Team 309: Sprinter Data Collection

Abstract

The purpose of our design is to provide a product that will collect information for runners, sprinters, and coaches to improve sprinting performance. Currently, there are many devices that help with collecting data during runs, but they either cost too much or provide only a few factors. In order to meet this need, we designed our product to provide multiple factors, reliable data and be affordable. The factors that are considered important for the performance of sprinters are: speed, acceleration, timing, distance, and stride (the distance covered when you take two steps, one with each foot). Therefore, we have made these data points our focus.

In order to get these components, our program uses processed data from a camera and an accelerometer using the C++ programming language. The camera processing is done through a library extension in C++ known as OpenCV. Data acquired from these two devices provide accurate values of speed, acceleration, timing, distance, and stride. The camera captures the footage necessary to calculate distance, time, speed, and stride length. The accelerometer, attached to the chest of the runner, gathers acceleration, speed, time, and stride frequency. Speed, time and components of stride are measurements in both devices. This data is then synchronized to gain more precise data points. Our program takes the that data from the camera and the accelerometer as inputs. It calculates our data points and delivers them to the user as outputs.

Our program allows the user to upload videos taken on an iPhone camera to ensure its ease of use. This makes our design affordable, while still giving the customer info at the same accuracy as other data tracking devices. The Sprinter Data Collector gives the user full awareness of their performance when running.