Robotics help athlete walk again

Paraplegic and Cybathlon pilot, Thomas Krieg is an accomplished sportsman who is taking bionic tech to a new level.

“Pity never got me anywhere. I’m still the same Thomas as before…(and) I am not the kind of guy who just sits around,” says Thomas Krieg. A football player in his youth, Krieg has always had a “fighting spirit” and good sense of humor. Even though he is now paralysed, the Cybathlon pilot, still leads a very active and accomplished life.

A member of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, Krieg used to compete internationally for Switzerland in two and four-man bobsled disciplines. Early in his bobsledding career, he even placed 8th in the Europa Cup. On 18 February 2015, Krieg worked with an Olympian serving as a brakeman on a training run in St. Moritz. According to Krieg, the first run went well, but an unimaginable set of circumstances catapulted him from the sleigh during the second run. A Swiss publication reported that “the sleigh slowed in a steep section of the run and slid backwards like a runaway train at a speed of approximately 60 – 70 km/hour…Krieg sustained injuries in his back and legs that included damage to the nerve pathways in his spinal cord that left him paralyzed.”

About nine months ago, he took his first steps in the VariLeg enhanced exoskeleton. An exoskeleton is a robotic external structure that helps support the daily life activities of disabled persons – including enabling paraplegics to walk again. Team VariLeg participated in the first Cybathlon with a research prototype developed in ETH Zurich’s RELab. Now Team VariLeg enhanced consists of a broader research collaboration including a team of students, engineers, coaches, and professors based at the University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil (about 35 km outside of Zurich, Switzerland). Krieg is one of two pilots training for Cybathlon 2020.

In Cybathlon 2020, the Powered Exoskeleton Race will require pilots to accomplish activities that require use of their hands. Things like stacking of cups while standing at a table challenges both the technology and pilots by requiring them to maintain balance without holding their crutches. The rough terrain also offers a new challenge as the pilots will not be able to place their feet on level ground in one part of the obstacle.

“The biggest challenge for me,” says Krieg “is not wanting too much out of the competition. I am very ambitious and, if I participate, I want to win.”