'Smart saddle' could help equestrians hit their stride

Date:
January 26, 2022
Source:
American Chemical Society
Summary:
Researchers have developed a prototype 'smart saddle' that
could help equestrians improve their biomechanics. Moreover,
the self-powered saddle can alert others when a rider takes a fall.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Skilled equestrians make advanced riding maneuvers, like jumps, spins
and piaffes, look effortless. But good riding requires balance and subtle
cues to the horse, many of which are given through the rider's posture,
seat and legs.

Now, researchers reporting in ACS Nano developed a prototype "smart
saddle" that could help equestrians improve their biomechanics. Moreover,
the self- powered saddle can alert others when a rider takes a fall.


==========================================================================
Big data collection and analysis are becoming important components of
many competitive sports because they provide real-time information on
athletes' performance and fitness. However, most systems are powered
by batteries, often making them bulky and inflexible. In contrast,
small, lightweight triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), which convert mechanical energy into electricity, are being tested for a variety of applications, from harvesting the energy of ocean waves to charging
cell phones through walking. In addition to powering themselves, TENGs
can convert mechanical stimuli, such as pressure, touch or motion,
into electrical signals. Ding Nan, Baodong Chen, Zhong Lin Wang and
colleagues wanted to adapt TENGs to a smart saddle for challenging and potentially dangerous equestrian sports.

The researchers made a thin, flexible, disk-shaped TENG that flattens when depressed and then rebounds when the pressure is removed. Under pressure,
the internal layers of the TENG compress, transferring electrons from
one electrode to another and generating a current, which stops when the pressure is released.

The team placed an array of seven TENGs on the top surface of a saddle
so they could detect differences in pressure in various regions of the
seat. Electrical signals from the array revealed whether a rider was
leaning forward, sitting in an upright position or leaning backward. The
smart saddle also detected when a person was standing up and sitting
down (a motion called "posting" in the equestrian world). When a rider
falls off, the system can transmit a wireless signal to alert others,
a safety feature that could allow an injured rider to be quickly found
and treated, which is especially important when riding alone.

The self-powered smart saddle, which has a response time of 16
milliseconds, could someday provide real-time statistical data and fall detection to equestrians and their coaches, the researchers say.

The authors acknowledge funding from the Natural Science Foundation of
Beijing Municipality, the National Natural Science Foundation of China,
the National Key R&D Project from Ministry of Science and Technology, the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, the Inner Mongolia scientific and technological achievements transformation project and
the Inner Mongolia autonomous region major science and technology program.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Chemical_Society. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Yutao Hao, Jing Wen, Xiaobo Gao, Ding Nan, Juan Pan, Yuhan Yang,
Baodong
Chen, Zhong Lin Wang. Self-Rebound Cambered Triboelectric
Nanogenerator Array for Self-Powered Sensing in Kinematic
Analytics. ACS Nano, 2022; 16 (1): 1271 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.1c09096 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220126090529.htm

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