ROB

About the Discipline

Managing daily life autonomously with an assistance robot

One of the two new disciplines in the CYBATHLON competition! People with severe motor impairments or missing limbs, both upper and lower limbs, have limited autonomy when interacting with their physical environment. Tasks such as shopping for groceries independently, personal hygiene or clearing out the dishwasher are just a few examples of where these people might depend on a care person. Assistance robots are a relatively new category of assistive devices which can support a person with limited motor control in daily life. They can take over some of the tasks which are otherwise done by a care person. To become a fully accepted technology, these devices must be seamlessly integrated and make a meaningful contribution to the diverse domains of daily life. Their use must be effortless and reliable, while providing diverse functions, such as manipulating delicate objects skilfully or avoiding obstacles autonomously. Assistance robots have the promising potential to increase the autonomy of people who have very little to no voluntary motor control of their limbs due to their disability.

The competition tasks will contain elements of human-robot interaction. Both pilots and robots will have to recognise and manipulate various objects and avoid obstacles on the track. Tackling tasks under a time constraint will be included. Some of the competition tasks will contain dynamic elements to which the pilots have to react.