Abstract
Current exoskeleton robots limit the movement comfort and flexibility of the wearer, and have safety problem, due to strong rigidity actuator and small material impact resistance. In contrast, the flexible exoskeleton robots are characterized by high flexibility, high environmental adaptability, high compatibility and multi-functionality, and they have now become a trend of exoskeleton development. The development and research status of flexible exoskeleton robots are summarized. Furthermore, by their actuating mechanisms, flexible exoskeleton robots are summarized as motor, rope and pneumatic. The difficulties of the current flexible exoskeleton and the main research challenges are summarized, and the prospect of future research is put forward.