Team IHMC at the 2020 Cybathlon: a user-centered approach towards personal mobility exoskeletons.

Background: The past few decades have seen rapid advancements in exoskeleton technology, with a considerable shift towards applications involving users with gait pathologies. Commercial devices from ReWalk, Ekso Bionics, and Indego, mainly designed for rehabilitation purposes, have inspired the development of many research platforms aimed at extending capabilities for use as safe and effective personal mobility devices. The 2016 Cybathlon featured an impressive demonstration of exoskeletons designed to enable mobility for individuals with spinal cord injury, however, not a single team completed every task and only two completed the stairs.