17.11.2020

OST Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences is victorious at Cybathlon

Rapperswil SG – People with disabilities competed against one another at the Cybathlon supported by modern technical assistance systems. The robotic wheelchair team from the OST University of Applied Sciences won first place.

As the pilot of the “HSR enhanced” team from the OST Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, Florian Hauser competed at the Cybathlon 2020 in a robotic wheelchair. According to a press release from the OST, he was able to win first place in the wheelchair discipline at the competition organized by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH).

The international participants were unable to travel to Zurich due to the coronavirus crisis; instead, they each performed in front of Cybathlon judges in their home countries. These performances were then recorded and transmitted via the internet within the online event. Hauser had already completed the competition’s course prior to transmission, and with an overall time of 3 minutes and 4 seconds led over second place by almost a minute’s advantage.

Participants in another competition were supported not by a robotic wheelchair but by an exoskeleton. Thomas Krieg and Rolf Schoch, two OST pilots from the “VariLeg enhanced” team, competed in this discipline. Schoch came in sixth and Krieg in seventh place. Their team is a collaborative project between the OST and the ETH. The exoskeleton enabled both pilots to walk upright.