A Real-time Simulator for the Sport of Skeleton

The track bound sliding sport of Skeleton was permanently added to Winter Olympics programme in 2002. This has led to increased interest in the sport. Engineering has already proved to be a vital contributor to improved performance in the related sport of Bobsleighing. We hope that engineering can do the same for Skeleton. This report describes...

Instrumentation of a Skeleton Sled: Novel Tactile Steering Force Sensors

The purpose of this project is to design and develop a set of force sensors to measure steering forces applied by an athlete down the ice track. Currently, there is not enough information about instrumentation in skeleton, and to maintain competitive advantages, most of the research remains private and unpublished. Athletes use their shoulders...

About the mechanical properties of bicycle tyres

A lot of research has been done on the behaviour of pneumatic tyres and this has led to various tyre models and a lot of measurement data. However, in the specific field of bicycle tyres, not so much measurement data is available. However, in 2013 Andrew Dressel received the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering at the University of...

Phase-Specific Stiffness of Sprinting Prostheses: Performance Enhancement of Amputee Sprinting: A Modelling Approach

Running-specific prostheses enable amputee athletes to perform at the highest level. However, current prosthesis design still impairs sprinting performance in multiple ways. An example is the constant mechanical stiffness of the prosthetic devices. The dynamic behaviour of the blade is determined by this property, but it is static and cannot...

Explore Pole Vaulting Strategies by control optimization: A biomechanical model based exploration

The development of the pole vaulting record is only improved by 1 centimeter over the last 25 years. Multiple studies show signs of different control strategies in elite pole vaulters, without pointing out what the cause of the differences is The aim of this research is to explore pole vaulting strategies by a control torque optimization. The...

Evaluation of the Cruden Motorcycle Simulator

Research in the motorcycle industry is lagging behind research in the automotive industry. Especially with respect to safety, more research is needed, since motorcycles are overrepresented in the number of road casualties and injuries. Important tools in vehicle research are vehicle simulators. The use of motorcycle simulators enables...

Bicycle Handling Qualities: finding objective measures for subjective handling qualities

Forward dynamic model for rowing performance; driven by rower specific data and variable rigging setup

In this research the influence of the rower behavior and rigging setup on the boat performance is investigated in a data-driven model. There are different rowing styles and techniques between rowers. Making rowers row in synchrony, while important for the boat performance, is not easy. Rowers have their own signature rowing curve, of which only...

Optimal Team Time Trial Strategy in Road Cycling: Optimisation of Changing Strategy using a Mathematical Performance model

During team time trials in road cycling changing schemes are used to spread the workload over the cyclists in the team. Models that provide predictions of race performance already exist for individual time trials. It is proposed that with a performance model for team time trials, the performance of different strategies can be compared and...