The International Cyborg Olympics, Cybathlon, was held on October 27, 2024. Compared to previous
competitions,
the number of tasks increased, and the difficulty level also became more challenging.
After winning the 2020 Cybathlon, the ExoLab researchers spent about two more years developing a more
advanced
robot to help individuals with paraplegia overcome walking disabilities, once again taking on the
challenge of the
competition.
To perform various tasks encountered in daily life, the robot was upgraded with 12 degrees of freedom
in its
actuators. The control technology also evolved to coordinate these actuators effectively, enabling
multiple
movements and maintaining balance.
Throughout the preparation period, the research team spent every day with the robot pilot, Seunghwan
Kim, striving
to ensure that he and the robot could function as one. Since he had no sensation due to paraplegia, he
continuously
checked his physical condition with the team to safely wear and operate the robot. He worked closely
with the
researchers to refine the robot, making it more natural and efficient in performing tasks and walking.
The preparation process was not smooth. The hardware was modified multiple times to allow him to put
on
the
robot while seated in a wheelchair, resulting in a competition-day robot that had almost entirely
different parts from
the initial prototype. The team also developed a high-current motor driver for high-power actuation,
which
sometimes sparked during the stabilization process. Achieving natural movement required days of
meticulous
tuning for even a single motion.
On the day of the competition, everyone was tense as the event began. The tasks included navigating
through
narrow chairs, carrying objects, slicing bread in a kitchen, passing through doors, and avoiding
moving
robots. The
most critical mission of this year’s competition, "Free Walk"—walking while maintaining balance
without
crutches—
was executed flawlessly. The result: first place! It was the moment when two years of dedication from
Seunghwan
Kim and the research team paid off. Competing against teams from Switzerland, the Netherlands,
Thailand,
and
other countries, the team demonstrated technological superiority by completing three times as many
tasks
with
ease compared to others.
Through the 2024 Cybathlon, Professor Kyoungchul Kong's research team demonstrated to the world that
their wearable robotic technology could enable individuals with complete paraplegia to overcome
walking
disabilities.
Beyond merely completing the competition’s missions, the team also achieved a groundbreaking
milestone—developing a system that allowed the wearer to independently don the robot, walk over to it,
and
dock onto the wheelchair without external assistance. This innovation was implemented entirely with
domestically developed components, with all fundamental technologies fully internalized. The robot’s
design, led by Professor Hyunjoon Park of KAIST, was carefully crafted to achieve seamless harmony
between
human and machine.
In the end, the competition's results were as expected. The missions were originally designed to
challenge Professor Kong’s team, and no other competitor was capable of completing them in full. The
team
KAIST successfully navigated side-stepping between narrow chairs, carrying boxes, walking freely
without
crutches, passing through doors, and handling food in a kitchen environment, completing all tasks in 6
minutes and 41 seconds.
Meanwhile, Seunghwan Kim, the team’s competitor and a researcher with complete lower-body paralysis,
shared his emotions:
"I am deeply moved to showcase the world’s best wearable robotic technology—developed in South
Korea—through my own body."