As the core equipment of cushioning and shock absorption technology, the shock absorber can reduce hard collisions, thus reducing equipment wear and maintenance costs and extending the working life limit. With the development of science and technology, the traditional passive shock absorber cannot fundamentally adjust the capacity and travel, which can not protect the buffer of ultra-high load. Moreover, passive shock absorbers cannot actively adapt to the impact of uncertainty buffer, which is not only detrimental to the safety protection of equipment but also poses uncertain safety risks to users. In this context, this work first analyzed the characterization parameters of active and adaptive shock absorbers, including rated buffer capacity parameters, durability parameters, buffer stroke parameters, buffer efficiency, and attenuation coefficient. Then, the active and adaptive shock absorber buffer energy and its buffer force were analyzed, and finally, the key techniques of active and adaptive shock absorber control were presented. The research results can help to improve the buffer capacity of traditional shock absorbers and realize the design of low-cost and high-reliability alternatives.