Cork researchers are developing a helmet that can collect data on motion, impact and physical health, and then relay it back to a computer monitor, writes Berni Dwan
The excitement of hurling comes from the marvellous high-speed skill of the players. The risks come from the three-dimensional element to the sport in player-to-player, hurley-to-player and ball-to-player high-speed impacts.
So a rock-hard ball travelling at speeds of up to 100km/h naturally requires a protective helmet. Now researchers in Cork have transformed this protective helmet into something even more functional by equipping it with a full wireless sensor network that monitors motion, impacts and player physiology.
The researchers are based in the Centre for Adaptive Wireless Systems (AWS) in the department of electronic engineering at Cork Institute of Technology.
The project is supported by the Higher Education Authority Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI) as part of the "M-Zones" project.
It is called the Smart Helmet and it will let coaches and doctors see from feedback on a remote screen how the players are performing.
"Being able to tell a player's heart-rate means that they can train at the most optimal level for fitness, and being able to tell their temperature can prevent dehydration," explains Michael Walsh, a master's research student involved in the project.
"Coaches will be able to prevent burnout or overtraining, which so often occurs during long sessions. If the player receives a knock to the head the coach will be able to view this and make an educated decision about taking the player off."
Dr John Barrett, lecturer in the department of electronic engineering at CIT and supervisor of the helmet research, explains the origins of Smart Helmet.
"A few years ago we were approached by Cork-based sports helmet manufacturers, Mycro Sportsgear, with a view to putting a coach-to-player voice communications system in a helmet. We agreed on an even more ambitious programme and the end result is the helmet we have today - an apparently normal helmet but containing advanced, miniaturised sensing, computing and communications electronics that can be worn in comfort by a player."
The Smart Helmet gathers data on head acceleration (from impacts) for improving helmet design, player physiology and motion for transmission to the sideline. "The data could also be used to generate multimedia re-enactments of play or for spectator viewing of player vital signs and impacts, something similar to 'player cam' in the premiership that allows you to see how a player is coping during a particularly though game," says Walsh.
The AWS researchers chose hurling because it presents unique challenges from a wireless sensing perspective having to collect data from a rapidly moving hurler for the duration of a training session or match over the range of the pitch.
"The accelerometers we use come from Analog Devices and are similar to those used to trigger car air bags, giving us 3D measurements of G-forces from player movement and impacts on the helmet," explains Walsh.
Each sensor is connected to a microcontroller, a microcomputer that takes the readings from each sensor, puts them in the correct sequence and then sends them to a wireless transmitter and antenna. The AWS researchers took all the electronics and distributed it about the helmet in the narrow gap between the outer hard plastic shell and the internal padding. A low profile mobile phone battery provides the power, sufficient for several hours of continuous use.
"The helmet has been recently tested by Ronan Curran, development manager with Mycro Sportsgear and Cork Senior Hurler, and we found it to be comfortable and capable of working in a typical training session," Walsh says.
"In the future we plan to add direction sensors to the helmet to track player speed and distance on the pitch and we also hope to bring the concept to other sports such as rugby, where monitoring of impacts is also very useful."