An investigation of an integrated low-cost GPS, INS and magnetometer system for sport applications

The ability to measure and record physiological and positional information associated with athletic movement in real-time is critical in the process of athlete training and coaching. Physiological information can be relatively easy to obtain using relevant detectors. However, high precision determination of the athletes' movement on-the-fly has been a challenging task. Traditionally, positional information can only be measured either in well-controlled situation in dedicated sport laboratories or using simulation devices. Much of the equipment is either too heavy, expensive or obtrusive, and multiple factors which are difficult to control have limited the use of sport-specific field testing. This paper introduces the development of a smart real-time athlete monitoring and coaching system, which integrates a low-cost GPS, Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) inertial navigation units (IMUs), magnetometers and wireless communication in a concise way. The miniaturiased system was initially designed for elite Australian rowers in both Athens Olympics and the Lucerne International Rowing Regatta and now it has been tested and used across a large number of sport activities, including rowing, canoeing, skiing, running, sailing and footballing etc. The current developments of the system, system design, validation and applications are presented and further developments and commercialisation of the system are outlined.