility, breathability, and structural adaptability, enabling safe and continuous human–machine interaction. Recent advances have transformed textiles from passive substrates into programmable material systems, where sensing, actuation, and mechanical intelligence are embedded directly within fiber, yarn, and fabric architectures. This review critically examines progress in wearable textile‐based soft robotics, with particular emphasis on sustainable material strategies, textile‐integrated sensing, and scalable actuation. Textile sensors engineered through weaving, knitting, braiding, and yarn‐level functionalization for detecting strain, pressure, and motion are discussed. It further analyzes textile‐based actuators derived from biopolymers, biodegradable elastomers, and eco‐friendly composites, highlighting their potential for energy‐efficient and scalable actuation. Manufacturing approaches and system‐level integration are considered across applications including healthcare wearables, assistive robotics, soft prosthetics, and human‐machine interfaces. Finally, key challenges in achieving circular material systems are outlined, emphasizing the need for standardized sustainability metrics, life‐cycle‐informed design, and scalable manufacturing to realise intelligent, environmentally responsible textile‐based soft robotic technologies.