Riding a new wave

The SurfSens board has been developed incorporating sensors to measure the appropriate parameters, while preserving the board's performance properties. The SurfSens board incorporates strain gauge sensors for flex and torsion measurement, accelerometers, gyroscopes, a compass and GPS for movement characterization. The components carried on the SurfSens board include an IGEPv2 embedded computer to process and store sensor data on a Secure Digital (SD) memory card, two U3-LV data acquisition devices, a three-port USB hub, and one DC-DC converter. It also include several LJTick-InAmp signal-conditioning modules to handle strain gauge signals, a xsens MTi-G 6 DOF measurement unit, a GPS receiver antenna, 16 force-sensing resistors, eight strain gauges and two lithium-polymer battery cells. SurfSens can simultaneously measure flex, torsion, acceleration, speed and the position of the board and the surfer's feet while riding the waves.