7th International Conference on Body Area Networks

Research Article

SonicSeat: A Seat Position Tracker based on Ultrasonic Sound Measurements for Rowing Technique Analysis

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  • @INPROCEEDINGS{10.4108/icst.bodynets.2012.249917,
        author={Franz Gravenhorst and Christoph Thiem and Bernd Tessendorf and Rolf Adelsberger and Bert Arnrich and Gerhard Tr\o{}ster},
        title={SonicSeat: A Seat Position Tracker based on Ultrasonic Sound Measurements for Rowing Technique Analysis},
        proceedings={7th International Conference on Body Area Networks},
        publisher={ICST},
        proceedings_a={BODYNETS},
        year={2012},
        month={11},
        keywords={rowing sliding seat ultrasonic sound position monitoring},
        doi={10.4108/icst.bodynets.2012.249917}
    }
    
  • Franz Gravenhorst
    Christoph Thiem
    Bernd Tessendorf
    Rolf Adelsberger
    Bert Arnrich
    Gerhard Tröster
    Year: 2012
    SonicSeat: A Seat Position Tracker based on Ultrasonic Sound Measurements for Rowing Technique Analysis
    BODYNETS
    ICST
    DOI: 10.4108/icst.bodynets.2012.249917
Franz Gravenhorst1,*, Christoph Thiem2, Bernd Tessendorf1, Rolf Adelsberger1, Bert Arnrich1, Gerhard Tröster1
  • 1: Wearable Computing Lab., ETH Zurich
  • 2: Institute of Numerical Methods in Mechanical Engineering and Graduate School of Computational Engineering
*Contact email: gravenhorst@ife.ee.ethz.ch

Abstract

A significant share of rowers does not have access to professional supervision by coaches. However, proper technique is a key component for both success in competitions and to prevent injuries or long-term induced postural deformity. In cooperation with national rowing coaches we developed a sensor system to continuously monitor the rower's seat position. It allows offline data analysis and complements existing state-of-the art methods to analyze rowing technique based on video footage. Both quantitative analyses for coaches as well as qualitative and visual feedback for athletes are provided. We tested our system on the water and present exemplary data and analyses.