Name	Role	Building/Room	Email
A/Prof Paul Grimshaw	Course Coordinator/Lecturer	Engineering South Building, S235	paul.grimshaw@adelaide.edu.au

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

 

1	Have a good understanding of the principles of instrumentation;
2	Understand the concepts of instrumenting sports equipment, athletes and sports facilities;
3	Understand the principles of sensor systems, measurement chains and signal processing;
4	Be capable of designing instrumented equipment based on the rules of governing sporting bodies;
5	Be capable of designing instrumented equipment without changing the physical and mechanical properties of equipment;
6	Be able to calculate and graphically represent vector diagrams and instantaneous centres of pressure;
7	Understand principles of quantification of performance and optimisation of training;
8	Understand the principles of biofeedback systems;
9	Be capable of instrumenting an athlete with various instrumentation systems and skin markers;
10	Have had experience with designing instrumentation systems.

 
The above course learning outcomes are aligned with the Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competency Standard for the Professional Engineer.
The course is designed to develop the following Elements of Competency: 1.1   1.2   1.3   1.4   1.5   1.6   2.1   2.2   2.3   2.4   3.1   3.2   3.3   3.4   3.5   3.6   

No required texts.

The following texts are recommended:

• Grimshaw P N, Lees A, Fowler, N, and Burden A. (2007) Instant notes in Sport and Exercise Biomechanics. Taylor and Francis, London. ISBN – 1 8599 6284 X. 
  Section F – Measurement Techniques (pp 295–352)
• Hong Y, editor (2002) International Research in Sports Biomechanics. Routledge Publishers, New York. ISBN – 0415262302.
  Parts 5, 7, and 8 (pp 137–168, 203–242 and 243–286)
• Subic A J and Haake S J, editors (2000) The Engineering of Sport: research, development and innovation. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford, UK. ISBN – 0-632-055634.
  Parts 1 & 2 (pages 1–158)

Please see the MyUni learning area for this course which is located at the following: MyUni and type in the course name or code (Sports Engineering I – MECH ENG 2102)

Please see the MyUni learning area for this course.

As per university recommendations, it is expected that students spend 48hrs/week during teaching periods, and that a 3 unit course has a minimum workload of 156 hours regardless of the length of the course. Additional time may need to be spent acquiring assumed knowledge, working on assessment during non-teaching periods, and preparing for and attending examinations

45 hours lectures and tutorials and 6 hours laboratory classes.

The following curriculum is subject to change.

Introduction and Overview (1hr)

• General principles and purpose of instrumentation in sports
• Workflow of instrumentation and business aspects

Sensors, data transfer and signal processing (10 hrs)

• Sensors and transducers
• Mechanics and design of sensors
• Properties of sensors (including force transducers, accelerometers, IMUs, pressure sensors, ONT, optical sensors, MEMS transducers, GPS)
• Wireless technology, A/D boards and software systems
• Signal processing, fractal geometry
• Design and problems of measurement chains

Instrumentation of Equipment (10 hrs)

• Workflow of instrumentation, constraints, and sporting rules
• Product overview
• Definition and identification of performance parameters
• Optimisation of training and biofeedback
• Calculation and graphical representation of vector diagrams and instantaneous centres of pressure using software
• Design of instrumented equipment, sensor locations and balancing
• Application of instrumented equipment and case reports
• Instrumentation for testing of equipment

Instrumentation of the athlete (10 hrs)

• Overview of instrumentation systems
• Worn instrumentation and constraints
• Kinematic systems with skin markers (EGM, video, infrared, ultrasound, electromagnetic)
• Application of kinematic systems and case reports
• Performance analysis
• Golf swing analysers

Instrumentation of the environment and sports facilities (10 hrs)

• Video systems and software (Dartfish, SiliconCoach, Simi)
• Hawk Eye
• Infrared contact measurement (Hotspot)
• Application of video systems and case reports
• Performance analysis

Holistic instrumentation (2 hrs)

• Combination of different instrumentation systems
• Examples of measurement chains
• DIY instrumentation

None

Assessment Task	Weighting (%)	Individual/ Group	Formative/ Summative	Due (week)*	Hurdle criteria	Learning outcomes
Assignment x 2	0.15	Individual	Summative	Weeks 2-6		1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Laboratories Report x 2	0.15	Group/Individual	Summative	Weeks 2-8		1. 2. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Group Project	0.1	Group/Individual	Summative	Weeks 6-10		1. 2. 3. 4. 7. 8.
Final Exam	0.6	Individual	Summative	Weeks 15-16		1. 2. 3. 4. 6. 7. 8.
Total	1

* The specific due date for each assessment task will be available on MyUni.
 
This assessment breakdown complies with the University's Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy.
 

None

Assignments and Tutorials (15%)

Throughout the course Sports Engineering 1 (MECH ENG 2102) you will be given assignments that relate to specific components/areas of the lectures. These assignments will be given throughout the course. In addition, you will be required to attend tutorials which will be related to particular problems given throughout the course.

Extensive use of Matlab will be used to aid your learning of the course material and to develop analytical skills used throughout your Sports Engineering degree.

Some assignments will be Matlab-based and may be submitted in groups of two.

Laboratory 1: Force Platform
The first laboratory is on the analysis of a vertical jump using the Kistler Force Platform. Students will be introduced to the capabilities and software used to perform measurements with the force platform, then individually execute a variety of vertical jumping maneuvers. Material is presented for the theoretical analysis for the same using basic projectile motion. In the follow-up session, the data recorded for each student will be analysed using Matlab. Each student is required to write an individual report to formally present their recorded data.

Laboratory 2: Sensors
The second lab is an introduction to basic sensor use to familiarise the students with taking a sensor and using it for generic instrumentation as appropriate for the situation. This includes measurement practicalities relating to the raw electrical signal such as dynamic range, discretisation, signal-to-noise ratio, and saturation. After this lab the students should be comfortable with choosing a basic sensor for a certain task, reading the raw signal into Matlab and generating meaningful results from it.

Laboratory 3: EMG
The third lab is an introduction to the use of electromyography to measure muscle activation using voltage measurements on the surface of the skin of a subject. As with the first lab, individual measurements will be taken for each student; a variety of tasks involving muscular contraction will be performed. Again, in the follow-up session the measured data will be analysed using Matlab and students are required to write individual reports to formally present their results.

Students should wear loose-fitting clothes to participate in this lab.

Group Project
The group project will be a self-directed task to be conducted using the Optitrack Motion Capture System in the Sports Engineering lab (S225). Assessment will be a peer-assessed oral presentation. Students will be responsible for choosing and area of investigation, and allocating time to perform experiments and analysis.

Hard-copies of all assessments (assignments and lab reports) must be made in the Mechanical Engineering submission boxes on the second floor. Tutorials will be electronically assessed. Unless otherwise indicated, all work will be due before 9am Monday morning. Late submissions will not be tolerated without previous communication with me. However, I am happy to grant extensions liberally given more than, say, a couple day’s notice.