Relationship between local ski bending curvature, lean angle and radial force in alpine skiing

The deflection of the ski is a prerequisite for carved turns. The more the ski is edged, the more the ski has to deflect and the more radial force has to be realised in order to keep the whole edge in contact with the snow. To verify this relationship, local ski bending curvature, the lean angle and the radial force were correlated with each other. Characteristic curvature patterns as well as very large correlations (r > 0.7) between the variables were identified.Die Durchbiegung des Skis ist eine Voraussetzung für gecarvte Schwünge. Je stärker der Ski gekantet ist, desto mehr muss der Ski durchbiegen und desto mehr Radialkraft muss realisiert werden, um die gesamte Kante in Kontakt mit dem Schnee zu halten. Um diesen Zusammenhang zu verifizieren, wurden die lokale Skikrümmung, der Neigungswinkel und die Radialkraft miteinander korreliert. Es wurden sowohl charakteristische Krümmungsmuster als auch sehr große Korrelationen (r > 0,7) zwischen den Variablen festgestellt

Relationship between local ski bending curvature, lean angle and radial force in alpine skiing

The deflection of the ski is a prerequisite for carved turns. The more the ski is edged, the more the ski has to deflect and the more radial force has to be realised in order to keep the whole edge in contact with the snow. To verify this relationship, local ski bending curvature, the lean angle and the radial force were correlated with each other. Characteristic curvature patterns as well as very large correlations (r > 0.7) between the variables were identified.Die Durchbiegung des Skis ist eine Voraussetzung für gecarvte Schwünge. Je stärker der Ski gekantet ist, desto mehr muss der Ski durchbiegen und desto mehr Radialkraft muss realisiert werden, um die gesamte Kante in Kontakt mit dem Schnee zu halten. Um diesen Zusammenhang zu verifizieren, wurden die lokale Skikrümmung, der Neigungswinkel und die Radialkraft miteinander korreliert. Es wurden sowohl charakteristische Krümmungsmuster als auch sehr große Korrelationen (r > 0,7) zwischen den Variablen festgestellt

Relationship between local ski bending curvature, lean angle and radial force in alpine skiing

The deflection of the ski is a prerequisite for carved turns. The more the ski is edged, the more the ski has to deflect and the more radial force has to be realised in order to keep the whole edge in contact with the snow. To verify this relationship, local ski bending curvature, the lean angle and the radial force were correlated with each other. Characteristic curvature patterns as well as very large correlations (r > 0.7) between the variables were identified.Die Durchbiegung des Skis ist eine Voraussetzung für gecarvte Schwünge. Je stärker der Ski gekantet ist, desto mehr muss der Ski durchbiegen und desto mehr Radialkraft muss realisiert werden, um die gesamte Kante in Kontakt mit dem Schnee zu halten. Um diesen Zusammenhang zu verifizieren, wurden die lokale Skikrümmung, der Neigungswinkel und die Radialkraft miteinander korreliert. Es wurden sowohl charakteristische Krümmungsmuster als auch sehr große Korrelationen (r > 0,7) zwischen den Variablen festgestellt

Study of Pressure Distribution in Floor Tiles with Printed P(VDF:TrFE) Sensors for Smart Surface Applications

Pressure sensors integrated in surfaces, such as the floor, can enable movement, event, and object detection with relatively little effort and without raising privacy concerns, such as video surveillance. Usually, this requires a distributed array of sensor pixels, whose design must be optimized according to the expected use case to reduce implementation costs while providing sufficient sensitivity. In this work, we present an unobtrusive smart floor concept based on floor tiles equipped with a printed piezoelectric sensor matrix. The sensor element adds less than 130 µm in thickness to the floor tile and offers a pressure sensitivity of 36 pC/N for a 1 cm2 pixel size. A floor model was established to simulate how the localized pressure excitation acting on the floor spreads into the sensor layer, where the error is only 1.5%. The model is valuable for optimizing the pixel density and arrangement for event and object detection while considering the smart floor implementation in buildings. Finally, a demonstration, including wireless connection to the computer, is presented, showing the viability of the tile to detect finger touch or movement of a metallic rod

Technique-Dependent Relationship between Local Ski Bending Curvature, Roll Angle and Radial Force in Alpine Skiing

Skiing technique, and performance are impacted by the interplay between ski and snow. The resulting deformation characteristics of the ski, both temporally and segmentally, are indicative of the unique multi-faceted nature of this process. Recently, a PyzoFlex® ski prototype was presented for measuring the local ski curvature (w″), demonstrating high reliability and validity. The value of w″ increases as a result of enlargement of the roll angle (RA) and the radial force (RF) and consequently minimizes the radius of the turn, preventing skidding. This study aims to analyze segmental w″ differences along the ski, as well as to investigate the relationship among segmental w″, RA, and RF for both the inner and outer skis and for different skiing techniques (carving and parallel ski steering). A skier performed 24 carving and 24 parallel ski steering turns, during which a sensor insole was placed in the boot to determine RA and RF, and six PyzoFlex® sensors were used to measure the w″ progression along the left ski (w1−6″). All data were time normalized over a left-right turn combination. Correlation analysis using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) was conducted on the mean values of RA, RF, and segmental w1−6″ for different turn phases [initiation, center of mass direction change I (COM DC I), center of mass direction change II (COM DC II), completion]. The results of the study indicate that, regardless of the skiing technique, the correlation between the two rear sensors (L2 vs. L3) and the three front sensors (L4 vs. L5, L4 vs. L6, L5 vs. L6) was mostly high (r > 0.50) to very high (r > 0.70). During carving turns, the correlation between w″ of the rear (w1−3″) and that of front sensors (w4−6″) of the outer ski was low (ranging between −0.21 and 0.22) with the exception of high correlations during COM DC II (r = 0.51–0.54). In contrast, for parallel ski steering, the r between the w″ of the front and rear sensors was mostly high to very high, especially for COM DC I and II (r = 0.48–0.85). Further, a high to very high correlation (r ranging between 0.55 and 0.83) among RF, RA, and w″ of the two sensors located behind the binding (w2″,w3″) in COM DC I and II for the outer ski during carving was found. However, the values of r were low to moderate (r = 0.04–0.47) during parallel ski steering. It can be concluded that homogeneous ski deflection along the ski is an oversimplified picture, as the w″ pattern differs not only temporally but also segmentally, depending on the employed technique and turn phase. In carving, the rear segment of the outer ski is considered to have a pivotal role for creating a clean and precise turn on the edge

A printed proximity-sensing surface based on organic pyroelectric sensors and organic thin-film transistor electronics

Large-area, flexible proximity-sensing surfaces are useful in a range of applications including process control, work security and robotics. However, current systems typically require rigid and thick electronics, which limit how they can be used. Here we report a flexible large-area proximity-sensing surface fabricated using printed organic materials and incorporating analogue front-end electronics in each pixel. The sensing surface is built with printed thin-film pyroelectric sensors based on poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) co-polymers and printed organic thin-film transistors. A 5 × 10 matrix frontplane, consisting of long-wavelength infrared organic pyroelectric sensors, is laminated with an organic transistor analogue front-end backplane. The electronic front end provides sensor-signal amplification and pixel addressing to maximize the detection distance and reduce pixel crosstalk. An average yield of 82% fully working pixels for the backplane and a maximum system yield of 96%, which corresponds to 768 defect-free devices, are achieved. The system can detect a human hand approaching from different directions and track the position of a movable heat source up to a distance of around 0.4 m at a readout speed of 100 frames per second