U.S. Rowing Teams achieve a high-tech Olympic edge with LabVIEW and LabWindows; Software performs data acquisition and analysis to hone rowing performance.COLORADO SPRINGS Colorado Springs, city (1990 pop. 281,140), seat of El Paso co., central Colo., on Monument and Fountain creeks, at the foot of Pikes Peak; inc. 1886. It is a year-round resort and a booming military, technological, and commercial city. , Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 21, 1996--When the expected difference between a gold medal gold medal traditional first prize. [Western Cult: Misc.] See : Prize performance and a silver one is less than just one percent, every tenth of a second counts -- that's why the U.S. rowing teams have taken a high-tech approach to fine-tuning their performance. To prepare for this summer's Olympic Games Olympic games, premier athletic meeting of ancient Greece, and, in modern times, series of international sports contests. The Olympics of Ancient Greece Although records cannot verify games earlier than 776 B.C. in Atlanta, the U.S. men's and women's rowing teams are using a computer system with software developed using Windows-based LabVIEW(R) and DOS-based LabWindows(R) -- both from National Instruments National Instruments, or NI (NASDAQ: NATI), is an American company with over 4,000 employees and direct operations in 41 countries founded in 1976 by Dr. James Truchard, Bill Nowlin and Jeff Kodosky. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :NATI NATI National Association of Teen Institutes NATI Newfoundland Association of Technical Industries ) -- to acquire, analyze, and display rowing data on an IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) laptop. The U.S. Olympic Committee Sports Science Sports science is a discipline that studies the application of scientific principles and techniques with the aim of improving sporting performance. Human movement is a related scientific discipline that studies human movement in all contexts including that of sport. and Technology (SS&T) Division in Colorado Springs designed the Rowing Data Acquisition System (RDAS RDAS Requirements Definition and Analysis Summary ) to help rowing teams achieve better results by collecting data on different rowing positions and analyzing it via computer as the teams row. "Using the RDAS, our rowing coaches can optimize team capabilities," remarked Karla Coughlin of the SS&T Division. "Coaches can arrange athletes to the best advantage of the team as well as analyze individual rowing performance. "While coaches receive valuable information related to training and performance, scientists at the U.S. Olympic Committee can further study the physics of rowing. Because of its continued impact on the sport, U.S. Rowing has incorporated the RDAS into their long-range plans for training and competitions, through the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and beyond." About the Rowing Data Acquisition System With sensors placed on the oars and oar locks, the system monitors four rowers; data is sent back via wireless transmission to the laptop, which is located on the coach's launch. The RDAS monitors oar angle, oar torque (force exerted on the oar from the oar lock), boat speed, and boat acceleration. Optimized software developed with LabVIEW and LabWindows performs data acquisition and postprocessing functions. The RDAS reads data from the serial port using a program developed with LabWindows. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Coughlin, the SS&T Division selected LabWindows because of its ability to read from a serial port as well as process, display, and store data in real time. Rowing coaches design their own test sessions. For example, a coach might have athletes row four 500 m segments with a one-minute rest in between. During testing, the system sends data to the serial port of the laptop at 30 samples per second per channel. Because the data is displayed on the laptop, coaches can review performance characteristics and make recommendations while they collect the data. Coaches can store collected data on the laptop hard drive for later analysis. Analyzing the Rowing Data with LabVIEW Once data collection is complete, the RDAS performs further analysis using LabVIEW-based software. The SS&T Division chose LabVIEW because of its user-friendly interface, Coughlin said. The LabVIEW-based software provides the RDAS with a means of isolating individual oar strokes. The system then analyzes these oar strokes to determine rowing performance for each athlete, including stroke length, drive time (when blade is in the water), recovery time (when blade is out of the water), wasted catch and wasted finish (at start or finish of stroke, when blade is in the water but not propelling the boat), instantaneous power, total power, total work, effective torque Effective Torque is often referred to as wheel torque or torque to the wheels is primarily associated with automotive tuning. Torque can be measured using a dynamometer. Common units used in automotive applications can include ft·lbf and N·m. , effective power, percent of effectiveness, stroke-to-stroke consistency, angular velocity, and angular acceleration angular acceleration n. The rate of change of angular velocity with respect to time. angular acceleration The rate of change of angular velocity with respect to time. . The RDAS computes averages over multiple strokes for each athlete. Within the data analysis program, the coach can choose which parameters to graph; common choices include torque vs. time, angle vs. time, torque vs. angle, and average power vs. time. The graph most commonly used is torque vs. angle. This graph characterizes stroke length, quality of the catch and finish, rate of torque development, where in the drive phase torque is generated, rate of torque reduction late in the drive phase, and work performed. The analysis program can also select several files for simultaneous analysis, meaning coaches can compare different athletes in the same seat position or the same athlete in a different seat position. In addition, coaches can compare different portions of a test segment to see differences between the start, when the rowers are pulling harder to get the boat moving; the middle, when everyone has settled into a rhythm; and the end, when fatigue may play a factor. Coaches can also perform long-term studies to highlight the effects of training or to gain baseline data they can use for comparison purposes. About National Instruments National Instruments, headquartered in Austin, Texas, manufactures software and hardware products for PCs and workstations that scientists and engineers worldwide use to build virtual instrumentation Virtual Instrumentation is the use of customizable software and modular measurement hardware to create user-defined measurement systems, called virtual instruments. systems. These systems are used for research and industrial applications such as automated testing, laboratory automation, advanced research, industrial control, factory automation, physiological monitoring, numerical analysis, and data visualization. National Instruments stock is traded on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol NATI. Further information on National Instruments may be obtained from the company's SEC filings or by directly contacting the company's Investor Relations Investor relations The process by which the corporation communicates with its investors. Department at 512/349-5090. Pricing, Availability, and For More Information LabVIEW pricing starts at $995. LabWindows for DOS pricing starts at $695. For more information, contact National Instruments, 6504 Bridge Point Parkway, Austin, TX 78730-5039, 512/794-0100. Or call toll free in the United States and Canada at 800/433-3488, fax 512/794-8411, e-mail info@natinst.com. Readers can also access information through the National Instruments InstrumentationWeb(TM) at http://www.natinst.com. -0- NOTE TO EDITORS: Product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies. CONTACT: National Instruments, Austin Tad Druart, 512/794-5662 (Editors) Jerry Rodriguez, 512/794-0100 (Readers) or United States Olympic Committee “USOC” redirects here. For USOC in telephony, see registered jack. The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is a non-profit organization that serves as the National Olympic Committee (NOC) for the United States and coordinates the relationship between the Karla Coughlin SS&T Division E-mail: kcoughlin@usoc.org |
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