Movesense measures almost anything that moves
The basic idea of Suunto's programmable Movesense sensor lies in open interfaces and an accessible development environment, allowing developers to create code at the sensor end. One of the products utilising the Movesense technology is Atomic's Hawks Ultra Connected Ski Boot, which our rocket scientists have been involved in developing from the very beginning.
The Movesense sensor measures things such as speed, acceleration and heart rate. In addition to heart rate belts and wristbands, the sensor can be attached to, for example, a sports shirt or a ski boot – and the uses are by no means limited to sports. The device is a big hit with companies that want to develop, for instance, their IoT solutions quickly and cost-effectively. When the technology is tried and tested, customising the sensor for your own needs is inexpensive.
“Movesense is a finished device which developers of different companies can easily and quickly turn into an application, whether it's a product, a study or some other project,” says Terho Lahtinen from Suunto's Future Concepts team.
Movesense's code is based on Spartan watches, the platforms of which the consultants of Rakettitiede have also worked on. Movesense was created when Suunto was working on a prototype for its own product project. The developers added an extensive motion measurement capability to an existing product, which was then tested in various sports.
“Our own prototypes soon made us realise that the Movesense sensor could be used for purposes other than those we had time or willingness to pursue. It felt wasteful to keep such a treat solely to yourself,” Lahtinen says.
According to Lahtinen, even Suunto doesn’t know what the Movesense sensors are used for around the world. “About one third of the ideas we know of relate to sports and physical activities, such as technical training in different sports. Another third are health and well-being applications, used for optimising rehabilitation, lifestyle monitoring and sleep tracking. The final third involves all types of IoT concepts used, for instance, for monitoring machine operation, occupational safety, tracking the movement of animals, combining movement with gaming, producing music from movement and so on.”
Improving your downhill skiing technique with smart ski boots
Atomic's Hawks Ultra Connected Ski Boot is one of the released Movesense products. Our rocket scientists have been involved in developing the ski boot-customised Movesense from the very beginning: “We adapted Movesense for Atomic's hardware and added the functionality needed in the smart ski boot,” says rocket scientist Jari Tulilahti, who took part in the project.
“Although Atomic's sensor isn’t identical to the Movesense button of the standard product, the platform technology is much the same.”
Atomic's ski boot helps to improve the skier's technique. Integrated into the ski boot, Movesense assesses things such as the skier's balance, turns and speed and calculates distances and height differences – later the results can naturally be compared to those of other skiers and shared on social media.
