Flexible Pressure Sensors for Integration into Karate Body Protector

Area of Science:

• Sports Engineering
• Textile Science
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Karate's growing popularity necessitates technological integration for safety and performance.
• Smart protective gear is underdeveloped in karate compared to other martial arts like taekwondo.
• There's a need for unobtrusive sensors to monitor karate techniques and scoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop piezoresistive, textile-based pressure sensors for karate body protectors.
• To integrate these sensors for injury prevention, skill enhancement, and scoring.
• To characterize sensor performance under various conditions and real-world application.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of small-scale piezoresistive sensors using ultrasonic welding, hot press welding, and oven curing.
• Characterization using universal testing machines, specialized hardware, and custom software.
• Manufacturing and cyclic testing of large-scale sensors for integration into body protectors.

Main Results:

• Stable sensor signals with an output up to 0.03 V/N were achieved.
• Sensor transfer functions exhibited expected hysteresis and nonlinearity, but with compensation potential.
• Real-world tests demonstrated the ability to detect and quantify light punches accurately.

Conclusions:

• Piezoresistive textile-based pressure sensors are viable for smart karate applications.
• The developed sensors offer a practical solution for performance monitoring and score calculation.
• This technology can enhance the safety and competitive aspects of karate training and competition.