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."

Comments

I am surprised

[littlerubberfeet]

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.

other applications

[Hanzie]

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

Re:other applications

[XNormal]

I think active vibration dampening has already been demonstrated in diesel engines and it cuts down on noise and, perhaps more importantly, reduces wear.

How about an active automobile suspension that also has a millimeter wave radar looking forward to anticipate bumps and potholes?

Re:other applications

[DNS-and-BIND]

active suspension basically let the cars drive themselves. of course, formula 1 racing is about as entertaining as picking your toenails, or soccer. the same people win again, and again, and again, and again. yawn.

Re:other applications

[DNS-and-BIND]

Perhaps the NBA. I don't know...car racing was just ruined for me when I found out that the guys that win all the time simply have faster cars than everyone else. I had always assumed the vehicles were approximately equal in performance. But nope, that's just not true. An underdog can't just come out of nowhere and win, like the New England Patriots did earlier this year.

Re:other applications

[Moofie]

There are two dimensions to car racing: The driver, and the engineers (and mechanics). Me, I think 24 Hours at LeMans is the best race out there, simply because it's so outrageously punishing on the machines. Your car has to be designed and built RIGHT in order to be competitive. Sure, you need fast driving too, but that race is won and lost on the drawing board and in pit lane. Great great stuff.

Different strokes for different folks, of course. Guess you could just watch NASCAR. "Geez, Darrell, just put your foot on the floor and turn left! 'Tain't all that complicated!"

Re:other applications

[Moofie]

SpeedVision does excellent, well-edited, coverage of endurance races.

As far as the best wheel-to-wheel racing action goes, British touring car races simply can not be beat. Those guys are NUTS. Very competitive, very fast, very unpredictable. Kinda like NASCAR, only interesting.

Re:other applications

[Midnight Thunder]

Me, I think 24 Hours at LeMans is the best race out there, simply because it's so outrageously punishing on the machines

You probably haven't seen the Dakar ralley in that case. This race is really an all round skills event for the drivers, co-pilots and mechanics. The trucks with the spare parts even participate in the race.

Re:*sigh*

[Brento]

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.

Not the first Piezoelectric Application

[s.fontinalis]

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.

Next, the aimbot

[Animats]

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.

Re:Next, the aimbot

[Alsee]

aimbot

Yeah, every shot automatically becomes a head-shot :)

-

Getting a perceived advantage

[Mattygfunk]

Firstly, this kind of thing will very quickly make its way across all racquet/bat/glove/sword/anything sports if it's proven a worthwhile advantage. Just as quickly it will cost your average club level player the extra cost to keep up.

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.

Re:Getting a perceived advantage

[ImaLamer]

"if you're participating in a sport with zero cost of entry, you're probably going to be out on a field with rednecks and other white trash."

...and if you are on a field playing a sport that takes a million to play you are likely not getting the competition you should. How un-sportsman-like?

It isn't the idea that you are locking out "the poorest" players - the problem is that you aren't likely to get "the best" players because the entry fee is so high.

Who wants to play with a bunch of inbreed snobs?

Of course you complain about spelling "a lot" as "alot" while you fail to capitalize your own sentences.

Re:Getting a perceived advantage

[foniksonik]

I agree with your sentiments completely and have maintained spelling accuracy to go along with that for the duration of my 'speel'.

Buying accessories may be fun for 'hobbies' where you are the only one required to participate, but for sports and other team/league affiliated interests, economy and quality of actual play is much more important.

Who cares what kind of gadget lets you cheat while playing touch football... doesn't count on my field.

Re:Getting a perceived advantage

[DNS-and-BIND]

Sports aren't about competition, they're about satisfaction and cameraderie. Only professional players care about winning at all costs, the word amateur literally means "one who plays for love of the game". Selecting and purchasing sports accessories is a major attraction to the affluent, and is the reason why non-team sports are so popular these days. Golfing, kayaking, rock climbing, and hiking/camping aren't cheap! We're not talking about two-ropes-and-a-sheet tents, this is the real deal from REI. You can use the exact same equipment used by Everest expiditions, for example. Being able to emulate one's heroes in such a manner is highly satisfying to those that can afford it. If everyone and his dog was able to participate, far less satisfaction would be had. A wholesome sense of superiority over the rest of one's countrymen is essential to good mental health, and purchasing sports accessories in order to identify with groups you admire enables this.

None of this has much to do with tennis, which has seen its popularity fall through the floor since the 70s and 80s. Look at any country club, they don't have nearly as many tennis courts or tournaments as in days past.

I completely agree with the inbred remark, that's why I pointed out the pitfalls of zero-cost of entry...who wants to play with a bunch of hicks? I capitalized my sentences, too, is that OK?

Re:Getting a perceived advantage

[fferreres]

Well, I separate the sports paradigm in two:
1 - Human challenge
2 - Absolute playing

For 1) you basically can outrule all the gloves and innovation. The old golf clubs where just fine, if everyone has to use an old club, noone has an advantage. So innovation only hurts the ones that can't afford the new shit.

For 2) you need innovation. Because the same person can do (following the golf example) a better score that with the ape-era clubs. So you can say golfers are improving their play (in reality, techonology is improving their play...). Nobody really gets any advantage here, cos mostly everyone in a proffesional league will adopt the innovations. Yet, it's better to see a 10 under par score than a 5 one.

One last thingie, technological advances change the way games must be played. This is not necesarily good IHMO. For example, in tennis, the serving is out of balance right know, because the net altitude is fixed and the serving square is also fixed, but the rackets are so much better. Imagine us in 2235 AD serving at 325 kmh and all the game limited to trying to win 1 non-serving game.

Technology alters games. But we must not forget that the account for a lot of the sport organization revenues, so they are always allow in a kind of managed obsolecence way.

How far can this be pushed? Energy going to waste!

[frovingslosh]

This was very interesting. As to the regulation that permits self powered devices but forbids batteries, how far can that be pushed and how useful would it be to push it?

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.

Nice shot

[gerardrj]

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.

Bending the Rules

[serutan]

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.

Re:*sigh*

[chemguru]

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.

Naked Olypics

[DoctorFrog]

The original Olypics were generally performed naked (and incidentally included "sports" such as competitive poetry reading, though I doubt that the poetry slams were performed naked). Indecency is in the mind of the beholder.

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!

bleh.

[DarkHelmet]

I know how this is mechanical -> electrical energy going on, but I can't help but think:

Homer: Lisa made this perpetual motion machine today... and it just keeps going faster and faster.

New wonderbras now? Pizeoelectric bra!

[itsnotme]

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..

Re:Oh dear..Here we go again...

[Microlith]

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.

Next it's going to be a personal coach

[Subcarrier]

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...."

Watch out.

[BrookHarty]

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.

Re:Watch out.

[alpinist]

You're thinking of the UCI and the world hour record, which is done on a track by a single rider who goes as far as they can in an hour. The International Cycling Union have officially reinstated the world hour record to Belgian great, Eddy Merckx, who rode 49.432 kilometres in 1972 in Mexico. They have renamed the current record (56.375 kilometres set by Chris Boardman) as the "Best Performance Over the Hour" while Merckx's record is the "UCI Hour Record".

The distinction was deemed necessary due to the technical improvements to the bicycle and position that made Boardman's hour so fast. The so-called 'superman' position developed by Scot Graeme Obree was outlawed in 1997, bringing to an end an era where the hour record was a battle of technology as well as the rider versus the wind.

Re:*sigh*

[Razor Sex]

What about Pro Wrestling?

Re:How far can this be pushed? Energy going to was

[Subcarrier]

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.

Re:Piezoelectric tennis shoes?

[foniksonik]

"how much power can this piezo element gather anyhow"

Just one example of tennis and physics:

http://www.kent.k12.wa.us/staff/trobinso/physics pa ges/PhysicsOf/Tennis/spot3.html

You might be surprise at how many lbs per in. squared go in to a good tennis swat. Definitely more than enough to power an efficient piezo device that will improve your stroke tens of percents.

as someone who worked for the ITF...

[rich951]

(and I was in the Technical department), it's interesting to see that there is no comment in there as to whether the technology actually *does* anything useful! Draw your own conclusions as to whether the main benefits are technological or marketing... I can assure you that this racket is something we looked at in some depth, and who knows what rule changes may appear in the future... (although the whole process of changing rules is pretty tortuous)

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...

White Trash and Rednecks?

[BadlandZ]

"if you're participating in a sport with zero cost of entry, you're probably going to be out on a field with rednecks and other white trash."

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.

Re:White Trash and Rednecks?

[Pulzar]

And, how's that explain the popularity of Nascar?

Yes, there's people all over the place racing in Nascar-style cars! Not. Sure, Nascar is popular for *watching*, not *playing*. The whole discussion is about which sports people like to *play*.

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...

How does football require more initial investment than soccer? Both only require a ball!

I'll agree baseball requires a little more, but it's been around for so long that almost every kid's father has a glove and a bat lying around, so no investment is required most of the time.

Re:White Trash and Rednecks?

[Sabalon]

You're jumping here. At first the argument was all you needed was a can and a couple shirts to have a make-shift soccer field. But then you jump to enrolling a child in a football league.

Am I to understand that there are soccer leagues out there playing with a can and a couple of shirts? Lets compare apples to apples.

A bunch of kids just playing could as easilly play football as soccer.

If you are talking about league play, then while each player will need all the pads for football, generally you see people buying new shoes, shin guards, outfits, and minivans/suv's for Soccer :)

Re:die now plz

[Elbereth]

hahaha

no, really..

This is how it works

[ehiris]

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

Re:*sigh*

[treat]

Can't we have a sport that's based on talent and not $$$?

Sure, there's sand volleyball, for starters

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.