VARILEG
sponsoring booklet
Did you have the chance today to decide between using the elevator
and taking the stairs? Did you have a random chat in the corridor with
a coworker while looking him into the eyes? Did you walk to your car or
did you sprint to the bus, without considering the next curb? Although
we are not aware of these little details, they make up a huge part of our
quality of life and of our daily routine.
People with paraplegia however are well aware of them, as even commonly easy tasks like standing and walking are impossible endeavours for
them.
In a highly motivated team of students, we set ourselves a big challenge
to design a powered exoskeleton. Our main goal is to enable paraplegics
to get back a part of their mobility and quality of life.
Existing powered exoskeletons work well as long as the surface is perfectly flat. However, we rarely encounter perfectly even ground in everyday life, which causes major issues to existing exoskeletons. In mobile
robotics, these issues are solved by adding softness to the joints of legged robots. Implementing a similar approach in the VariLeg (VARiable
Impedance LEG) exoskeleton would promise to revolutionize the field of
powered exoskeletons.
Although we can rely on major support from the ETH and on intrinsic
motivation, it is the help of sponsors that plays a key role in the success of
the project.
Are you ready to take the next step with us?
Manuela Rotach,
VariLeg Team Leader
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Photo: Stefan Schneller
PROJECT
vision
We believe that every person has the right of walking, climbing stairs and
communicating at eye level. Nobody should be deprived of a promenade
in the woods, a mountain hike or a dance. We want to make the gift of
natural, human walking accessible to paraplegics and thus restore a bit of
their independence.
We develop an innovative, powered exoskeleton, which does not struggle
on uneven terrain due to adjustable softness in the knee.
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Photo: Stefan Schneller
PROJECT
structure
The Focus Project at the ETH Zurich and the ZHdK offers students in their
final year of undergraduate studies the unique opportunity to experience
the development process of a product in an interdisciplinary team.
Additional know-how that is necessary for the project has to be acquired
through self-studies and courses parallel to the Focus Project. Information
exchange with experts from the industry play a key role in this process as
they allow a practical insight.
16.02.2015
3.Review
30.10.2014
1.Review
product
definition
concept
detail
design
17.12.2014
2.Review
6
27.05.2015
Rollout
testing
17.04.2015
4.Review
Photo: Stefan Schneller
practice
12-14.08.2015
i-CREATe
8.10.2016
Cybathlon
TEAM
Team Leader
Manuela Rotach
structure
The VariLeg team consists of ten highly motivated students. It includes six
mechanical engineers and two electrical engineers from the ETH Zurich
as well as two industrial designers from the ZHdK. The team is structured
in several task forces, both on a technical and an organizational level.
This allows us to work efficiently to meet the tight schedule of only eight
months for the development and manufacturing of the exoskeleton.
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Industrial Design
Mechanical Design
Electronics
Control
Florian Buchwalder
Sonja Frey
Marcel Gort
Alexander Ens
Fabienne Muff
Igor Susmelj
Christoph Schildknecht
Bob Hoffmann
Marc Meyers
Photo: Stefan Schneller
Student Coach
Mentor
Jonas Eichenberger
Alex Jenter
TEAM
composition
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Marcel Gort
Manuela Rotach
mechanical engineering
mechanical engineering
Christoph Schildknecht
Igor Susmelj
Bob Hoffmann
Alexander Ens
electrical engineering
electrical engineering
mechanical engineering
mechanical engineering
Sonja Frey
Florian Buchwalder
Fabienne Muff
Marc Meyers
industrial design
industrial design
mechanical engineering
mechanical engineering
SUPPORT
by ETH
The VariLeg team is mainly supported by three labs at the ETH Zurich.
Their longtime experience helps us to realise our ideas.
Prof. Dr.-Ing.
Robert Riener
Coach: Volker Bartenbach
SMSLab – Sensory-Motor Systems Lab
www.sms.hest.ethz.ch
Prof. Dr.-Ing.
Mirko Meboldt
Coach: Marius Stücheli
Prof. Dr.-Ing.
Roger Gassert
Coach: Dr. -Ing.
Olivier Lambercy
pd|z – Product Development Group Zurich
RELab – Rehabilitation Engineering Lab
www.pdz.ethz.ch
www.relab.ethz.ch
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SUPPORT
by ZHdK
Nicole Kind
Coach: Stefan Schneller
ZHdK Department Design - industrial design
www.vid.zhdk.ch
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Photo: Stefan Schneller
INNOVATION
The VariLeg project is an opportunity for us to gain experience in working
with modern technologies. For instance, we do not only want to use cutting-edge technology in manufacturing, sensing and actuation, but also
embed intelligence into our system by implementing variable impedance
joints in our exoskeleton (a topic which is still in research).
Variable impedance can be understood as the combination of variable
stiffness and variable damping. Variable stiffness, in our case adjustable springs, allows us to achieve different values of softness in the knee
during the gait cycle. This modulation is important in normal walking,
as one need a stiff knee during stance, while a less stiff knee is desired
during the swing motion of the leg.
This new approach also promises that the user‘s leg is not rigidly forced to
move. It retains some tolerance for the own natural gait motion, due to
elastic compliance.
By implementing variable impedance we use a technology that promises
to provide a noticeable improvement to existing powered exoskeletons,
and hence in quality of life of paraplegic patients.
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Rendering: Alexander Ens
COMPETITIONS
The VariLeg exoskeleton will be showcased
in unique international events:
i-CREATe
Cybathlon
“In [August] 2015, three international conferences will come together for
a week of intensive cross-disciplinary knowledge transfer and experience
sharing that focus on technology as the enabler for innovative solutions.
The International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR2015);
the International Convention on Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology (ICREATE2015); and the Serious Games Conference
(SGC2015) will host researchers, academics, clinicians, engineers, industrial practitioners in Singapore.”
The Cybathlon will take place in Zurich in October 2016. It is a broadcasted, international championship for physically disabled athletes, who
will use advanced assistive devices including robotic technologies such as
powered exoskeletons. The assistive devices can either be commercially
available or prototypes developed by research teams.
We will continue to improve our exoskeleton after the official end of the
Focus Project in September 2015 and take part at this unique event.
Quoting: http://www.enabling-technology-festival.org/
www.cybathlon.com
At this special occasion, the Student Innovation Challenge (SIC) will be
held in the framework of the i-CREATe. We will participate at this event,
which provides a worldwide platform and encourages students to develop
innovative devices to improve the quality of life of the elderly and the
physically handicapped.
www.icreateasia.org
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FINANCES
budget
The expected costs of our project can be divided into different categories:
manufacturing of custom parts, purchasing of available mechanical and
electronic parts and travel costs to the i-CREATe. The latter is taking place
in Singapore.
12%
22%
Exhibitions
and events
Mechanical
Standard Parts
3%
Organisation
CHF 80‘000
20%
Electronical
Standard Parts
20
43%
Manufactured
Custom Parts
Photo: Stefan Schneller
Diamond
Sponsor
FINANCES
Large sized, colored, clearly visible logo on
• Sponsoring-slide at the end of each presentation
• Posters
• Booklets
• T-Shirts of the team
• T-Shirt of the exoskeleton’s pilot
• Website (always visible)
CHF 15‘000+
sponsoring
As a sponsor, the VariLeg Project offers you the unique opportunity to
support a medical-technical project of the ETH Zurich and to be in direct
contact with future engineers and industrial designers. The reputation of
the ETH Zurich, the ambitious and humanitarian goals of this Focus Project as well as the high media coverage at the competitions provide an
excellent way to draw attention to your company. Especially, a documentary on the VariLeg team prepared by the national television SRF in view
of the participation to the Cybathlon 2016 will guarantee national and
potentially international visibility to the main sponsors.
We cordially invite all sponsors to the regularly scheduled reviews and the
official rollout in May 2015. Especially the rollout is broadly attended by
both students and public audience.
Gadgets will be distributed at exhibitions
Explicit acknowledgement at every presentation
Other services possible by arrangement
Gold Sponsor
Silver Sponsor
We propose various sponsorship packages, which are illustrated below.
Do not hesitate to contact us if you wish to discuss a customised package. Contributions could take the form of financial support, material, or
access to technical resources.
Help us to create a better world where a promenade in the woods is
manageable for everyone. Together we can make this project happen and
take a step in the right direction.
• Sponsoring-slide at the end of each presentation
• Posters
• Booklets
• T-Shirts of the team
• T-Shirt of the exoskeleton’s pilot
• Website (on sponsoring page)
CHF 7‘500+
CHF 1‘500+
Patron
CHF 100+
Medium sized, colored logo on
Medium sized, black and white logo on
• Sponsoring-slide at the end of each presentation
• Posters
• Booklets
• T-Shirts of the team
• Website (on sponsoring page)
Name listed in:
• Booklets
• Website (on sponsoring page)
Thank you very much!
unless specially negotiated, sponsor packages hold until September 2015
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CONTACT
INFORMATION
Contact person
Bob Hoffmann
Marc Meyers
Email [email protected]
Phone (Bob Hoffmann)
+41 78 670 41 94
Office address
PFA L60
Technoparkstrasse 1
8005 Zürich
Web pagewww.varileg.ch
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Photo: Stefan Schneller
Silver Sponsors
CURRENT SPONSORS
Diamond Sponsor
Dieter K.
ETH Labs
Gold Sponsors
R LAB
Rehabilitation Engineering Lab
Hans Imholz-Stiftung
Patrons
Alex Jenter
Durovis AG
3Dconnexion
Carmen Rotach
Hocoma
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Koelner, Dangel
elsa Schweiz AG
Benedikt Federer
LA MANUFACTURE
Monika Rotach
Allega für Aluminium
Banque de Luxembourg
Rotach-Schaller
item
IVP - ETH Zürich