Kibatlon 2016: I urge Russian engineers to measure strength at the first cyborg competition



    Hello, Khabrovchans!

    Six months ago, an article appeared here dedicated to Kibatlon - the first international championship with the participation of people with advanced needs who use high-tech rehabilitation tools created by various engineering teams. Any company or university team that has the appropriate technology in one of six disciplines can take part in the competition.
    By participating in the Championship, we could demonstrate Russian achievements in the field of high-tech rehabilitation. And so, in late July, we sent an application from the first Russian team.




    Now I would like to tell you how our team came to this decision and what tasks it sets for itself.

    Start


    I first heard about Kibatlon in March this year, and we almost immediately decided that we needed to participate in this competition. First of all, I was attracted by the ideological goal of the championship - to erase the restrictions between science and people with high needs. The kibatlon should become a testing ground for new technologies, which will then be scaled to all those in need. And our goals here completely coincided.
    We decided to take part in four of the six disciplines in which the competitions will be held:
    • Upper limb prostheses
    • Exoskeletal Complexes
    • Wheelchairs
    • Neuro interfaces



    The choice was based on successes in each of the areas of both our team and other Russian companies or research teams. We decided to leave prosthetics of the lower extremities and bicycles with electrical stimulation the next time, as could not find partners with competencies in these areas. And in the fall of 2015, training “races” will be held to test the equipment in real conditions, so when analyzing the areas, we proceeded from the fact that the team should already have more or less working samples by this time.

    Meet the organizers


    Before applying, I decided to learn more about the format of the event, its organizers and the estimated scope.
    The entire organization of the championship is handled by a community of robotics from the Technical University of Zurich under the supervision of Professor Robert Rainer. I talked with Mr. Rainer and other organizers, and we even agreed to meet with my partner during his working trip to Europe on the issues of our project to create a prosthetic arm. However, due to some circumstances, the meeting was rescheduled.
    Now Kibatlon is a rapidly developing private initiative with little government support. However, the organizers, and we fully support them in this, want to bring the championship to the global level, and, subsequently, create some kind of alternative to the Paralympic Games.


    Request


    Currently, the site can submit a preliminary application for participation. It can be of two types: for “pilots” (athletes) and for technical teams / companies that represent their developments. When submitting an application, the company may also indicate its “pilot”, if one already exists. If the team cannot find a “pilot” for the competition, the organizers will “provide” it. However, such teams will have much lower chances to win, as the athlete must train in advance to use the prosthesis, exoskeleton and other technical devices of a specific modification. We have already begun to work on this issue with our Paralympic Committee and, I think, we will manage to put together a good team. It is also worth noting that there is a clear regulation that sets out the criteria for pilots in each discipline. For instance,

    • Pilots with partial amputation of the forearm of one or two hands are allowed. In the event that the amputation of the arm above the elbow joint or is complete, the pilot is allowed to participate, however, with a large number of relevant applications, an additional sub-discipline will be created for prostheses of the full arm.
    • Pilots must be at least 18 years old.

    As you can see, almost everyone can take part. The task of collecting preliminary applications is to show how interesting the international community is to the idea of ​​such a championship. To date, more than 20 applications from companies and university teams have already been submitted. It is easy to submit an application, for this you just need to download a special form from the site, fill it out and send it to the organizers. Then you will be subscribed to updates and will be informed about further actions. Any organization can participate (private, state, public), as well as just an engineering / scientific group. The main condition is that devices of our own design should be used, even if they are experimental.
    In the preliminary application, you must indicate your opinion about the complexity of the developed tracks with obstacles and tasks for each discipline. If most participants note the excessive complexity of the route, then it will be simplified, and vice versa.
    For example, in the competition for prosthetic arms there will be 2 tasks:
    1. Draw a ring along a special “track”.


    2. Demonstrate interaction with objects of various shapes and structures.


    The rules for each assignment, as well as descriptions of other disciplines can be found on the official Cybathlon website.

    Our goals


    Kibatlon has prospects to become one of the largest technological events in the world. Standing at its origins is extremely important for the Russian robotic community. And with our speech, we want to show that the future, in which robotics plays a significant role in human life, is already beginning, and that Russia has everything necessary to create truly advanced technologies.

    In conclusion, I would like to share with you the performance of my good friend and partner, Ilya Chekh, at the St. Petersburg Science Slam , which took place on July 20. The presentation was dedicated to bionics in general, our project “Express prosthetics” in particular, as well as to Kibatlon.



    If you are developing any technical means of rehabilitation or are just fond of robotics and would like to apply your knowledge in the field of medicine, or maybe you are from the medical field, and you just do not have enough modern solutions, then write in comments or in a personal, and we will be happy to join you with our efforts to do something interesting together and create a strong team to participate in the first Kibatlon championship.

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