Motion measurement of a canoeist

 Fuculty of Engineering Dr. Kawasue Kawasue Lab.

Fuculty of Medicine Dr. Etsuo Chosa Lab.

Recently, motion analysis systems of athletes using a computer vision have been exploited. The motion of the athletes is digitized and digitized data is used for the quantitative analysis. Theses motion analysis systems have been applied for ground sports such as a baseball, track and field sports etc. These systems have succeeded to obtain the valuable data.

 On our study, we have tried to develop the motion digitizing system for a canoeist at on-site field (on a river). Since the canoe competition is executed at far distance from the wharf generally, it is very difficult to record the athlete motion using a vision system. Therefore, we set eight CCD cameras on its body of the canoe. These CCD cameras observe the motion of the canoeist and the recorded images are fed to the computer. The computer analyzes the 3D motion of the canoeist. Some markers attached on the body of the athlete are triangulated and the three-dimensional positions are calculated for constructing the motion of the athlete on the computer.

Four CCD cameras are set on the each of front and rear side of the canoe.

System controllers were waterproofed to avoid an inundation..

Calibration is an important task to ensure the accurate measurement.

The canoe with the measuremet system is set on the water.

Measurement on a river.

Computer analyzes the movement of the canoeist.

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