ACTIVE EXOSKELETONS, BEGINNING, PRESENT STATE AND THE FUTURE
We are witnessing an unimaginably intensive development in the field of humanoid robotics. The field of active exoskeletons experiences also its renaissance and attracts an increasing attention of researchers worldwide. The objective of this article was to indicate the beginnings and review the history of the development of active exoskeletons, their original purpose and role in the systems for rehabilitation of severely handicapped persons. The present-day development of active exoskeletons has to a large extent determined their future and applications in both the military and some specific activities that come out of the frame of rehabilitation systems and go deeply into special systems for enhancing power and expanding physical and working capabilities of the man. However, the beginnings of robotics, and especially of humanoid robotics, did not foreshadow such a progress. We take a look back on the beginnings of the development of humanoid robots, especially bipedal locomotion systems and active exoskeletons, whose development marked the beginning of the research in the domain of humanoid robotics. Once more we point out some of our pioneering results in the domain of active exoskeletons that were originally dedicated to supporting locomotion of handicapped persons. We indicated the relationships between the initial research in the field of active rehabilitation techniques and contemporary humanoid systems and tried to predict the future directions of the development of humanoid robotics and active exoskeletal systems and their applications.