After more than two years of hype, the Cybathlon—a new competition designed to showcase the capabilities of robotic assistive devices—was held October 8 in Zurich, Switzerland. More than 4,500 spectators came to support the 400 contestants from 25 countries, comprising almost 70 teams, as they lined up to participate in one of six disciplines: a leg prosthetics race (LEG), an arm prosthetics race (ARM), a brain computer interface race (BCI), a functional electrical stimulation bike race (FES), an exoskeleton race (EXO), or a wheelchair race (WHEEL). Teams consisted of one or more athletes, called pilots, and an industry or academic technology provider. The assistive devices included commercially available products or prototypes developed by research labs, with the requirement that the device must be controlled by the wearer and carry its own power supply.
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