Development of a Real-time Performance Measurement System for Sprint Starts
Abstract
This thesis is an expansion of a Capstone Project where a set of portable sprint starting blocks that can be used for training was developed. For this thesis, two piezo-electric sensors were implemented in the blocks that transmitted data from each of the sprinter’s feet to a micro-controller. The sensors, after a series of impact hammer tests, offered a cost-efficient means of collecting valuable telemetric data during a sprint start, and crucially, were non-intrusive. Majority of the athletes demonstrated a consistent three-peak-force pattern in the data collected which was statistically correlated to qualitative performance scores given by a coach evaluating the start. The correlation helped develop a fuzzy method that estimated a performance score for sprint starts and detected false starts. The need to validate this method also helped produce a definitive coach’s sprint start evaluation checklist from the National Coaching Certification Program.
Description
Keywords
Education--Physical, Physiology, Applied Mechanics, Artificial Intelligence, Engineering, Engineering--Biomedical, Engineering--Mechanical
Citation
Iyer, P. (2017). Development of a Real-time Performance Measurement System for Sprint Starts (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25671