Bioracer Motion
Bioracer Motion offers technology to analyze the posture and movements of cyclists with IR sensors. With the Bioracer Aero, cyclists even create their own virtual wind tunnel and receive feedback on their posture live during training.
Wout van Aert is one of the professional cyclists who uses the technology to optimize his performance.
By means of 22 IR sensors attached to the cyclist’s body, all movements of the cycling athlete are mapped very accurately. Based on the measurement results, one can optimize posture and movements.
The Challenges
During development of the sensors, the design of the sensors seemed not optimized for proper attachment to the rider’s body. Therefore, redesign was necessary for fuctionality and for final production by Additive Manufacturing.
The Infrared lenses in the sensors should allow maximum light to pass through, without internal light loss. In addition, the sensors had to be resistant againts UV light and salt due to sweating.
Technology
DLP technology was chosen for the development and final production of the housings and lenses.
DLP (Digital Light Processing) is a 3D-printing technology (similar to SLA) using a projected light source to cure the entire layer at once, Unlike SLA, whereas a machines uses a laser that traces a layer.
Benefits
The housings have wall thicknesses of less than 1 mm and are finished with a matte black lacquer to prevent any reflection and provide protection against salt.
Another advantage is that the very good surface quality of DLP requires less finishing than other 3D printing techniques, which saves time and costs.
The lenses are produced with an accuracy of 22 microns, which means they are perfectly round, have a beautiful surface structure and ensure a diffuse spread of the infrared beam.
