Vrije Universiteit Brussel sends ‘cybathlete’ to international competition

At the end of this week, the CYBATHLON will take place in Zurich, an international competition where individuals with disabilities perform challenging tasks in collaboration with cutting edge technology. Cybathlete Michel Jacques is participating with a leg prosthesis developed by the VUB.

A team of engineers and physiotherapists Brubotics will participate from October 25 to 27 in CYBATHLON 2024. CYBATHLON is a unique competition that challenges teams to develop assistive technology for people with disabilities. This competition has been organized since 2016 during Olympic years by the Swiss university ETH Zurich.

The CYBATHLON includes eight disciplines, ranging from a wheelchair race to controlling a computer using brain waves. The VUB team participates in the prosthetic leg race. In this competition, cybathletes have to walk across a thin beam, climb a ladder, and sit at a picnic table, among other tasks. This might sound easy, but for persons with a leg amputation, it is quite a challenge.

"With our participation, we want to draw attention the work to our work on human-centered design and control of robots", explains Louis Flynn, researcher of Brubotics. “The robotic prosthesis that we are taking to the CYBATHLON is a wonderful example of that.”

Michel Jacques, the team’s cybathlete, continues: “My first prosthesis about 25 years ago was made of wood and leather. I keep all my old prostheses at home, and you can see that technology has advanced rapidly in recent years. It is amazing to be involved in this and see what is possible.”

"The robotics prosthesis stems from a European project, CYBERLEGs++" says project coordinator prof. Tom Verstraten of Brubotics. "In that project, we developed the hardware that we are taking to the CYBATHLON today. But good hardware alone in not enough. To provide the right support at the right moment, the prosthesis also needs to understand how the human wants to move. For this, we are using artificial intelligence."

The team's participation in the CYBATHLON 2024 is part of the AIdWear project (AI-driven wearable robotics for healthcare), funded by FPS Policy and Support.

"It is a significant challenge to make this technology operational outside a laboratory setting. The CYBATHLON serves as the ultimate test for this," concludes Louis Flynn. “Whether we will succeed? Of course! We are aiming for victory”.

More information on CYBATHLON: This is CYBATHLON | CYBATHLON ETH Zürich

More information on the VUB CYBATHLON team: