Muscle activity evaluation using force sensitive resistors

We describe the use of upper leg mounted force sensitive resistors (FSR) to analyze muscle activity during bicycling. We demonstrate that FSRs can provide information that is not accessible to motion sensors, like the gear in which a person is cycling or rather the amount of force applied to the pedals. This is exemplary for many other activities where the effort and subtle muscle activities patterns play a role in determining how well an activity is being performed. Together with a sports clothing manufacturer (FALKE AG) we have developed special shorts for the integration of FSRs. We have developed and implemented an online recognition method. This method has been evaluated in an elaborate experiment.