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Piezoelectric Tennis Rackets
morcheeba writes "EETimes has an article on a piezoelectric tennis racket made by Head Sport AG. It uses piezoelectric fibers to damp vibrations and, due to regulations, it doesn't contain a battery. Although it's been out a while, it's now gaining credibility with professionals and has made it into the quarterfinals of the French Open."
Usually with sports gear, one tries to make a long-lasting product. Piezo fibres seem like they would wear out fast, and the handle components would need often repair. I suppose it doesn't matter when you have Nike as a sponsorer....
Now, many metals have been developed that have a 'memory' I am surprised these haven't been used in conjunction with the common carbon-fibre thread used now.
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....sparks fly when the score is love, love.
They're using it in skis, too.
I would like to see if it is usable in automobile suspensions. Active electronic dampening should out perform any hydraulics.
Come to think of it, this technology could be used to make an active muffler for auto exhaust systems. It could also absorb driveline vibrations.
Wonder if it could do anything for crankshaft vibration?
hanzie
********* sig: If you don't like the law, get filthy stinking rich, and buy a better one.
Can't we have a sport that's based on talent and not $$$?
Sure, there's sand volleyball, for starters, and you've got chess at the other extreme of the physical/mental spectrum. I'm sure if you spent some time thinking you'd come up with plenty more.
What's your damage, Heather?
K2 skis have had a piezoelectric ski on the market since 1996, the Merlin V complete with a little blinking red light to show that its working(just like a BE, ahh how we morn the BEOS). More here: http://www.acx.com/lab/cool_ski.html Dampening technology has advantages yes - but generally the reason high tech gadgets make it to the finals have to do with sponsorship & psychology, not necessarily technological superiority.
This thing actively controls tension in the racquet strings, so with more sensors, it could become an aimbot. Just hit the ball in roughly the right direction, and leave the precision targeting to the computers.
I have a version of this racquet that I modified to use a car battery (which I strap to my back while playing). And although vibration is greatly reduced I have to say that my game hasn't improved.
The Australian Football League allowed the use of gloves 7 or so years back. The AFL has been in existance over 100 years without them but that perceived advantage lead to half of the players (at least) playing the game using them. Juniors at the local clubs naturally followed suit, and the sport as a whole suffered because of fewer numbers participating due to the cost.
I love technology, but the advantages and disadvantages of somthing like this have got to looked at carefully before this should be permitted at any level.
This is really cool stuff, and I've got to hand it to the engineers for this one, but I always wonder where will the line be drawn for technology in sports? Personally, I'd love to see them switch back to wood...
That is to say, if the racket can make a difference based on the energy it can recover from the ball impact, what could you do if you built a self generating power system into the racket handle, much like technology used in a self winding electronic watch, but at a much larger scale? Of course, without a battery the power generated could be stored in a capacitor until used. While this approach seems far beyond the sprit of the game, one could say the same about piezoelectric technology in the first place. I'm just thinking, if it going to be used at all, why not get energy from all racket movement as well as ball impact.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
......this is truly shocking news.
I've heard of making the raquet sing with a nice shot, but this is rediculous. :)
I wonder though, could they make the strings sound a certain tone depending on where the ball was hit. It seems it might make a nice training tool for beginners if they could hear, as well as feel a good hit.
Article X: The powers not delegated... by the Constitution...are reserved...to the people
Wow! The International Tennis Federation must've really been out to lunch on this one, or maybe these are the same guys who run the U.S. Patent Office. Their rule against batteries was obviously meant to thwart the use of devices with enough power to physically affect play. What could a digital clock in the handle do?
They just didn't anticipate using a tennis ball's impact energy to warp the racquet to counteract the player's mistakes, which is what this racquet does.
So okay, I guess we can look forward to gyro-torque batting gloves, pass-booster elbow wraps for quarterbacks, and hockey pucks with tooth-targeting microcameras.
These racquets work wonders! The results are as amazing as monodirectional speaker cables, wherein the tapering grain of the drawn gold fibers permits electron flow deeper into the wire surface in one direction than on conventional cables, which of course yields a much purer tone to anyone but the most neanderthalic dolt.
Just as any discerning audiophile can appreciate the much cleaner sound of the most expensive speaker cables, so too can sophisticated and highly refined tennis practitioners immediately feel the difference that the most expensive prestige racquet makes.
Hmm... higher vibration dampening
== less stress on elbows ( lowers risk of tennis elbow ) == less fatigue == longer play time == more practice == better 'talent'
So, by your token, more $$$ COULD == higher talent through increased practice time and play, and by all means should be allowed in competition.
Until I see you on ESPN2 swinging a stiff racquet for 10+ years without surgery on your elbow, shut your whining trap. Most ALL sports that require equipment ( other than a brain ) are dependant on technological improvments.
--Chemguru
Now you can save up your power like in Mario tennis on the N64 and then slam it into Aggasi's head!
Stupid sig of the week: Perl Hackers DIIMTOW
...........Martina Hingis got hurt and isn't out there.
I think I'll retch if I have to see, and hear, freakin' Monica Seles anymore. Bleh.
This "robot," which has been previously imprinted with the player's memory and skills, will predict the reactions the player would want to make, and perform them with greater speed, accuracy, and strength.
Although the player can hold the hand of the robat while it performs to make it look like they're actually doing something, if they wish they can just go sit in a lounge chair and have a lemonade until the match is over instead.
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You call the idea of a naked Olympics indecent, but you mention it anyway to tittilate us, don't you. You, sir are a rapist in sheep's clothing.
There's nothing inherently fair about naked wrestling, though, nor inherently unfair about using more advanced equipment. All other things being equal, including skill level, a large muscular person will win a wrestling match with a smaller slighter person. That's why weight classes were invented, to try and make sure that it was the skill that won out. This logic still only partially levels the field though; some people have inherently, genetically faster reflexes than others. What are you going to do, force them to bely down a couple of shots of reflex inhibitor (flavor optional) before competing?
The competition in sports is between two or more people, under some arbitrary set of rules. If you want to make sure everybody uses the same equipment, then you specifiy it in the rules; bats may or may not be made of aluminum, players may or may not ride an electric cart to the next stage of the competition.
Personally, I'd like to see both a naked olympics (not necessarily actually naked, but not technically assisted) AND a total free-for-all - not only are you allowed to be "professional" under the ridiculously convoluted Olympic rules regarding acceptance of money, but you can take drugs, train in a 3G centrifuge, be surgically cyborged into a totally transhuman state, et cetera... It'd only be a decade or so before all US objection to genetic engineering faded away once ESPN started lobbying, I betcha!
I don't know about you, but I play tennis and I think this is pretty damn cool. I bet there are a lot of other people on here who feel the same way.
Wherever there's a will, there's a motorway.
Homer: Lisa made this perpetual motion machine today... and it just keeps going faster and faster.
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
At the risk of damaging my karma, I can already imagine my girlfriend asking me if I need to recharge any batteries because she ran out of batteries to recharge with her pizeoelectric wonderbra. 9 volt battery? no problem! a 5 mile jog should do the job! Dont want the cellphone to run down while talking on it? no problem! just go for a nice brisk walk!
For guys, it'd be pizeoelectric underwear and the uhm.. jostling ( hey guys.. you know what I'm talking about ) would generate some electricy.. but I cant htink of what guys would need to hook up to it other than the PDA, uh but beer cup cooler sounds about right..
Bowie: You're an idiot.
This is a site covering news for nerds. A bit of tech such as this is interesting, to those who care to look.
SLASHDOT IS NOT ONLY ABOUT OPENSOURCE, SO SHUT THE FUCK UP.
Eventually you can run a microchip and a voice synth on the kinetic energy. Imagine a racket that gives running commentary about your performance...
*THWACK*
"Lame wrist!"
*THWACK*
"Hit harder!"
*THWACK*
"Is that the best you can do?"
*THWACK*
"Try aiming it"
*THWACK*
"Moron"
*THWACK*
"You'd think you could hit the field, it's big enough for Chris..."
*CRASH* *CRASH* *THUD* *THUD* *THUD*
"Why is the world going dark...?"
"I'm afraid, Mr. McEnroe."
"My mind is going...."
"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them." -- George H. W. Bush
Wasnt there a upset a few years ago when they bicycle racing teams got too high tech. So the racing organization threw out 10+ years of winnings, and made everyone revert to more classic bikes? I'd be pissed if the french open did that later after you won a match. Those sports governing bodies are a fikle bunch.
What about Pro Wrestling?
Why not put some piezoelectric technology in the players' tennis shoe while they're at it? Give some extra oomph into their spring :)
Still, how much power can this piezo element gather anyhow? Enough to drive a LED on the tennis shoe (or ball ;) or to actually do something useful? Somehow i feel that the power gained from the impact when the player hits the ball with his/her piezo-racket would not be too much, and so the dampening effect would be pretty weak. Or then they have very efficient (and lightweight) mechanics in it.
Well, in truth it's probably quite difficult to tap deeply into the kinetic energy without affecting the maneuverability of the racket. For instance, a pendulum in the handle might throw your game a little bit.
It's like the old gyroscope in the luggage trick. As long as you're walking straigt on everything is fine but as soon as you try to turn a corner you run into problems.
"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them." -- George H. W. Bush
So external batteries are not allowed, but piezoelectric materials are okay, because they're "self-powered"?
Ok, am i the only one here who is seriously worried about what they're going to come up with once tabletop fusion is economical?
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Disclaimer - I don't work there any more so these aren't official comments ;) Although I'm still writing my PhD thesis into the mechanics of tennis balls that the ITF funded...
Wood rackets were fun - but the wood strings didn't have the right amount of bounce to them.
The wooden racket - great for egg and sppon races, crap for tennis
I say we take off and nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure...
Like Soccer? Played because anybody can lay down two shirts as goals, and kick a can or rock to start playing? Making it the most popular sport in the world because of the low cost.
But, if forced to make an estimate, most white trash and rednecks like baseball and football, both of which require a much higher level of initial investment... And, how's that explain the popularity of Nascar?
I think the "low tech" sports like soccer seem to have more appeal to those who are more interested in the athletics of the sport. Where-as, there are people who just like "gear" and will do things just because they like to have/wear the gear... I don't think income/intellegence has a whole lot to do with it.
... does it run Linux?
hahaha
no, really..
Anyone lucky enough to own a pair of these, or are /. and skiing mutually exclusive?
Cue The Sun...
Unless I have missed something major here - always possible - the effectiveness of this system could be minimal. Reminds me of those ads that used to offer "Up to a such and such percent change in something" - where, of course, "up to" includes zero.
The situation with things like active suspension is quite different because plenty of outside power (from the alternator) is available to drive the moving parts, the same as with power steering and ABS.
Perhaps the real power source is a cold fusion unit in the handle, running off sweat.
Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
The skis used a plate manufactured by Active Control eXperts, Inc. Now owned by Cymer. Read more about the QuickPack actuators here. For info about the ski plate see here. The plates are used in Fightjet skins, waterskis, speakers, snowboards, shocks, etc.
I raced with the Olins and I swear they are my favorite skis ever - soft yet stiff when needed at high speeds and high vibration periods.
I'd *guarantee* you that what little advantage these machines will give you will be outclassed by the raw talents of the players themselves. Don't believe me? Give me one of these awesome rackets. Give a pro player (doesn't even have to be at Agassi's level, just some club player) a no-frills aluminum racket from the mid-80's. Have us play a best of three sets. You'll watch the other guy beat me probably close to 6-0, 6-0. In sports like tennis and baseball, money will help, but you still need the skills to compete. It's not like the racket is playing for you.
Both the Intelligence and conventional rackets deflect backward somewhat upon ball impact. With a conventional racket, the ball leaves the stringbed before the racket returns to its normal position. The Intelligence, with its active electronic microchip system, creates a counterforce that deflects the racket slightly forward as the ball leaves the stringbed. The net effect is a 50 percent reduction in vibration.
Pictures and a more detailed description can be found here
While this is indeed true with respect to equipment, I do not believe that it is also true with respect to individual athletic ability. Besides simply the sort of advanced training a well-funded athlete receives, there is the severely unbalancing factor of body alteration. Currently it is mostly hormones, but genetic engineering is in our immediate future in its most simple forms. The future will only see greater use of genetic engineering, and in 20-200 years time (depending on who you ask) the use of nanotechnology, cybernetics, and surely other kinds of advanced enhancement of human athletic and mental skill.
Perhaps advanced medical techniques will make it possible to determine who has not scientifically altered their body, so that pure humans can compete on a level playing field. The altered competitions will probably be more exciting (as they are today), however. But they will be mainly contests of money and courage to undergo risky medical procedures.
This "technology" is semi-common in skis. Companies like, hmmm, HEAD.
The folks who put on LEDs to "show the dampening" stopped cause it was just a stupid gimmick that cost too much per ski.
Me? I think it makes no real different in skis. My ski's are attached to my feet and legs. They don't need help with the minor vibrations (eg. not the bumps). The dampening is minor. This isn't a power generator, it's supposed to just reduce the little "buzz" vibrations.
But there are perhaps wrist/elbow injuries associated with the "buzz" of wacking those balls around.
Gimmick still?
Oh yeah, but people will buy it. People like my uncle (who I can still beat with my 1978 racket).
GAH! Almost no pro plays w/this racket. Tennis is a sport that requires extreme precision. You're not going to achieve that by switching frames every year. Manufacturers simply paint the frames of pros to match this season's latest release.
In fact, Pete Sampras has been playing with a racket that was introduced in 1984 - which is more like a good old fashioned wood frame than not.
Pure marketing gimmick - I'll bet money that Head won't be using the technology next year.
From being a bike racer, the main thing that pops up is that K2 is involved in it - they're the guys that developed piezoelectric damping mountain bike forks, which I've heard perform really well. I wouldn't be surprised at all if a lot of the same technology is involved.
;-)
From a physics geek point of view, it sounds like they're using a spiffy inductance circuit attached to the strings to damp the strings (just figure out the harmonic frequency of the string and tune the inductor to counteract it), though I've no idea how the rest of it works.
But very pretty indeed
If anyone here has used one of these racquets (notice the correct spelling :p) then please post your impressions.
How many rackets did both Ferrera and Costa use? I think 5 or 6! So whether or not the fibers live long ... as long as they last a few games, it's long enough!