Cybathlon is an international competition comprising eight different disciplines: during the competitions, people with disabilities compete in performing everyday tasks using state-of-the-art assistive technologies developed and optimised by the teams. The team from Politecnico di Milano participates in the FES-bike (Functional Electrical Stimulation Bike) discipline, in which a rider with complete paraplegia runs using a passive trike and an electrical muscle stimulator capable of sending trains of coordinated impulses through surface electrodes that induce the contraction of paralysed muscles. The participating teams are required to optimise the mechanics and seating of the trike of a commercial system, install the sensors on the trike, define and optimise the pacing strategy, transfer the control system to an embedded system and develop the user interface and diagnostics software.
The Polimi Team
In 2019, a group of researchers and students began designing the first prototype of the FES bike. Since then, Polimi FES bike Team has worked consistently to optimize the device and its performance. After participating in two editions of Cybathlon (2020 and 2024) and several satellite competitions to test the prototype and compare it with other groups, the team continues to work on improving the setup, stimulation strategy, user experience, and training methods.
Recruiting
If you are interested in participating, we kindly ask you to fill out the following form (https://forms.office.com/e/A6nAwFw6ma). The next selection process will take place by the end of October 2025, and it is open to all master's degree students from Politecnico.
Contacts
To be updated on all the news, follow the Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/polimi_fesbike/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D) or the LinkedIn (https://it.linkedin.com/company/festrike-polimi).
For information, you can send an email to emilia.ambrosini@polimi.it and nicole.sanna@polimi.it.