KAIST wins gold at Cybathlon, the Olympics for assistive tech

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KAIST wins gold at Cybathlon, the Olympics for assistive tech

Published: 28 Oct. 2024, 18:00 Updated: 28 Oct. 2024, 18:12

LEE JAE-LIM
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

KAIST athlete and researcher Kim Seung-hwan competes in the 3rd Cybathlon's Exoskeleton Race in Switzerland on Sunday. [KAIST]

A KAIST-developed robotic exoskeleton to help people with paraplegia walk won first place in the 3rd Cybathlon, outperforming competitors from around the world.

A joint research team led by Kong Kyung-chul, a mechanical engineering professor at KAIST, alongside the university's EXO-LAB, Move Lab and startup Angel Robotics, took the top spot in the event's Exoskeleton Race category with its Walk On Suit F1, reprising its 2020 victory.

The Cybathlon, a project of ETH Zurich, is an international competition, modeled after the Olympics, for athletes with certain disabilities who use prosthetics or other mobility aids. Competitors are encouraged to use the most state-of-the-art technology available, with prizes awarded to both the winning athletes and the creators of the assistive tools they use.

The Exoskeleton Race requires competitors to complete a variety of technically complex tasks — such as sitting and standing in a train compartment, ascending and descending stairs without a handrail, carrying a box to a targeted location, navigating a crowded room without colliding with roaming robots and handling food in a kitchen — while wearing the device. Walk On Suit F and athlete Kim Seung-hwan achieved 60 points, the top score of the competition.

Switzerland's Varileg enhanced, of Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, and athlete Thomas Krieg scored 20 points to place second, as did Thailand's ChiangMaiU EXO 2 of Chiang Mai University and athlete Wiraphon Krueaphan, who came in third. Both runners-up did were only able to complete two of the missions in the 10-minute allotment.

The robot includes 12 joint motors, twice as many as its predecessor that won the gold in 2020, and draws double its power. A six-channel ground reaction sensor at the robot’s feet measure balance a thousand times per second to keep the user steady. The suit also includes a camera to detect obstacles and an AI-powered board to perform neural network functions. A self-docking function enables the device to “walk” up to a user and attach itself without outside assistance.

The Walk On Suit F1 was entirely produced in Korea, with core technologies developed in-house.

Since the 2020 competition, Prof. Kong’s team has commercialized robotic exoskeletons through Angel Robotics and begun distributing the “Angel Legs M20,” the first robotic exoskeleton covered by insurance in Korea.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [[email protected]]