About Rehabilitation Robots, Cyborgs and the Cybathlon

Institute of Microengineering - Distinguished Lecture

Abstract: Robots for the upper and lower limbs can be very useful to restore movement abilities in two ways. First, they can promote neurorehabilitation as training devices after neurological injuries such as spinal cord injury (SCI), traumatic brain injury and stroke. Second, they can be used as assistive devices to support patients or elders with gait impairments in daily life situations. Disadvantages with respect to size, weight, battery power and interface technology result to unsatisfactory performance and discomfort. In this talk I will present current sensory and control engineering solutions and future trends of stationary gait and arm training robots as well as wearable exoskeleton devises that can be used for training and assistance in daily life. I will also present the idea of the Cybathlon, a championship for people with physical disabilities using robotic technologies to compete against each other, and show how the Cybathlon can promote the development of useful assistive technologies.

Bio: Robert Riener studied Mechanical Engineering at TU München, Germany, and University of Maryland, USA. He received a Dr.-Ing. degree in Engineering from the TU München in 1997. After postdoctoral work from 1998-1999 at the Centro di Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, he returned to TU München, where he completed his Habilitation in the field of Biomechatronics in 2003. In 2003 he became assistant professor at ETH Zurich and Spinal Cord Injury Center of the University Hospital Balgrist (“double-professorship”); since 2010 he has been full professor for Sensory-Motor Systems, ETH Zurich. Since 2012, Riener is member of the Department of Health Sciences and Technology, which he is chairing as head since 2016. Riener has published more than 400 peer-reviewed journal and conference articles, 20 books and book chapters and filed 22 patents. He has received 18 personal distinctions and awards. Riener’s research focuses on the investigation of the sensory-motor interactions between humans and machines. This includes the development of user-cooperative robotic devices and virtual reality technologies applied to neurorehabilitation. Riener is the initiator and organizer of the Cybathlon.