Getting up from the sofa with an exoskeleton or hanging laundry with a robotic arm prosthesis - at the first CYBATHLON in 2016, pilots and teams from all over the world impressively demonstrated how modern assistance systems can support people with disabilities in their everyday lives. In 2020, the CYBATHLON will enter its second round with even more teams and new challenges.
In May 2020, ETH Zurich will open the doors to the SWISS Arena in Kloten for the continuation of the CYBATHLON. Due to the great interest in the premiere, the competition will now take place over two days on the weekend of May 2 and 3, 2020. The first day will include the qualifying races, the second the finals. However, not only the organization but also the content of the competition has been revised.
The tasks in all disciplines remain relevant to everyday life, but have been further developed and therefore also present new challenges for teams that already took part in 2016. Visitors can therefore look forward to virtual races with thought control, bicycle races with muscle stimulation, a prosthetic arm course, a prosthetic leg course, an exoskeleton course and a wheelchair course with even trickier obstacles. In the arm prosthesis course, for example, a task has been added in which the pilots have to slip into a jacket - because even the most sophisticated prosthesis is not suitable for everyday use if it is too large and therefore too difficult to put on or take off a jacket.
One of the new tasks on the course with prosthetic arms will be to feel objects. This should further promote the development of prostheses with sensory feedback. Pilots in the leg prosthesis discipline will now also have to balance objects on a tray for all tasks. This is intended to prevent participants from relying primarily on their healthy leg - as could be observed at times during the CYBATHLON 2016. The aim is to promote prosthetic legs that allow the wearer to walk as symmetrically as possible.
The course with motorized wheelchairs also involves opening and closing a door using a technical aid with an external energy source (e.g. robotic arm). It will be interesting to see how the teams from all over the world will master these new challenges with technological innovation and the skill of the pilots!
The aim of the CYBATHLON is to drive forward the development of technical assistance systems and promote inclusion. The exciting competition and the supporting program make it possible to demonstrate the possibilities and limits of modern assistance technology to a wide audience and to stimulate an important exchange among the population on this topic.