ROB / Assistance Robot Race
SCAI-Lab
Switzerland
About the Team
The SCAI Lab (Spinal Cord Injury and Artificial Intelligence) is a joint research team from ETH Zurich and the Swiss Paraplegic Institute (SPZ) in Nottwil. Their goal is to bring adaptive autonomous control to assistive wheelchair users to give them more freedom of movement in complex environments. Together with the start-up DAAV, they developed an omnidirectional wheelchair that can navigate through crowded and complex environments (e.g. an airport) while still having the user experience as a main focus.
The CYBATHLON 2024 is a great opportunity to go further - they adapt the wheelchair to the pilot’s needs and equip it with a robot arm. From here on, they look for intuitive and efficient control mechanisms so that Guido can solve as many tasks as possible in a short amount of time. Only the SCAI is the limit!
SCAI-Lab
About the Pilot
Guido Suter is competing in the CYBATHLON for the SCAI Lab for the first time. Various previous missions for the FDFA in countries such as Afghanistan, Kenya and Syria have honed Guido's nerves of steel. Crossing Iceland alone (on foot at the time) and many years of professional experience as a conditioning coach for the Swiss national ski team are impressive testimonies to his endurance and willpower. A skiing accident in spring 2023 left him an incomplete quadriplegic; since then, his willpower and perseverance have been in greater demand than ever. For the CYBATHLON, Guido uses his cognitive abilities as well as his remaining hand function to collect as many points as possible.
And who knows what other adventures await Guido after the CYBATHLON?
About the Device
The wheelchair base is the result of a joint project between the SCAI lab and the start-up DAAV. It is an omnidirectional wheelchair meaning that it can move in all directions and rotate on the spot. The wheelchair is equipped with a backrest and armrests to ensure safety and stability for the pilot. Both the robotic arm and its gripper are commercially bought from UFactory. The control mechanism is a Quadstick, generously sponsored by Homebrace (https://homebrace.com/mystick.php).