Kayaking, at least when it comes to competition at the Olympic level, means bringing the kayak, the paddle, and the athlete together as one.
The Australian kayak team, currently competing in the 2012 summer games in London, turned to 3D scanning and 3D software technology to facilitate that harmony, using the tools to design and build a custom fitout, a device that helps athletes take on the raging whitewaters while at the same time propelling the competition to the next level.
While at its simple definition, a fitout is custom parts of foam and wood for the seat of the craft, this team opted to go the extra mile because in the slalom race, the fitout can give athletes an edge since they have to maneuver through 18 to 25 gates as fast as possible, including some segments that are upstream. "A good fitout allows the athlete to use their full range of motion while transferring as much force as possible into the water," said Ami Drory, a biomechanist at the Australian Institute of Sport, who took the lead in pursuing ways to develop a better fitout for the Australian team, in an interview.
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The team scans Australian Olympic Kayaker Jessica Fox with Creaform REVscan to capture her lower body shape. (Source: Creaform)
Traditionally, the process of developing a fitout is labor-intensive, and because you're relying mostly on trial and error, there is a lot of wasted material and it's not so easy to repeat results. Drory was also trying to create a dozen customizations in a limited amount of time -- a reality that prompted him to turn to automation and digital design processes, including the 3D scanning tools.
First, his team 3D laser-scanned the athlete, in this case, kayaker Jessica Fox, using the REVscan portable handheld laser scanner from Creaform and enlisting a webbing of point markers to affix the position. Another scan was done to capture the interior of Fox's competition kayak. Next, Creaform's VX Elements software was tapped to produce STL polygonal data files of the scans, which were then imported into Geomagic Studio, another software tool, this one for turning 3D data into precise NURB surfaces for use in CAD.
Both Fox's body scan and the kayak scan were processed by Geomagic Studio and saved as an IGES file for import into SolidWorks. The CAD system then provided the Boolean operations so the team could precisely model the kayak fitout, customizing it perfectly to the athlete's unique body shape. Repeating this process, the team scanned and processed 11 athletes' scans in three days.
There's no guarantee that the digital design process helped Fox bring home the silver metal Aug. 2, but the team is confident that the improved fitout helped shave some time off the clock, and they're certainly not alone. More and more sports sectors and teams are turning to engineering tools to improve their competitive edge. Just consider the professional athletes clamoring for Speedo's low-drag Fastskin Racing System, which relied heavily on CFD simulation to optimize its design, and the IndyCar circuit, which also employs a heavy dose of simulation to achieve its ground breaking records.
A hero indeed, Bobjengr. One thing I've always wondered is how the stump can take the pressure of a pounding run. Perhaps the prosthetic limbs absorb some of the impact.
I agree Rob. I would love to know the iterations the blade runner went through during the design phase of his prosthetic limbs. I think his optimism becomes legendary and demonstrates the great marriage between engineering design and the ability of those designs to make better the lives of those with disabilities. This guy probably does not think he is a hero but I certainly do.
Naperlou, I also wondered at this. Professional race teams take a lower technology approach to making the drivers' seats. Those are at least as conformal as the kayak fitout kits, but they do it using foam molds of the drivers' posteriors.
@Stephen: Definite possibility for the next step, but definitely starting to edge into really expensive territory. Then again, when you're talking about major competitions like the Olympics, I suppose cost isn't really the driving issue. Thanks for pointing out.
At first, I thought the subject article was going to address customizing the kayak craft itself to the athlete/rower. The seat customization is impressive alone, but you have to wonder how long before someone in the field starts taking a basic kayak "shell" (perhaps omitting the cutout for the athlete/rower, providing some extra polyethylene/fiberglass at the item's ends, adjusting other features and fixtures etc.) in anticipation of a final stage of manufacture in which the unit is "individualized," "fitted-out" or "trued/customized" to the specific weight, height, center of gravity, even gender of the eventual user of the craft. Using the same scanning and graphing techniques as noted in the piece, this idea would seem to be a logical next step.
Yes the Gymnastics Vault table was redesigned for the 2000 Olympics because a lot of accidents and deaths. It has more surface area and springs that help the athletes get more lift. You saw that the Girl's American gymnast McKayla Maroney used the spring better than the Chinese Olympic champion and had a higher lift on her events.
Good question, Ann. I would think the same technology could play a role for custom fit ski boots, types of bicycle equipment (seats come to mind), even perhaps for the luge in the winter Olympics. Once you start contemplating the technology, the possibilities seem to stack up.
It's great to see technology applied to the Olympic sports. This is a great example. I also like the Blade Runner. I would imagine his artificial legs went through a lot if iterations before the came up with the legs that performed so well in the Olympics.
What a great app for 3D scanning and software tech. Considering how snug the fit of a kayak should be, this custom approach to building them makes a lot of sense. I wonder what other sports apps could benefit from similarly-designed customized equipment?
It's cool to get an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at some of the things these accomplished athletes do in order to excel in their sport. (We've also seen advancements in swimwear.) It makes the Games, at least for me, that much more fun to watch.
I wonder if there is a story here that involves gymnastics, too - maybe a materials angle? I heard an interview with one of the gymnasts who said the floor in London is not as "springy" as the floors they trained on in the US.
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