Disciplines

First Version Races & Rules CYBATHLON 2021 – 2024

Please note that the following information is a summary of the first version of the Races & Rules CYBATHLON 2021 - 2024. The list of rules is not exhaustive. Please read the first version of the Races & Rules CYBATHLON 2021 – 2024 carefully before registering a CYBATHLON Team.

More Uncertainty and Variability

While the competition tasks for CYBATHLON 2016 and 2020 were specified to a very high degree, tasks for CYBATHLON 2024 will include more uncertainty and variability in most disciplines. This will require improved control, faster/advanced dynamics, increased functional flexibility of the devices and more ad-hoc selection of the task solving strategy by the pilots as compared to previous competitions. The aim of adding variability to the competition tasks is to better account for daily life situations, where the exact circumstances of a given task are not always known and/or constant over time and across different locations. Despite adding more variability into the tasks set-ups, it will be made sure that the competitions remain as fair as possible for all teams, and that all pilots encounter conditions that allow to compare their performances.

Races & Rules

The present version of the Races & Rules is a first description of the eligibility criteria for pilots and assistive devices for participation in the CYBATHLON competitions in the period of 2021 to 2024. Furthermore, it gives a first thematic orientation of the competition tasks of each discipline. The exact task definitions and associated rules are under development and will be published in early 2022. Additional rules regulating the organisation, format, and scoring of the competition will be included in this document at a later stage as well.

CYBATHLON Team

A team must consist of a technology provider and a pilot. Further team officials are allowed. Each team must be managed by a team manager. A team can only participate in one discipline. Only one pilot can participate per team per discipline. In order to compete in several disciplines, the same institution can register more than one team.

Pilot Eligibility Criteria

Pilots must must be at least 18 years, have sufficient cognitive and communicative abilities to understand the Races & Rules, meet the discipline-specific pilot eligibility criteria, and pass all steps of the MedCheck. If an assistive device is implanted in the pilot’s body the implants must be medically stable for at least six months and free of complications prior to and at the time of the competition. If the implanted assistive device or parts thereof are research prototypes, the team must have an approval of the responsible regulatory body governing the institution of the participating team.

Technology Eligibility Criteria

It is allowed to use a commercial device, a modified version of a commercial device, prototypes or research devices. Assistive devices or components thereof that are implanted in the pilot’s body (e.g. electrodes, sensors, osseointegration) are eligible to participate. In any case, the assistive device must be safe for the pilot and their environment at any time, and pass all steps of the TecCheck. After all requirements of the TecCheck have been met, no further changes may be made to the device that would alter the function or the safety of the device. In addition to the predefined review during the TecCheck, additional reviews of a team's assistive device can be carried out by the technical examiners at any time during the competition.