Engineering news
In recent weeks stories of sportsmen and women using technologies to enhance their performance have hit the headlines as world records continued to be broken in Rio. However, it’s not just Olympic sportsmen and women that are using feats in engineering to bolster their performance.
In the US, National Football League (NFL) team the Pittsburgh Steelers has been using robotic training dummies, which can be used by players to practice tackling, but can also be used in passing drills.
The Mobile Virtual Players (MPVs) as they are known, were developed by Dartmouth College, chase the players around and analyse their movements. The MVPs have the ability to cut, weave, stop and start, and can travel at speed.
Coach Mike Tomlin said: “It’s an awesome piece of football technology. I am always interested in ways to utilise technology in terms of teaching football. We are excited to get a close look at it.
“The applications we are quickly finding are endless. It never gets tired. It runs at an appropriate football speed. All of the position groups are getting an opportunity to use it. It’s funny, you just put it on the field and watch the guys and they show you the applications. It’s been fun watching that.”
The robots are also being trialled by the US’ national rugby teams.
Meanwhile, in Australia researchers have developed an algorithm using submarine and guided missile technology to reduce injury and improve the performance of fast bowlers in cricket.
Sports scientists at Australia Catholic University’s (ACU's) School of Exercise Science implanted the missile-guiding mircotechnology in wearables, these run the smart algorithms, which rely on the interaction between the accelerometers, magnetometers and gyroscopes housed within the wearable unit.
Co-author and fellow ACU sports scientist, Dean McNamara, says: “Tagging individual balls with an intensity measure provides both immediate analysis, such as identifying effort balls or potentially a drop in performance because of fatigue, or longer term workload analysis.
“Measuring bowling intensity for individual balls or sessions provides context for the acute and chronic workload of the individual bowler, and ultimately the preparedness of the bowler for the maximal workload of the immediate competition,” he adds.
The technology could also be applied to baseball, rugby union, rugby league, tennis and football.
In Europe, the 2016 Tour de France witnessed the debut of a new helmet – touted as the fastest in road cycling. The Scott Cadence Plus was developed by researchers at the University of Adelaide in South Australia and is streamlined to ensure less drag and increased ventilation. The helmet features a double entry ventilation system with vents at the front and the rear – it has small ridges on the top to increase the aerodynamics.
Associate Professor Richard Kelso explains: “Our research showed that you didn’t need to have vents all over. If you had good-sized vents at the front, back and good sized ducts inside you not only get cooling, in fact you get better cooling – you have more flow through to the back.
“It’s got a high level of safety. It’s got the Multi Directional Impact Protection System layer inside and that reduces the effect of the impact and the acceleration of your brain when you have a large impact,” he explains.
The helmet was tested in the university’s wind tunnel using a full-sized mannequin and heated mannequin head.
With so much technical development in sport, it will be fascinating to see how this industry evolves over the next decade.