Abboodi, Mohammed2025-04-082025-04-082025-04-08http://hdl.handle.net/10393/50331https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-31013As societies confront the challenges of aging populations and the growing prevalence of neurological and musculoskeletal disorders, the demand for mobility-assistive technologies that restore limb control or enhance physical abilities has become increasingly urgent. Many existing assistive devices rely on incompatible technological solutions, rendering them impractical and uncomfortable for users. This research seeks to address these limitations by advancing the development of soft and wearable actuators, which offer significant potential for creating functional and user-friendly mobility-assistive devices. Traditional soft actuators are valued for their adaptability and compliance but face significant constraints in generating and transferring forces to the user. These limitations often necessitate complex interface mechanisms, which detract from both device effectiveness and user comfort. To overcome these challenges, this study introduces an innovative soft sleeve actuator design and presents three novel actuator models capable of performing linear, bending, and twisting motions while generating the required mechanical forces and moments. Additionally, the study unveils the Omnidirectional actuator, a breakthrough design that combines the motions of the original models. The newly developed actuators feature an intricate design that requires a custom fused deposition manufacturing process. This tailored approach ensures precise production while effectively addressing the challenge of air leakage, a problem to resolve with traditional manufacturing methods. Moreover, customized testing setups are developed to assess the actuators' performance and explore how variations in geometric parameters and material properties affect the actuator’s ability to generate kinematic and kinetic outputs. In summary, this research introduces a significant innovation to soft actuation, enabling the development of wearable devices capable of executing complex motions without relying on complex interface mechanisms. By achieving superior kinematic and kinetic performance, these advancements contribute significantly to the evolution of assistive mobility technologies, paving the way for more effective and user-centric solutionsenAttribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Soft actuatorssoft sleeve actuatorssoft exoskeletonsoft roboticwearable mobility assistive devicesThesis