Full body motion capture of an entire ski jump

Matej Supej, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Sport, Laboratory of Biomechanics, Slovenia.

The University of Ljubljana, with Matej Supej as leading professor, is exploring the possibilities of sports science using motion capture. To capture a full body movement of the entire ski jump is something that was never done before, as measuring human motions in midair and outside is a challenge.

Matej took on this challenge using the MVN Analyze Link system. One of the first challenges was to have a stable connection between the MVN BIOMECH suit and MVN Studio for the complete ski jump trajectory from start till landing. Using the WIFI Access Point located at the coaches’ tower, the wireless range was large enough to successfully capture the complete jump. Next to that it was very important to have a comfortable and minimal invasive suit so the ski jumper can jump in his natural way and have correct measurements.

Even though all data was captured over the full jump, primarily the angular velocities of the knee and hip, joint angle of the ankles and overall posture were analyzed. Using this automatically generated 3D kinematic data, it was possible to assess the technique and thus the performance of the ski jumper.

The MVN Analyze Link raised the level of performing measurements in the athlete’s natural high dynamic habitat with minimal effort in setting up the system, but minimal post processing time as well. All of this resulted in the first full body motion capture of an entire ski jump ever.

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