Toyota Announces Finalists in Mobility Competition (ECN Magazine)

Toyota Announces Finalists in Mobility Competition

Innovation is constantly changing lives, whether it be through technology, green energy, health, or other means. Toyota’s Mobility Unlimited Challenge that first launched in 2017, is a global competition striving to inspire developers in the creation of new technology for people who deal with lower limb paralysis. Inventors and engineers from across the globe submitted their ideas and concepts to the competition in hopes of placing and winning funds toward their project. As the teams developed their ideas, they collaborated with users to ensure ease of use and make any adjustments based on feedback.

UF startup and UF Innovate | The Hub graduate startup MYOLYN is considered a top contender in the Toyota competition. Its project, QUIX, was co-developed by researchers at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition and Myolyn. The design focuses on a powered exoskeleton that would provide stable and agile upright mobility for people with lower-limb paralysis.

The five finalists have battled it out for supremacy, but it all comes down to who will win the $1 million grand prize. With the top contenders being an intelligent wheelchair and an exoskeleton on wheels. Each finalist team will receive $500,000 toward the development of their concept, with a winner set to be crowned in 2020.

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