Wearable sensorized system for analyzing the lower limb movement during rowing activity

A wearable sensing system was developed to monitor kinematic variables of lower limbs of an athlete during rowing activity. The system is thought to be used directly in the boat to analyze athlete performance during training or race activity. To allow "on-water" rowing activity monitoring the system has to be light, wearable and not cumbersome for the user. A prototype based on a sensing leotard made of fabric integrated conductive elastomer was realized. Conductive elastomer sensors show piezoresistive properties without changing the mechanical properties of the fabric. The prototype was tested in a laboratory set-up by comparing its outputs with the ones coming from a standard reference system. The preliminary results were encouraging. The next step will be to test the system performance "on-water" during training or race.