THE University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in collaboration with Nelson Mandela University (NMU) represented South Africa in the 2020 Global Cybathlon Championship on 13 and 14 November, finishing 11th ahead of Germany and the UK.
Cybathlon is a robotics prostheses Olympics in which 53 teams, consisting of persons with physical disabilities, from 20 countries compete to complete everyday tasks using state-of-the-art technical assistance systems.
Due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, teams will not be travelling to the host city of Zürich this year and Cybathlon 2020 took place in a new format, in each team’s home country. Organised under the umbrella of public research university, ETHZürich, the event also served to advance research in the field of assistive technology and to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in everyday life.
The South African Powered Arm Prosthesis heats took place at the UKZN Howard College campus on Friday. Each team’s best race time and results were broadcast on the Cybathlon YouTube channel later that evening.
The South African team, made up of researchers, academics and postgraduate students was led by lecturer in the discipline of Mechanical Engineering at UKZN, Prof Riaan Stopforth, who was approached by the National Centre for Competence in Research (NCCR) Robotics in Switzerland and selected to compete in the ARM/Powered Arm Prosthesis Race for the innovative design of the Touch Hand – a low-cost arm prosthesis that was originally designed by Stopforth and UKZN MSc graduate, Mr Drew van der Riet in 2013. Since then, Stopforth has worked with other scholars to improve the design.
Each participating team primarily consisted of a technology developer and a person with a disability, referred to as a pilot, who was expected to carry out several predetermined tasks across six stations using the assistance technology. The tasks in the race were designed to reflect everyday activities that can be challenging for people with disabilities, such as tying a shoelace, buttoning a coat, slicing bread or opening a tin can. While solving the respective tasks in competition, it is shown how well the developed technology is suited to support the pilot in everyday life.
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The Covid-19 pandemic has posed many challenges for the team. Technical manager for the project, lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at NMU, Clive Hands, said that having the team separated and working remotely to prepare and finalise the Touch Hand for the big race was no easy feat. “Our main target was to produce a low-cost prosthesis that could ultimately be used by our pilot amputee, Lungile Dick, and add value to his life. That was our first prize!”
Commenting on the event, Prof Stopforth said: “Lungile pursued the most difficult task – the Haptic Boxes, where he has to identify the objects in the enclosed boxes. In all three races he was able to identify the objects correctly! The team was extremely excited when the results came out, 11th out of 13 teams, yet we beat the Germans from Munich, and the UK team from Imperial College, who apparently obtained silver place in 2016. This was an achievement.”
He said for the team to be selected by the Cybathlon organisers to participate, was an achievement in itself. “Being the only team to represent South Africa and Africa was another achievement. We are performing international level research with an application, that is recognised internationally. We are working to make a difference in people’s lives. It is how one finishes the race that counts. Lungile pursued the race with a passion, and completed the race,” he said.
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