Wearable Multi-Sensor Positioning Prototype for Rowing Technique Evaluation

The goal of this study is to determine the feasibility of a wearable multi-sensor positioning prototype to be used as a training tool to evaluate rowing technique and to determine the positioning accuracy using multiple mathematical models and estimation methods. The wearable device consists of an inertial measurement unit (IMU), an ultra-wideband (UWB) transceiver, and a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver. An experiment on a rowing shell was conducted to evaluate the performance of the system on a rower’s wrist, against a centimeter-level GNSS reference trajectory. This experiment analyzed the rowing motion in multiple navigation frames and with various positioning methods. The results show that the wearable device prototype is a viable option for rowing technique analysis; the system was able to provide the position, velocity, and attitude of a rower’s wrist, with a positioning accuracy ranging between ±0.185 m and ±1.656 m depending on the estimation method.