University of Calgary
STEALTH technology
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A GPS edge for alpine skiers
Canadian Alpine Ski Team member Jan Hudec wearing STEALTH, a training system that helps a skier perfect performance. / Photo: Chris BolinIt’s an invention that could drastically change the way many athletes train but until now, the developers couldn’t talk publicly about it. Engineers at the University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering have just wrapped up a top-secret project aimed at helping Canada’s Olympic alpine skiers train for the 2010 Olympic Games.The result is a world first: the Sensor for the Training of Elite Athletes (STEALTH). It is a GPS-based system that helps alpine skiers perfect their technique and route, or line selection, down a course. It helps them get down a slope in the fastest and most efficient manner. STEALTH is a partnership between the Schulich School of Engineering, Alpine Canada Alpin and Own the Podium, a winter sport technical program designed to help Canada win the most medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics. STEALTH has been in the works for years and the men’s Canadian Alpine Ski Team has been training with it since 2007. “STEALTH performs with accuracy of five centimetres and up to a timing accuracy of .1 millisecond. We’re the first in the world to do this with such a high level of accuracy and with a unit that weighs less than 300 grams,” says Gérard Lachapelle, Canada Research Chair/iCORE Chair in Wireless Location. Lachapelle heads up the Position, Location and Navigation (PLAN) Group at the Schulich School of Engineering. Lachapelle, along with graduate students Richard Ong and Aiden Morrison, designed STEALTH. 
A Canadian Alpine Ski Team member uses STEALTH during training this month at Nakiska in Kananaskis Country. / Photo: Gérard LachapelleThe system includes a small sensor worn on a skier’s belt. It tracks the speed and position of a skier down the mountain. When the run is played back later on a monitor using STEALTH’s Alpine GNSS Graphics software, coaches and skiers can easily see where improvement is needed.“The perfect line allows a skier to come out of a turn in perfect position to make the next turn. This is critical when traveling at these speeds. For this technology to be accepted and used by the team, its size and weight had to have minimal effect on the skiers,” explains Gerald Cole, an expert in biomechanics at the U of C’s Faculty of Kinesiology. Cole was a consultant on the project, acting as a liaison between researchers and the skiers, advising on the specifications and needs of the ski team. “When I started working with the ski team, people were searching around the world for the ‘GPS solution’. I think the most important thing I did on this project was to show everyone that we had the experts in our own back yard.” STEALTH was developed under an Own the Podium research and innovation program called Top Secret. “Top Secret is a world-unique program designed to give Canadian athletes the edge in performance, which can ultimately make the difference between finishing on or off the podium,” said Roger Jackson, chief executive officer of Own the Podium. Own the Podium provided key hardware for the STEALTH project as did NovAtel, a key sponsor of Alpine Canada. Schulich School of Engineering funding was provided by Alberta’s iCORE (Informatics Circle of Research Excellence).
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November 26, 2009