Robotics and automation make it possible: for the first time, physically impaired people - supported by the latest robot-driven assistance technology - can compete in a playful competition in six challenging disciplines. The world's first Cybathlon will take place in Zurich in October.
World premiere at ETH Zurich: the world-renowned academic talent factory is organizing the first Cybathlon on 8 October. The aim is to enable people with physical disabilities to lead a more comfortable life through robot-assisted technology and intelligent assistance systems. At the same time, it aims to break down barriers between people with disabilities, the public and technology developers. University laboratories and med-tech companies should think about how technical aids can not only be made more efficient, but also more suitable for everyday use.
The goal is ambitious, because cutting a piece of bread in the morning, pouring a cup of coffee and then sitting down at the kitchen table is part of everyday life for most people. For people with physical disabilities - such as those with amputated limbs - such activities are anything but a matter of course. Many people with disabilities rely on assistance systems to overcome everyday hurdles independently.
The world's first Cybathlon at ETH Zurich aims to specifically promote this. In contrast to events with professional disabled athletes such as the Paralympics, the Cybathlon focuses on non-athletes with disabilities. The various courses and disciplines deliberately focus on tasks that are familiar from everyday life.
Research and development has already set milestones in the field of medical robotics and automation. "The technology is already well advanced in some areas," confirms Robert Riener, Professor at ETH Zurich and initiator of the Cybathlon. "But if we take suitability for everyday use as a starting point, it's clear that research and development still need to make great progress." But Riener is confident. So far, 54 research laboratories from all over the world have registered for the first Cybathlon.
Controlling with thoughts
The 10 to 16 teams consist of one or more pilots and the technology developer (e.g. research laboratory or medical technology company) and will compete against each other in one of the following six disciplines. These include a power prosthesis race: with obstacle course, a dexterity course with arm prostheses, the exoskeleton obstacle course for pilots with paraplegia and motorized exoskeletons.
In the power wheelchair race, a motorized wheelchair is steered over a predetermined course with everyday obstacles such as steps and ramps. In the brain-controlled car race, severely paralyzed pilots use the power of their thoughts to guide an avatar along a computer-animated race course using a brain-computer interface. And pilots with complete paraplegia can complete a bike race using electrically stimulated muscles.
CYBATHLON
08.10.16, SWISS Arena Kloten
TICKETS
