More flexible and customizable sensors help badminton players

During the Olympics, as we will be experiencing in the coming weeks, we often hear about how technology can help athletes perform. Not yet put into practice at these games, but already in advanced research, low-cost, flexible and customizable sensors are being used by badminton players to allow monitoring without the current restrictions.

A team of researchers is using triboelectric sensors, which can convert mechanical energy into electrical energy, to build an intelligent monitoring system that is easily adaptable to wearable devices, minimizing interference during athletes’ movements. The sensors have been designed in the shape of an arc and 3D printed encased in a thermoplastic elastomer. The design is comfortable to wear and can be customized for each athlete, according to the researchers.

This solution appears to be a potential alternative to current athlete monitoring systems that use less flexible sensors to produce videos. However, traditional analysis of these videos and current wearable sensor technologies often fall short when used to produce a comprehensive view of athlete performance, the researchers argue.

In the specific case of badminton, athletes perform many high-speed and precise technical movements. Monitoring posture, footwork, arm movements and muscle strength is limited by the video recording angles and the discomfort of the rigid wearable sensors.

“We have integrated our experience in flexible sensor technology and intelligent perception systems with the monitoring of badminton movements to present a quantitative analysis of techniques and provide players with more professional guidance,“ says Yun Yang, author of the research.

The new sensors are triboelectric and therefore self-powered, eliminating the need for an external power supply. In addition, they are more flexible and suitable for sports situations in which there are very active body parts, as well as many flexion points.

The intelligent system for badminton was made from three 3D-printed sensors, a multi-channel acquisition card and neural network algorithms. It is capable of online monitoring and giving real-time feedback to athletes. It recognizes seven movements typical of badminton games, including forehand and backhand serves and forehand and backhand hooks, with a recognition accuracy rate of 97.2%.

“Our research is presenting new ideas to solve the problems of large curvatures or torsions in the joints associated with current 3D-printed triboelectric sensors. It offers a new solution for intelligent monitoring and analysis of badminton movements and can be extended to other sports fields. It has great potential for sports applications in the era of Big Data,” says Yang.

Evolution of sports sensors

Sensor technologies, machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI), materials science, augmented reality, 3D printing and biomechanical analysis are making significant contributions to the field of sports. Over a three-year period (2020-2023), more than 76,000 patents were registered and granted in the sports industry, according to GlobalData’s Innovation in sports: athletic monitoring sensors report.

Below is a chart of the main companies that are innovating the most in the field of sports monitoring sensors:

“Application Diversity” measures the number of applications identified for each patent and classifies companies as ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.

“Geographical scope” refers to the number of countries in which each patent is registered and reflects the breadth of the intended geographical application, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.