I M A G E C O U R T E S Y O F E T H Z Ü R I C H / N I C O L A P I T A R O

Society | DOI: 10.1145/3057738 Keith Kirkpatrick

Bionics in Competition
Developers of innovative assistive devices
compete as a means of networking with each other.

Meanwhile, the brain-computer interface race provides a competition for teams who have developed methods for using brain waves to control avatars in a computer game, which is analogous to brain waves ultimately being used to control objects in the real world. This type of control ultimately will be useful to those with partial or total paralysis.

The powered-arm prosthesis race pits competitors against one another, making them complete daily tasks such as slicing bread or placing silverware on a table using only their prosthetic arms, as quickly and accurately as possible. These fine-motor coordination tasks are technically challenging for those with limb loss or damage, and many of the solutions highlighted in the competition could be further developed in the future for use in the real world.

Unlike other sporting or robotics competitions, the end goal goes beyond establishing a “winner.” According to Riener, the goals of Cybathlon are to facilitate conversation between academia and industry, to engender discussion between technology developers and people with disabilities, and to promote the use of robotic assistive aids to the general public.

“A platform like Cybathlon allows people to see what is the state of the art and what is upcoming,” says David Olympic-level feat.

That’s where Cybathlon, a new competition designed to promote innovative assistive devices, may accomplish two goals: providing a competitive forum for disabled athletes, and highlighting the specific advances that are being made in robotic assistive aids designed to help those with significant physical disabilities.

Conceived and developed by Switzerland’s ETH Zurich (a science and research university) and National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Robotics professor Robert Riener, the first iteration of Cybathlon took place last October in Zurich. During this international competition, 66 technical teams (comprised of one pilot or operator, along with a number of researchers and scientists) from 25 countries came together to compete in six different disciplines of events.

Each team consisted of at least one technology provider, which was a member of a research lab or a company, and at least one pilot, a person with a specified level of disability that is being managed by using technology developed by the team. The overall competition consisted of six so-called “disciplines,” each consisting of tasks that must be completed in the fastest time possible, and ahead of all other teams.

While each team can compete in any of the disciplines, which include the brain-computer interface race; the functional electrical stimulation bicycle race; the powered-arm prosthesis race; the powered-leg prosthesis race;

the powered-exoskeleton race, and the powered-wheelchair race, only one pilot can participate per team per discipline.

The disciplines are designed to
showcase the technology that can be
used to improve the lives of those liv-
ing with a disability, by creating spe-
cific challenges that mimic the ob-
stacles that are faced by such people
every day. “Compared to the Paralym-
pics, who are searching for the stron-
gest and fastest, we are searching for
those pilots who are most skilled to
use a device for daily life activities,”
Riener explains. “We do not consider
our event as a sport, though the par-
ticipants have to train, and they have
to perform well.”
For example, the powered-wheel-
chair race includes six hurdles, such as
entering a building with thresholds or
narrow doorways, or crossing uneven
pavement, that must be completed in
as little time as possible.

Silke Pan of Team Poly Walk EPFL in the powered exoskeleton race.