It ended on Friday 22 March with the award ceremony in the Campidoglio by the mayor of Roma Capitale Roberto Gualtieri, RomeCup 2024, event of Fondazione Mondo Digitale made with the GEDI publishing group e Italian Tech, promoted in collaboration with the University of Rome Tor Vergata. 4.000 thousand participants, including more than 3.000 students, 109 teams in robotics competitions, 23 teams in contests with universities, 35 organizations present in the exhibition space with innovative prototypes, including schools, companies and research centers, startups , university. The focus of the event was technological innovation based on robotic and artificial intelligence solutions at the service of holistic sustainability, to respond to environmental, social and economic challenges in an integrated way, putting people at the centre.
"A country like ours must excel in the field of innovation, to ensure collective growth. Robotics and artificial intelligence are precious allies for sustainability and inclusion, so that the world is a better place, to support us in community challenges as administrators", commented the mayor Gualtieri. The first citizen has awarded the winning students of the 17th International City of Robotics Trophy of Rome, the first trophy Great team (Rescue Line category) and the Robotic Arm Challenge together with the President ofUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma Carlo Tosti, to the Rector of the University of Rome Tor Vergata Nathan Levialdi Ghiron, to the Inail Extraordinary Commissioner Fabrizio D'Ascenzo, Mirta Michilli e Alfonso Molina, General Director and Scientific Director of the Digital World Foundation respectively.
In the setting of the Sala Esedra of the Capitoline Museums, the prize of 20.000 euros for the second edition of the Most Promising Researcher in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, promoted by ETS Digital World Foundation con l 'Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma in collaboration with Italian Tech and with the GEDI Group. The winner was the researcher from the University of Siena (Department of Inginformation engineering and mathematical sciences) Mihai Dragusanu, 30 years old, for the Modular exoskeletal suit for the upper limbs, a solution that exploits the force generated through the twisting phenomenon of two ropes (Twisted-String-Actuator) to activate the joints of the upper limb. The awards ceremony took place in the context of the event "The wonders of artificial intelligence", hosted by the journalist Riccardo Luna.
"Assistive and rehabilitative technology is fundamental to improving the lives of people with disabilities. Devices for the upper limbs, such as exoskeletons and exoskeleton gloves, however, are often ingobscuring and difficult to use for the end user - explains Mihai. - Designing lightweight exoskeletons with adequate dexterity and adaptability is an open challenge. One solution is the modular exoskeletal suit for the upper limbs which exploits the force generated through the twisting phenomenon of two ropes (Twisted-String-Actuator) to activate the joints of the upper limb. Using the TSA with the modular suit offers advantages in terms of comfort, high power-to-weight ratio, low cost, high precision in movements and reduces fatigue during prolonged use".
Mihai also pays particular attention to the user's emotions and sensations. The main goal is to make the user perceive the device as a natural extension of himself. "The combination of AI and a control system plays a crucial role, ensuring a more intuitive and empathetic interaction between the user and his exoskeleton suit", which becomes like this much more than a rehabilitation or protection system.
In presenting the award, the Rector ofUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Eugenio Guglielmelli he recalled the jury's objective in celebrating a talent who had vision, dedication and perseverance in pursuing his creative project. The candidate was appreciated for his excellent course of study, a path of excellence in research which has already received recognition important (Young Authors Best Paper Award 2023, IEEE Transactions on Robotics, historical journal of robotics).
The jury particularly appreciated the quality of the project, which addresses the areas of artificial intelligence, robotics and integrated holistic sustainability. The idea is to propose exoskeletal systems that have partial intelligence, not only for the artificial human declination but also for the declination of different types of intelligence: not only cognitive intelligence but also that of expression linguistic, communicative, motor and physical. The project thus aims to create gods wearable systems that generate the power of movement, an exoskeleton which, with the contraction of two strings, can generate the movement and flexibility of the wrist and fingers for a complete rehabilitation.