CECS Spotlight: Data cycles

A new software program developed by students in the School of Computer Science in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Sport, and launched at the 2010 Tour Down Under, now enables elite cyclists to better monitor their individual bicycle settings and contribute to increased biomechanical performance.

It is also manifest in the athletes' strict and exact diets which provide the energy and fitness that fuels travel over distances of up to 300 kilometres in a single day. It is even apparent in the sport's technology, that decreases bicycle weight, minimizes wind resistance and enhances overall performance.

Nowhere is the precise nature of road cycling more noticeable than in the area of biomechanics, or the interaction between an athlete's body and their machine. This communion between rider and bicycle encompasses factors such as riding position and style; pedalling technique; handlebar position; seat height; and bicycle frame size - variables that can all directly influence power, physiological output and aerodynamics. These determinants need to be perfect - for it can mean the difference between victory and failure.

Keeping track of the precise settings and the multiple variables pertaining to individual cyclists is now a whole lot easier - thanks to a web tool and database developed as part of a collaborative project between software engineering students in the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science and staff at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).

The project formed part of the undergraduate course Software Engineering Group Projects wherein third and fourth year students Hung-Su Nguyen, Sam Power, David Noack, Hagen Ditmer and Rifat Majumder all worked on developing an innovative software solution aimed at solving a problem presented to them by the AIS.

"The AIS were after individualised and accurate bicycle setup records that are paramount for the success of their competitive cyclists," explains course convenor Dr Shayne Flint.

"The course brought together fourth-year students as team leaders for teams of third-year students. Each team worked on a project to solve a real-world problem for industry and government clients.

"In the course students are exposed to many real-world issues associated with completing a software engineering project. Specifically, they learn from experience that software engineering is not just about technology - it is a people business - people working with people to solve problems for people."

The end result of the project was a new online system, myBikeSetup, which collates and records vital information about cyclists' anthropometry, or body proportions. This data is fed into the web-based software program that optimises the setup of a cyclist's particular machine by calculating any required adjustments, fitting or fine-tuning to the measurements and settings of an athlete's bicycle.

Ami Drory is a biomechanist at the AIS who regularly works with elite cyclists. It was Drory who commissioned the project as well as liaised with and supervised the students who took on his industry problem. He claims that the development of the myBikeSetup software represents a major improvement in capturing data about cyclists' anthropometry in relation to their bicycle settings.

"It will give Australian cyclists confidence in knowing that their bicycles have been sized and set up to their right measurements based on their current profiles and anthropometry," says Drory. "In fact, it will create a world-first data set that will enable biomechanists to optimise the algorithm used to calculate cyclists' bike setup based on their body proportions."

Drory highlights that cyclists will now posses the certainty that, every time they jump back on the bicycle, it will be set-up in exactly the same way it has been prescribed back in the lab as well as in the manner calculated to optimise an athlete's performance.

As a web database that incorporates statistical analysis and holding records, myBikeSetup not only makes it easier to streamline the updating of setup specifications, but ensures that it is a truly global function. It will also incorporate the knowledge of current and past states of bike setup held by individual cyclists, mechanics, coaches, physiotherapists and sport scientists.

"A critical design requirement was a mobile interface for the application, so cyclists and mechanics in the field can have access to the data at anytime and from anywhere," explains Drory. "Previously, there was no real way to remotely record and access ongoing historical data about a cyclist's body size and shape in relation to bike settings.

"What myBikeSetup has changed is the ability to store online the setup parameters of bicycles, retrieve this information via a mobile device, as well as share it between the coaches, athletes, mechanics and sports scientists involved with a cycling squad."

For example, a physiotherapist who had access to the system would be able to view the changes that had previously been made to a cyclist's machine and that could potentially correlate to a particular injury. It would also mean that the work of researchers across various institutes and agencies would be more consistent and additionally enable cyclists to reference past information if they changed between bike frames.

There are many other clear and substantial advantages to an online software application that can be used anywhere around the world and at anytime.

"Many of our athletes compete overseas for a large part of the year. The bikes are packed and unpacked many times," Drory says. "Also, due to the nature of the sport, cyclists crash and often need replacement bikes whilst at other times they are delivered new bikes by sponsors overseas.

"In all those scenarios it is hard to keep track of bike setup parameters as they were set up in the lab back at the AIS or in Adelaide. myBikeSetup will give the athletes the confidence that they, or the mechanic, can replicate the position they tested in the lab or in a wind tunnel. All the athlete needs to do is confirm the setup with a tape measure before they get on it."

The application will also allow biomechanists based in Australia, like Ami Drory, to remotely monitor how athletes are performing, how their positions may have changed, for what reasons these have changed and by whom changes have been made. It also means that the wear and tear of bicycle components can be observed over the course of a season that sees cyclists not only compete in Australia but all over the world.

Ultimately, the way myBikeSetup will assist with the biomechanics and science behind competitive road cycling represents one of its most exciting prospects. As a data repository the system provides longitudinal monitoring of changes in athletes over the course of their careers.

"The cycling position, or bike setup, determines the muscle activation pattern, cycling efficiency and economy and will greatly affect fatigue. For professional athletes there is no margin for error, and injuries may occur if we get this wrong," explains Drory. "Imagine spending six hours pedalling at 45km/h in a saddle that is too high or that has a reach that is too far. Optimal setup is paramount for performance.

"In a few years, when this data set has grown, it will allow us to optimise the algorithms we use to calculate the bike setup based on a body's proportions. We need data to generate knowledge, and myBikeSetup provides us with this data."

myBikeSetup was launched during the 2010 Tour Down Under. Taking place in Adelaide during January the race encompassed the first event of the Union Cyclist Internationale (UCI) ProTour, the largest professional cycling event in the world.

Currently the myBikeSetup program is only available to Australian Sports Commission users. However the plan is to redevelop the application in-house at the AIS during the first half of this year and launch it for public use in July. The redeveloped application will include additional features and will be extended to rowing and sailing rigging setups, as well as other sports.

"Most importantly, myBikeSetup provides the same level of access and functionalities to the recreational rider, the local cycling club, and the public," says Drory.

"We believe that it provides for better engagement of the AIS with the public, and may encourage more people to take up cycling. This is consistent with the AIS past mission which strives to enrich the lives of all Australians through sport."