CYBATHLON Challenges 2023

Forces that act on the prosthesis during the manipulation of heavy objects can cause a displacement of the prosthetic socket relative to the arm stump. In consequence, the control signals recorded by traditional surface electromyogram (EMG) can become unreliable leading to the unsatisfactory function of the prosthesis.

In this task, a series of bottles of different weights must be placed in a bottle crate and the crate must then be carried to a table. At the table, the bottles must be removed from the crate and placed on the table.

A vast variety of objects of different shapes, sizes, compliance, texture, and weights must be grasped and manipulated in everyday life. The ability to cope with this diversity of requirements is challenged in this task.

In this task, pilots are asked to grasp and move blue objects individually with their prosthetic hand from their random, initial position on a table surface to a target position on a neighbouring table.

Walking on surfaces that require irregular step lengths and heights is challenging since the position of the foot must be continuously controlled.

In this task, pilots must negotiate a random sequence of wooden boxes that vary in height and length.

For exoskeletons to be practical for everyday use, they must allow their user to perform auxiliary tasks that go beyond the basic walking functions. Such auxiliary tasks are then usually performed with the upper extremities and can involve the manipulation of objects at various levels above the ground.

In this task, pilots must conduct several upper extremity tasks while standing in a kitchen environment in their exoskeleton.

Eating and drinking are situations in which an assistance robot can be of great help to a user. However, such situations pose a particular challenge to the control of the assistance robot. On the one hand, because the involved objects have heterogenic properties (e.g., shape, compliance, texture), on the other hand, due to the required inter-action between the device and the pilot during which safety must be guaranteed at any time.

In this task, pilots must use their assistance robot to eat an apple.

Stowing away objects is a task in which assistance robots can be of significant help to their user. However, the vast variety of objects, their orientation and target locations make this type of task a challenge.

In this task, pilots must clean up a table from several objects and stow them in predefined locations.