A need for speed and efficiency
Amer Sports, a global corporation and one of the global leaders in the sports gear industry, has installed the HQ of one of its iconic brands, Salomon, as well as R&D for a few others like Mavic and Wilson.
The facility decided to invest in the R & D sector and construct a new lab equipped with the best instrumentation. To achieve this, they initiated a collaboration with Trinoma (Qualisys’ French partner), to select the right equipment and software, install it and train the team.
It is now possible for the group to study the movements of the human body in real-time. Of course, the lower extremity is of specific importance when designing elite performance shoes and protecting runners from injuries. Every new concept and every modification to a product can be tested quickly, objectively and accurately with the Qualisys system, combined with Delsys EMG, force plates and Visual 3D biomechanical modeling software.
The advanced technical support and training provided by Trinoma combined with highly automated processes implemented in Qualisys Track Manager (QTM) and Visual3D, offer essential efficiency to the Amer Sports team.
Their approach is the same as in academic research, therefore the team is composed of doctoral students and PhDs, many of which have completed their PhD coursework at Amer Sports together with University partners.
Once the athlete is up and running on the treadmill, 8 Qualisys 7+ cameras that surround the subject determine the 3D position of the markers placed on the athlete’s body. An image of the action is then rendered in real time.
The collected data allows the modeling of his skeleton in 3D and the visualization of the stress suffered by his body during the activity. After data analysis, the team is able to, for example, define the position of flexion lines under the sole of the shoe.
More than just a running analysis
Thanks to the system, research in the field of cycling can also be performed efficiently to improve or validate new sport equipment. Other activities offered by some of the group’s products, such as walking with the Salomon trekking range or tennis gear from the Wilson product line also benefit from the Qualisys technology.
In a world where competition forces us to go faster, these enthusiasts can rely on an effective system to meet deadlines without sacrificing innovation, performance and safety for their new products.
At the lab, there is Nicolas Horvais – head of the biomechanics laboratory, Nicolas Grégoire -project manager at Mavic, the cycling brand of the Amer Sports group, Marlene Giandolini and Sebastien Pavailler, the lab’s researchers and biomechanists.
… and, of course, Oscar, a skeleton with long blonde hair and crooked toe, who happened to be a bit less discursive.
