“Sudden Impact” competition seeks solutions that prevent sports-related injuries on the field
The element14 Community, in collaboration with Analog Devices Inc, Tektronix, Electrolube and Leeds Beckett University, today announces the launch of the “Sudden Impact” Wearable Design Challenge. A group of 15 finalists will be selected to develop wearable technology solutions for athletes to track their health and for coaches or medical practitioners to monitor players on the field in real-time. Any and all interested participants around the world are invited to submit their project proposals now via the element14 Community.
“The wearable health market is an opportunity for leading technology companies like element14 to not only participate, but to lead and drive meaningful, measurable change for end-users,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community, element14. “Through our Sudden Impact Challenge, we’re proud to empower engineers with the resources and products to develop smarter, more responsive health and fitness solutions and to empower athletes, coaches and trainers with the ability to prevent injuries and potentially save lives.”
The finalists will receive the following tools and resources to aid in their designs:
· A kit of advanced components from Analog Devices, including a digital and analog MEMS accelerometer, a single-lead heart rate monitor, digital temperature sensor and ARM Cortex-M3 chip
· A Tektronix 120B-EDU Oscilloscope
· Advanced polymers from Electrolube to help protect the wearable solutions
· A $500/€375 budget from element14 for additional parts and purchases
Each solution will be tested by the School of Computing and Creative Technologies at Leeds Beckett University. The “Sudden Impact” prototypes will be judged according to a series of four criteria:
· Effective use of the kit provided
· Simple enough for a secondary school or high school technology class to assemble and use
· Durable against a variety of athletic environments
· A qualitative leap in health measurement capabilities, providing coaches, athletes and medical professionals with critical diagnostic information
The finalists will also be judged on the content they produce throughout the course of the challenge. Competitors will blog about their progress on a weekly basis at the element14 Community from December 1, 2014 to March 20, 2015.
The Grand Prize Winner will be announced by March 27, 2015 and receive a Tektronix MDO3104 Oscilloscope ($13,900 value), and Analog Devices Inc is providing a 13-inch MacBook Air and a Withings Home. All challengers who are deemed to have successfully completed the challenge will receive a Withings Pulse, provided by Analog Devices Inc.
For information on the Sudden Impact challenge, visit: http://www.element14.com/suddenimpact.
