The third installment of the CYBATHLON celebrated inspiring cutting-edge technology designed to break the boundaries of physical disabilities. The 2024 edition brought together 67 international teams from academia and industry, competing across eight different disciplines, including two newly introduced ones: Assistance Robot and Vision Assistance Races. The event focused on testing assistive technology in realistic environments to highlight how these technologies can help people with disabilities overcome everyday challenges.
First featured in 2016, the third Exoskeleton Race took place from October 25 to 27 of this year in Zurich, Switzerland, at the SWISS Arena in Kloten, as well as in various local hubs worldwide. Competitors faced a series of real-world obstacles, such as stepping over thresholds, navigating slopes, and climbing stairs—challenges designed to reflect the daily hurdles faced by individuals with mobility impairments. Notably, this year, the challenges were significantly more complex than before. The sit-to-stand task, for example, is challenging enough for people who can’t walk, but this year also featured a side-step component. The benches used in the competition have an armrest on both sides, so it was impossible to sit down first and then rotate into the seat. Furthermore, commercially available devices were also not used for this edition, and the wide variety of challenges proved too much for all the teams.  None of the teams attempted to do all of the course challenges on the same run. All the teams should be commended for designing, building, testing, and competing!!
About the Exoskeletons:
- KAIST ME – WalkONSuit F1 is a powered exoskeleton for people with complete paraplegia that goes in front of the user (it has been a few years since we have seen an exo like this). This intent is for the user to be able to remain seated when donning the exo. It is a self-balancing powered unit with 12 degrees of freedom.
- VariLeg enhanced—Enhanced Hybrid is a concept for a powered exoskeleton that can transform between a powered wheelchair and a walking assist robot.  This hybrid combines the advantages of both assistance devices with the goal of enabling greater mobility and independence for paraplegics in everyday life. The exoskeleton also uses a unique balancing system by extending temporary support down to the floor with each step (keep scrolling for videos from the competition).
- ChiangMaiU EXO 2 – Used a prototype powered exoskeleton (like all other teams) with 10 degrees of freedom, allowing it to move forward and execute side steps.
- RISE – RISE Exo One is a combination of powered (6 actuators) and passive (4 leaf springs) exoskeleton. It is capable of delivering up to 300Nm of torque for stair climbing and uses a powerful 48V power supply with 100A. Unfortunately, with just two years to prepare, not all functions were fully operational by the time of the competition.
- Project MARCH – MARCH IX prototype – Â a 40% lighter frame and custom motor controllers. This is a powered hip-knee exoskeleton with a redesigned passive ankle joint, which contributed directly to the weight reduction of the wearable robot.
About the Teams:
KAIST ME – Exoskeleton Laboratory – 1st Place in 2024
Exoskeleton Laboratory (Exo Lab) is a part of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, KAIST, Korea.  The goal of Exo Lab’s research is the development of mechatronic and robotic systems that improve the quality of human lives. Based on fundamentals in Controls and Dynamic Systems, the major applications of Exo Lab include the design and control of legged locomotive robot systems that assist human mobility. Recent achievements include wearable robots for assistance of people with physically demanding work or people with complete paraplegia and rehabilitation of paretic patients. Link: https://robotics.kaist.ac.kr/ and YouTube channel: Exoskeleton Lab @ KAIST
“We are an engineering team consisting of four Ph.D. candidates and four Master’s course students from EXO Lab, Mechanical Engineering, KAIST (advisor: Professor Kyoungchul Kong). We have developed a completely novel exoskeleton that can walk without crutches, enables self-donning by the pilot, and detects obstacles using a vision algorithm. Every part of the exoskeleton, including hardware (actuators, mechanical frames, motor drivers, power circuits) and software (from low-level current controllers to high-level human oriented trajectory generation algorithms), has been fully developed by these competent and passionate members.” – CYBATHLON 2024
VariLeg enhanced – 2nd Place in 2024
VariLeg is part of the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences
“VariLeg enhanced is more than a walking device for paraplegics. “Our goal is to build high-performance robots to enhance the life of people with disabilities.”, says Silvia Rohner, the project leader. With the Enhanced Hybrid, the team VariLeg Enhanced is entering completely new territory. They have the great vision to develop a combination of wheelchair and exoskeleton. A hybrid that combines the advantages of both assistance devices. The Enhanced Hybrid is a kind of “Transformer”: a wheelchair that converts into an exoskeleton at the push of a button. This enables greater mobility and independence for paraplegics in everyday life.” – CYBATHLON 2024
ChiangMaiU EXO 2 – 3rd Place in 2024
Members are engineers from a research unit called InnoFab at the Faculty of Engineering, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand, in collaboration with experts from the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Associated Medical Science, at Chiang Mai University.
RISE – 4th in the Qualifiers in 2024
“RISE (Research and Innovation in Student Exoskeleton Development) is a collaboration between the Medical Engineering Department at TU Berlin and the student initiative ‘Sozial Engagierte Ingenieur*innen’ (SEI). The goal is to develop a robotic exoskeleton to help individuals with paraplegia stand and walk. Over 100 students from diverse disciplines have worked closely with pilots to design, build, and optimise this high-tech assistive device. Since our start two years ago, the project has moved to organise into distinct yet collaborative work groups, such as concept, development, manufacturing, and training, culminating in a competitive exoskeleton for the CYBATHLON 2024.” – link
Project MARCHÂ
“Project MARCH is a non-profit student team consisting exclusively of students without the guidance of a professor – not only in the preparation and participation in the CYBATHLON, but also in the development of their exoskeleton. The team members of Project MARCH interrupt their regular studies for one year, during which they raise the walking device to the next level. The name says it all: the goal is to enable someone with paraplegia to stand up and walk again. The current team of Project MARCH consists of 28 students from different fields, ranging from biomedicine to computer science. The team works closely with their pilot Daan van der Heyden and a physiotherapist.” Entry Post – link, Team website: https://www.projectmarch.nl/
The CYBATHLON 2024 demonstrated the incredible synergy between human resilience and technological innovation. It showcased how the next generation of students and researchers approach assistive devices. With unusual concepts like forward-facing donning of exoskeletons and transforming between wheelchair and walking modes, the next generation is making strides toward improving everyday mobility and independence for people with disabilities. If you enjoyed this in-depth reporting and want to help us continue covering the latest in exoskeletons and assistive technology, consider supporting us on Patreon. Your support allows us to bring you more stories about cutting-edge advancements and the inspiring people behind them.
Featured image (above): Team RISE of Germany competes in the EXO – Exoskeleton Race during the Cybathlon 2024 in Kloten, Switzerland, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Photo by ETH Zurich / Cybathlon / Nicola Pitaro)
VIMEO videos of the CYBATHLON competition are copywriters of ETH ZURICH and CYBATHLON.
Previous CYBATHLON Exoskeleton Race Coverage:
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