Van Roon, manager of Business & Operations at the Robotics Centre, had been thinking about the idea of using AI and robotics to make a difference for para-athletes for some time. A wish that returned during the Paralympic Games. 'But I already had the idea in the time of sprinter Dafne Schippers. She ran the 100 meters in 2015 in 10.81 seconds. Para-athlete Marlou van Rhijn took two seconds longer a year later. Both are top athletes who get the most out of themselves. Is it because of the technology that you have a two-second difference? How can we do something about that?'
Ironman
Van Roon wanted to develop something to bridge the above gap and enlisted the help of UT professor Massimo Sartori. 'I came up with the ambition to have a para-athlete finish in the top-10 in the Ironman, but that turned out not to be a good plan. Swimming, in particular, is not yet an ideal combination with robotics, as that is still a long way off.'
Not long ago, Van Roon came up with another goal: to have a para-athlete finish in the toughest sporting event in the world: the Marathon des Sables. A six-day ultra run of about 250 kilometers in the sweltering heat of Morocco. 'I tipped presenter Anic van Damme off with the plan and she was immediately enthusiastic. It has to be a multi-year project in which two storylines come together: that of the ambitious technician and that of the ambitious athlete.'
Streaming service
Although the first steps have already been taken, Van Roon knows that it will be a long-term project in any case. Moreover, much is still unclear. 'We have to get funding and we have to find a media partner who wants to make the project. We aim high. A streaming service is the most suitable, and then Netflix is number one. That's what we're going for. We've already started marketing and there's already a nice trailer.'
Van Roon indicates that the UT has an important role to play in the project. 'There is a thesis option for three master's students in the Mission I.A.M. initiative,' he says. To get some dates, Van Roon himself will run the Marathon des Sables in Jordan next year. 'That's what I train fanatically for. Based on that data, we create a digital twin, so that we can use AI and Robotics to work towards a model for a para-athlete.'
In any case, the UT employee wants to guard against the project becoming 'pathetic'. 'I know a lot of athletes with disabilities and they are not pathetic. They are tough athletes and that's what we try to focus on. With social content, a podcast and hopefully a docuseries, which is exciting and sexy.'
And how realistic is the goal to have a para-athlete successfully pass the Marathon des Sables at the end of the project? 'Realistic enough to put it down as a goal. Whether it will work remains to be seen, but in the lab we have now reached the point where we can make a robot walk small steps. This project is about top-level sport and top-level sport is about achieving the impossible. Then you also have to set an extreme goal.'
More information about the project can be found here.
