Content
USC researchers step into sport revolution
Can a device smaller than a matchbox revolutionise elite sport performance and judging as well as general fitness and health evaluations?
The “inertial sensor” certainly has the potential, according to initial results and ongoing research by a University of the Sunshine Coast sports science team examining athletics and swimming.
Competitive race-walking is the latest sport analysed by PhD student Jim Lee, who has found the sensor is more accurate than the human eye in detecting “illegal” steps.
Judging is a contentious issue in race-walking, where every step must contact the ground without any visible loss of that contact.
“The fastest the human eye can see is five one-hundredths of a second,” said Jim. “The slowest our sensors detected was less than five one-hundredths of a second. So the sensor’s worst result is better than the eye’s best.”
The tiny, wireless, rectangular device can be attached to any part of the body to measure movement outside a laboratory environment and over a longer distance than current methods.
Because it’s so light and unobtrusive, it can be used in the field, underwater or even in a hospital, for example, to monitor rehabilitation.
For Jim’s research, sensors on subjects’ lower backs measured their stance, stride, walking and running patterns. Subjects ranged from elite juniors to race-walkers with 30 years’ experience.
His initial data earned international recognition – Jim made the shortlist of 10 finalists (out of 130) for the Young Investigator Award at the 3rd Asia-Pacific Congress on Sports Technology, held in Singapore in 2007.
His previous study measured the running symmetry and fatigue of triathletes.
The 49-year-old Noosa resident will soon finish his thesis after three years under principal supervisor, USC Associate Professor Brendan Burkett.
Associate Professor Burkett, a sport scientist and former Paralympic Champion swimmer, said the sensor was cutting-edge microtechnology ideal for elite sport and patient recovery.
He said its development was a collaborative effort that started several years ago through a federally-funded research body.
“USC was a partner in that program along with other institutions such as the Australian Institute of Sport and Griffith University, whose key role was engineering the sensor. Now USC is leading the application of it.
“Of course the teaching and learning of our sport and exercise science students also benefit from such world-class technology at their fingertips.”
The next phase, funded by a $200,000 Australian Research Council grant shared by USC, Griffith University and the Queensland Academy of Sport, will test multiple sensors on individual swimmers.
Jim, a former welder from Tasmania, said he was grateful to the Kirk Foundation for a scholarship that allowed him to continue full-time studies at USC.
– Julie Gatehouse