Electronic Kick and Glide
 

In the September 18-24 issue of The Economist there is an article
about digital/electronic enhancments of sports equipment. It details
research and early apppications to tennis rackets, downhill ski
bindings, GPS golf tools, the Adidas 1 running shoe that takes 1000
readings a second to adjust the degree of cushioning...and better kick
for us.

Page 10 in the Technology Quarterly Section

" Take cross-country skiing, Victor Petrenko, an engineer at Dartmouth
College Ice Research lab in New Hampshire, has invented some smart
ski-brakes that, he believes, will increase the popularity of
cross-country skiing by making the sport less challenging for
beginners. The brakes, currently being tested by a ski manufacturer in
the Alps, offer the necessary friction for a bigger "kick-off force"
and make the skis less likley to slide backwards in their tracks. To
make this happen, an electric current from the bottom of the ski
pulses through the ice, melting a thin layer of snow that instantly
refreezes and acts as a sort of glue"

"John O'Connell" wrote in message
om...
" Take cross-country skiing, Victor Petrenko, an engineer at Dartmouth
College Ice Research lab in New Hampshire, has invented some smart
ski-brakes that, he believes, will increase the popularity of
cross-country skiing by making the sport less challenging for
beginners. The brakes, currently being tested by a ski manufacturer in
the Alps, offer the necessary friction for a bigger "kick-off force"
and make the skis less likley to slide backwards in their tracks. To
make this happen, an electric current from the bottom of the ski
pulses through the ice, melting a thin layer of snow that instantly
refreezes and acts as a sort of glue"

"The power will be supplied from a pair of 12 volt car batteries strapped to
the back of the skier".

Barry

I hope it works, and I'm thinking biggest impact of electric grip technology
could be on:
- - novice skiers
- - skiing backcountry hiking trails

For novice skiers, because it could let them start having fun sooner by
getting more reliably kick. I'm especially hoping it could enable lots more
people to have fun on those days with freeze-thaw icy tracks (without using
klister). The electric grip could also be turned on to help _slow_ the skier
on downhills on icy track, which can be very scary for novices.

For skiing hiking trails, steep uphills can be a problem because herringbone
is hard work in ungroomed deep soft snow. And downhills can be scary on a
narrow hiking trail thru the trees with no room to turn, so being able to
"turn on" some electric drag could help a lot.

Actually for non-racers these problems are already substantially addressed
simply by kicker skins, but almost nobody knows about them.

Racers already have lots of tricks for getting grip. If it works, new
"electric grip" technology can offer some improvements in grip/glide
trade-off, and require some technique adjustments to achieve a new optimum.
But on a well-groomed track, classic is still going to be slower than
skating.

Ken

beginners. The brakes, currently being tested by a ski manufacturer in
the Alps, offer the necessary friction for a bigger "kick-off force"
and make the skis less likley to slide backwards in their tracks. To
make this happen, an electric current from the bottom of the ski
pulses through the ice, melting a thin layer of snow that instantly
refreezes and acts as a sort of glue"

....and after the first kick the ski will never glide again.

Why bother about electricity? Just design some "smart scales" which
are pulled inside the ski during the glide phase, and stick out during
kick. The only question is how the ski will know when kick begins.
Well, some sensor will indeed be needed there, like a laser which
senses when the glide stopped, from snow-induced scattering. Such
sensor and a relay would need much less power compared to what is
needed for melting of snow. D

On 24/9/04 1:43 pm, "Ken Roberts" wrote:

I hope it works, and I'm thinking biggest impact of electric grip technology
could be on:
- - novice skiers
- - skiing backcountry hiking trails

For novice skiers, because it could let them start having fun sooner by
getting more reliably kick. I'm especially hoping it could enable lots more
people to have fun on those days with freeze-thaw icy tracks (without using
klister). The electric grip could also be turned on to help _slow_ the skier
on downhills on icy track, which can be very scary for novices.

For skiing hiking trails, steep uphills can be a problem because herringbone
is hard work in ungroomed deep soft snow. And downhills can be scary on a
narrow hiking trail thru the trees with no room to turn, so being able to
"turn on" some electric drag could help a lot.

Actually for non-racers these problems are already substantially addressed
simply by kicker skins, but almost nobody knows about them.

Racers already have lots of tricks for getting grip. If it works, new
"electric grip" technology can offer some improvements in grip/glide
trade-off, and require some technique adjustments to achieve a new optimum.
But on a well-groomed track, classic is still going to be slower than
skating.

Ken






Skins weigh a lot less than 12 volt batteries
andyb

"revyakin" wrote in message
om...
beginners. The brakes, currently being tested by a ski manufacturer in
the Alps, offer the necessary friction for a bigger "kick-off force"
and make the skis less likley to slide backwards in their tracks. To
make this happen, an electric current from the bottom of the ski
pulses through the ice, melting a thin layer of snow that instantly
refreezes and acts as a sort of glue"

...and after the first kick the ski will never glide again.

Why bother about electricity? Just design some "smart scales" which
are pulled inside the ski during the glide phase, and stick out during
kick. The only question is how the ski will know when kick begins.
Well, some sensor will indeed be needed there, like a laser which
senses when the glide stopped, from snow-induced scattering. Such
sensor and a relay would need much less power compared to what is
needed for melting of snow. D

Or the same sensor (low res camera) that's in an optical mouse.

Bob

Bob wrote:
"revyakin" wrote in message
om...

beginners. The brakes, currently being tested by a ski manufacturer in
the Alps, offer the necessary friction for a bigger "kick-off force"
and make the skis less likley to slide backwards in their tracks. To
make this happen, an electric current from the bottom of the ski
pulses through the ice, melting a thin layer of snow that instantly
refreezes and acts as a sort of glue"

...and after the first kick the ski will never glide again.

Why bother about electricity? Just design some "smart scales" which
are pulled inside the ski during the glide phase, and stick out during
kick. The only question is how the ski will know when kick begins.
Well, some sensor will indeed be needed there, like a laser which
senses when the glide stopped, from snow-induced scattering. Such
sensor and a relay would need much less power compared to what is
needed for melting of snow. D


Or the same sensor (low res camera) that's in an optical mouse.

Bob


I think the snow melting idea won't work. It would take too much energy
in a short period of time and the thermal heat capacity of the ski would
also work against this. Also, when the temperature is near freezing when
you need kick the most, the invisioned "melt" wouldn't refreeze. A
surface change induced by an electronic current would be more feasible.
And to make it work and still be most like real skiing it should be
initiated by weight shift - easy to do with a pressure sensor on the
binding under the foot.

Some of these posts in the past have been "jokes". However, I do know
that some version of this I had seen before. Is it the same person
(Victor Petrenko) mentioned in the article at
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scite...dge020222.html