From theory to practice

From theory to practice: Monitoring mechanical power output during wheelchair field and court sports using inertial measurement units

van Dijk, M.P. (TU Delft Biomechatronics & Human-Machine Control)
Hoozemans, Marco J.M. (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
Berger, M.A.M. (The Hague University of Applied Sciences)
Veeger, H.E.J. (TU Delft Biomechatronics & Human-Machine Control)

2024

An important performance determinant in wheelchair sports is the power exchanged between the athlete-wheelchair combination and the environment, in short, mechanical power. Inertial measurement units (IMUs) might be used to estimate the exchanged mechanical power during wheelchair sports practice. However, to validly apply IMUs for mechanical power assessment in wheelchair sports, a well-founded and unambiguous theoretical framework is required that follows the dynamics of manual wheelchair propulsion. Therefore, this research has two goals. First, to present a theoretical framework that supports the use of IMUs to estimate power output via power balance equations. Second, to demonstrate the use of the IMU-based power estimates during wheelchair propulsion based on experimental data. Mechanical power during straight-line wheelchair propulsion on a treadmill was estimated using a wheel mounted IMU and was subsequently compared to optical motion capture data serving as a reference. IMU-based power was calculated from rolling resistance (estimated from drag tests) and change in kinetic energy (estimated using wheelchair velocity and wheelchair acceleration). The results reveal no significant difference between reference power values and the proposed IMU-based power (1.8% mean difference, N.S.). As the estimated rolling resistance shows a 0.9–1.7% underestimation, over time, IMU-based power will be slightly underestimated as well. To conclude, the theoretical framework and the resulting IMU model seems to provide acceptable estimates of mechanical power during straight-line wheelchair propulsion in wheelchair (sports) practice, and it is an important first step towards feasible power estimations in all wheelchair sports situations.

Inertial measurement unit
Mechanical power
Resistance force
Wheelchair propulsion
Wheelchair sports

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:dc8b6d2d-2d5f-4d62-9db8-020ba54ec970

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2024.112052

0021-9290

Journal of Biomechanics, 166

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2024 M.P. van Dijk, Marco J.M. Hoozemans, M.A.M. Berger, H.E.J. Veeger