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KAIST wins gold and bronze in Ironman Olympics

Posted November. 16, 2020 07:48,   

Updated November. 16, 2020 07:48

한국어

Kim Byeong-wook and Lee Joo-hyun of KAIST’s Angel Robotics won a gold and a bronze medal respectively in the wearable robot field of the Cybathlon 2020 competition where disabled players match against each other as a cyborg.

KAIST announced Sunday that the two players of Team Angel Robotics, led by Professor Gong Gyeong-cheol of mechanical engineering, won medals in the match held at KAIST in Daejeon on Friday and Saturday.  

Cybathlon is an international match called the “Ironman Olympics” where disabled players carry out various missions using robotics. The word is a compound of cyborg and Athlon which means a match. It first started in Zurich, Switzerland in 2016 and this is the second Cybathlon.  

Angel Robotics entered “EXO” where players compete against each other, wearing an exoskeleton robot. They carried out six missions including standing up from a sofa and stacking cups, navigating obstacles in zigzags, walking on uneven terrain, walking up and down the stairs, walking up a slop and passing a door. Each player tries three times and the best score is counted. Twelve players from eight countries entered the match this year.  

Kim won a gold medal by completing the tasks in three minutes and 47 seconds, and Lee a bronze by finishing them in five minutes and 51 seconds. “I was able to win thanks to the support of professor Gong and other research fellows,” said Kim. “I was worried about the result, but now I am happy that I achieved good results,” said Lee.  

The research team explained that “Walk-on Suit 4,” the exoskeleton robot that they wore that day, can move at the maximum speed of 2.4 kilometers per hour. Professor Gong’s team, Angel Robotics, a wearable robot developer, Severance Rehabilitation Hospital, and Professor Choi Jeong-soo of robotics mechanical engineering at Yeungnam University participated in the development.


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