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Aussie sport: what's in those Speedos? |
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| Aussie sport is full of surprises, like the future secret of our swimming success being hidden in the swimmer's trunks, or the Gold Coast being the balmy ice skate manufacturing capital of the world. In all arenas, science and technology play an increasingly important role. |
"Swimming, a sport that Australia excels at, is using microtechnology and it's completely revolutionising how our swimmers train and go for gold," said Dr Robert Bell, host of CSIRO's new SCOPE TV program.
Traqua, developed by the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for microTechnology for the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), is the leading edge of the next sports revolution - providing hard data in real time on an athlete's motion to reinforce the coach's eye and instincts.
"Smart sensors allow us to measure the start, turn, velocity and stroke of a swimmer," AIS sports scientist David Pyne told SCOPE. Complex information like stroke rate, symmetry and body roll can be recorded with unprecedented accuracy.
A small plastic case about the size of a matchbox jammed with micro-machined, high-precision sensors, digital recording and radio equipment is the new secret weapon for Australian swimming. Slipped easily into the back of a swimmer's trunks, it seems the 'budgie smugglers' are smuggling a lot more these days.
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CSIRO SCOPE's Dr Rob Bell visits the home of Aussie sports technology at the Australian Institute of Sport
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The technology senses the athlete's movement and position in the water, analyses it with sophisticated software and reports to the watching coach, who can then provide immediate advice on overcoming any flaws that hamper optimum performance.
"Coaches are using the Traqua technology to get immediate feedback on athlete performance to support and quantify what they can see with their eye and stopwatch," says AIS senior sports physiologist Dr Tony Rice.
"It's all about efficiency - the one per cent gain, how much you put in and what you get out of it."
While the technology is currently assisting the elite, the future may see golf clubs monitoring your slice or a skateboard measuring how high you ollie (or jump to those not savvy with boarder's lingo).
"We expect electronics to become an integral part of most sports equipment," says the CRC for microTechnology's Shaun Holthouse. "Whereas today you buy just a tennis racquet, in the future you'll buy a racquet that tells you how fast you serve and how clean your forehand was so that you can compare yourself to the champions."
Speaking of champions, technology also helped Queensland's Steven Bradbury to be the first Aussie to take gold at a Winter Olympics. Who could forget Steve's fortuitus yet hard-fought win, coming from behind after other skaters collided to snatch the primo podium position.
Like fellow world champion Apolo Anton Ohno, Steve's skates were proudly Australian made using a cutting-edge manufacturing process called rapid prototyping.
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David Pyne, sports scientist with the Australian Institute of Sport, and the pool that is his lab
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Taking a 3D computer drawing and building it layer by layer into a solid object, rapid prototyping is about the closest thing to the Star Trek Replicator we've managed so far. Each minutely different layer is only 100 microns thick, roughly the same as a human hair, and is laid down on top of the last. Imagine a microscopic Lego or a 3D inkjet printer, except with more cutting-edge science than Gillette in 2020. Steve's skate boots were made using the process, giving them strength and fit other technologies can't touch.
Like many great Aussie inventions, the boot design was born out of necessity when Steve and fellow skater Clint Jensen, who builds the skates, were frustrated with the poor quality and make-you-poor price of custom skates. Their solution was the Revolutionary Boot Company and rapid prototyping technology is what gives their skates the edge.
But it's not just engineers and sportsmen making the most of rapid prototyping - artists at the Australian National University and elsewhere are utilising it for sculpture. Intricate internal carvings, impossible in the past for the most skilled sculptor or engineer, become simple with rapid prototyping.
Catch more cool science and technology on SCOPE, 4pm Mondays on Network Ten.
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