Suzhou team wins CYBATHLON Challenges
2023-03-31 15:21
CYBATHLON Challenges 2023 kicked off on March 29. Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology (SIBET), the only team from China, competed with participants from around the world via livestreaming. Finishing the challenges in 1 minute and 45 seconds, the group from Suzhou ranked first and won the gold medal.
During the competition, the volunteer put on a hybrid controlled arm prosthesis, and completed a series of challenges such as lifting heavy weights, grabbing cards, keys and building blocks. Participants would be ranked according to their finishing time.
As explained by Hu Xuhui, a postdoctoral researcher at SIBET and director of the hybrid controlled arm prosthesis project, the final product is based on the wire-driven prosthesis with an electric wrist added, which allows it to rotate quickly and easily, especially when pouring water or placing an item from a different angle.
CYBATHLON acts as a platform where teams from all over the world develop assistive technologies suitable for people with disabilities. The CYBATHLON Edition is held every four years, and is hailed as "the Olympics of Bionic athletes."
Medea Fux, deputy head of Science, Technology, Education and Innovation Section of Swissnex in China, said she was very honored to watch the Suzhou team compete in the Challenges on-site, and their hybrid controlled arm prosthesis project, though very challenging, perfectly met the actual needs of people.