Force sensing oar
OwnerMichael C. Luecker, Michael H. Linseinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for determining the magnitude of force applied to an oar by a rower as the oar is pulled through water includes a deflection sensor and a temperature sensor mounted on an oar shaft to determine deflection and temperature of a portion of the oar shaft during rowing. A processor connected to the deflection sensor and the temperature sensor receives signals indicative of deflection and temperature of the oar shaft and derives a force applied to an oar blade based on the deflection and temperature signals.
Claims19
A system for determining a force on an oar during a rower's rowing stroke in water, comprising:
- an oar handle;
- a hollow oar shaft extending from the oar handle;
- an oar blade affixed to the hollow oar shaft distal from the oar handle;
- a deflection sensor affixed to a portion of the hollow oar shaft at a location for sensing oar shaft deflection, wherein the deflection sensor generates a deflection signal in response to deflection of the hollow oar shaft resulting from a force acting on the oar blade;
- a temperature sensor affixed to a portion of the hollow oar shaft proximate the deflection sensor to generate a temperature signal representing a temperature of the portion of the hollow oar shaft;
- a processing device mounted in the hollow oar shaft, the processing device operatively coupled to the deflection sensor and the temperature sensor to receive the deflection signal and the temperature signal, the processing device programmed to determine a magnitude of the force acting on the oar blade based on the received deflection signal and temperature signal;
- a display device operatively communicating with the processing device for displaying the determined force magnitude;
- and
- a power source disposed in the hollow oar shaft, wherein the power source is electrically connected to and provides power to the deflection sensor, the temperature sensor, and the processing device.
A method of determining derived rowing data for a rower's rowing stroke in water, comprising:
- positioning a deflection measuring device at a location on an oar shaft to measure a deflection of the oar shaft produced as the rower rows through water;
- positioning a temperature measuring device proximate the location on the oar shaft to measure the temperature of the location;
- generating a deflection signal based on the measured deflection;
- generating a temperature signal based on the measured temperature;
- determining a force on the oar by a processor based on the deflection signal and the temperature signal;
- generating derived rowing data by a processor based on the determined force;
- and
- displaying the derived rowing data on a display.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.