FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ACS News Service Weekly PressPac: January 26, 2022
鈥楽mart saddle鈥� could help equestrians hit their stride (video)
ACS Nano
Skilled equestrians make advanced riding maneuvers, like jumps, spins and piaffes, look effortless. But good riding requires balance and subtle cues to the horse, many of which are given through the rider鈥檚 posture, seat and legs. Now, researchers reporting in聽ACS Nano聽developed a prototype 鈥渟mart saddle鈥� that could help equestrians improve their biomechanics. Moreover, the self-powered saddle can alert others when a rider takes a fall.聽
Big data collection and analysis are becoming important components of many competitive sports because they provide real-time information on athletes鈥� performance and fitness. However, most systems are powered by batteries, often making them bulky and inflexible. In contrast, small, lightweight triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), which convert mechanical energy into electricity, are being tested for a variety of applications, from harvesting the energy of ocean waves to charging cell phones through walking. In addition to powering themselves, TENGs can convert mechanical stimuli, such as pressure, touch or motion, into electrical signals. Ding Nan, Baodong Chen, Zhong Lin Wang and colleagues wanted to adapt TENGs to a smart saddle for challenging and potentially dangerous equestrian sports.聽
The researchers made a thin, flexible, disk-shaped TENG that flattens when depressed and then rebounds when the pressure is removed. Under pressure, the internal layers of the TENG compress, transferring electrons from one electrode to another and generating a current, which stops when the pressure is released.聽
The team placed an array of seven TENGs on the top surface of a saddle so they could detect differences in pressure in various regions of the seat. Electrical signals from the array revealed whether a rider was leaning forward, sitting in an upright position or leaning backward. The smart saddle also detected when a person was standing up and sitting down (a motion called 鈥減osting鈥� in the equestrian world). When a rider falls off, the system can transmit a wireless signal to alert others, a safety feature that could allow an injured rider to be quickly found and treated, which is especially important when riding alone. The self-powered smart saddle, which has a response time of 16 milliseconds, could someday provide real-time statistical data and fall detection to equestrians and their coaches, the researchers say.
The authors acknowledge funding from the Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Key R&D Project from Ministry of Science and Technology, the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, the Inner Mongolia scientific and technological achievements transformation project and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region major science and technology program.
###
The American Chemical 中国365bet中文官网 (ACS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1876 and chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS is committed to improving all lives through the transforming power of chemistry. Its mission is to advance scientific knowledge, empower a global community and champion scientific integrity, and its vision is a world built on science. The 中国365bet中文官网 is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, e-books and weekly news periodical聽Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world鈥檚 scientific knowledge. ACS鈥� main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
Registered journalists can subscribe to the to access embargoed and public science press releases. For media inquiries, contact newsroom@acs.org.
Note: ACS does not conduct research but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies.
Media Contact
ACS Newsroom
newsroom@acs.org
###
La sociedad American Chemical 中国365bet中文官网 (ACS) es una organizaci贸n sin fines de lucro fundada en 1876 y aprobada por el Congreso de los Estados Unidos. La ACS se ha comprometido a mejorar la vida de todas las personas mediante la transformaci贸n del poder de la qu铆mica. Su misi贸n es promover el conocimiento cient铆fico, empoderar a la comunidad global y defender la integridad cient铆fica, y su visi贸n es un mundo construido bas谩ndose en la ciencia. La Sociedad es l铆der mundial en la promoci贸n de la excelencia en la educaci贸n cient铆fica y en el acceso a informaci贸n e investigaci贸n relacionadas con la qu铆mica a trav茅s de sus m煤ltiples soluciones de investigaci贸n, publicaciones revisadas por expertos, conferencias cient铆ficas, libros electr贸nicos y noticias semanales peri贸dicas de Chemical & Engineering News. Las revistas de la ACS se encuentran entre las m谩s citadas, las m谩s fiables y las m谩s le铆das en la literatura cient铆fica; sin embargo, la propia ACS no realiza investigaci贸n qu铆mica. Como l铆der en soluciones de informaci贸n cient铆fica, su divisi贸n CAS se asocia con innovadores internacionales para acelerar los avances mediante la preservaci贸n, la conexi贸n y el an谩lisis de los conocimientos cient铆ficos del mundo. Las sedes principales de la ACS se encuentran en Washington, D.C., y Columbus, Ohio.
Los periodistas registrados pueden suscribirse al en EurekAlert! para acceder a comunicados de prensa p煤blicos y retenidos.聽 Para consultas de los medios, comun铆quese con newsroom@acs.org.
Nota: ACS no realiza investigaciones, pero publica y divulga estudios cient铆ficos revisados por expertos.鈥�
;void(0);){kind=link}