Evaluating and Developing Flow Motion Technology in Alpine Skiing

DEGREE PROJECT IN DESIGN AND PRODUCT REALISATION, SECOND CYCLE, 30 CREDITS STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 2018

Evaluating and developing Flow Motion Technology in alpine skiing

LINN RILEGÅRD

KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT

Evaluating and developing Flow Motion Technology in alpine skiing

Linn Rilegård

Master of Science Thesis TRITA-ITM-EX 2018:651 KTH Industrial Engineering and Management Machine Design SE-100 44 STOCKHOLM

Examensarbete TRITA-ITM-EX 2018:651

Utvärdering och utveckling av Flow Motion Technology för alpinskidor

Linn Rilegård

Godkänt Examinator Handledare

2018-12-22 Claes Tisell Stefan Björklund

Uppdragsgivare Kontaktperson

Flow Motion Technology AB Fredrik Andersson

Sammanfattning

Alpinskidåkning är indelat i ett flertal sportgrenar, så som slalom, storslalom, freeride och störtlopp. Inom aplinskidåkning är tid en viktig faktor. Under tävling kämpar deltagarna såväl mot varandra som mot klockan, varje hundradels sekund räknas. Utrustning och teknologi utvecklas konstant för att ligga i framkant och förbättras för att få skidåkare att nå allt bättre resultat. I det här examensarbetet implementeras en teknik som kallas Flow Motion Technology i skidor för alpin åkning. Produkten utvecklas och utvärderas.

Flow Motion Technology AB är ett företag stationerat i Östersund som har utvecklat en teknologi som nu används i ishockey- och skate-produkter. Denna teknologi är patenterad och företaget är intresserade av att undersöka möjliga sportgrenar där denna princip kan implementeras. I detta examensarbete har teknologin implementerats i slalomskidor, testats samt utvecklats. Arbetet ska svara mot följande frågeställning;

Finns det tillräckligt med potential och fördelar med implementering av Flow Motion Technology i alpin skidor för att kunna rekommendera företaget att investera i framtida utveckling för detta?

Resultatet av examensarbetet var att tester som gjorts krävde mer avancerad utrustning för att fullständigt besvara frågan. Om testerna genomförs med bättre utrustning kan mer korrekta resultat utläsas och utvärderas. Resultatet av projektet blir därför att ingen rekommendation rörande om företaget bör fortsätta investera i en alpin platta med FMT i, kan ges. Om fler tester görs, med bättre utrustning kan korrekt data erhållas och en analys kan göras på en bättre grund.

Master of Science Thesis TRITA-ITM-EX 2018:651

Evaluating and developing Flow Motion Technology in alpine skiing

Linn Rilegård

Approved Examiner Supervisor

2018-12-22 Claes Tisell Stefan Björklund Commissioner Contact person

Flow Motion Technology AB Fredrik Andersson

Abstract

Alpine skiing is divided into several sports, such as slalom, freeride, giant slalom and downhill. In all these disciplines, time is an important factor. Competing against each other and against the clock makes every hundred of a second count. Equipment and technology are constantly improved to help the skier reach higher results. In this report a technology called Flow Motion Technology is implemented and evaluated in alpine skis.

Flow Motion Technology AB is a company based in Östersund that developed a principle now used in ice hockey and skate products. This technology is patented and the company is interested in examining possible sports branches that this principle can be implemented in. In this Master thesis project, the principle has been implemented in slalom skiing, tested and developed. What the work is about to answer is the question that follows.

Are there enough potential and benefits of implementing Flow Motion Technology in slalom skis to be able to recommend the company to invest in future development for this?

The result of the degree work was that tests made in the project required more advanced equipment to answer that research question correctly. If tests are performed with better equipment, more accurate data could be received and analyzed. The answer of the research question could therefore not be answered in this report. The recommendation to Flow Motion Technology could not be presented without further tests and analyzes.

FOREWORD

I would like to thank Fredrik Andersson and the rest of the team of Flow Motion Technology, for support and guidance. I would also like to thank Stefan Björklund for supervision during the project and for reviewing the report.

During the project, a lot of people helped me with knowledge and guidance. I would like to send a special thanks to Tomas Östberg, for help with manufacturing of prototypes, Malin Åkermo for discussions concerning concepts and carbon fibre and Per Wennhagen for help with tests at KTH.

Linn Rilegård

Stockholm, August 2018

NOMENCLATURE

Abbreviations and terms

CAD Computer Aided Design

FMT Flow Motion Technology (A technology patented by the company Flow Motion Technology AB)

Marsblade Brand providing inlines and ice-hockey skates with FMT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION ...... 1 1.1 Background ...... 1 Flow motion Technology ...... 1 What is Flow Motion Technology? ...... 1 Why Flow Motion Technology? ...... 3 1.3 Purpose ...... 3 1.5 Delimitations ...... 4 1.6 Method ...... 4 2 FRAME OF REFERENCE ...... 5 2.1 Product development ...... 5 Alpha prototypes ...... 5 Patents ...... 6 Sustainability ...... 6 2.2 Alpine equipment ...... 7 State-of-the-art ...... 7 3 IMPLEMENTATION ...... 9 3.1 Prototype development ...... 9 First loop of prototype development ...... 9 Areas of improvements ...... 11 Ideation and concept generation ...... 12 Second loop of prototype development ...... 13 3.2 Tests ...... 14 Test A - Feel while skiing ...... 14 Test B – Vibration I ...... 15 Test C - Contact ...... 17 Test D – Vibration II ...... 18 Test E – Vibration III ...... 18 3.3 Equipment and measurement tools ...... 21 Hardware used in tests ...... 21 Software used in tests ...... 23

4 RESULTS ...... 25 4.1 Final prototype ...... 25 Material ...... 25 Manufacturing ...... 26 Design and functionality ...... 26 Mounting part ...... 29 Design ...... 30 4.2 Test results ...... 32 Test A - Feel while skiing ...... 32 Test B – Vibration I ...... 32 Test C - Contact ...... 33 Test D – Vibration II ...... 33 Test E – Vibration III ...... 34 Sources of error ...... 37 4 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ...... 39 4.1 Discussion ...... 39 Design ...... 39 4.2 Conclusions ...... 40 Research question ...... 40 Conclusions from tests ...... 40 Conclusions from development of prototypes ...... 40 5 RECOMMENDATIONS AND FUTURE WORK ...... 43 5.1 Recommendations ...... 43 Tests and equipment ...... 44 Method ...... 44 5.2 Future work ...... 45 6 REFERENCES ...... 47

APPENDIX 1: TIME SCHEDULE APPENDIX 2: REQUIREMENT SPECIFICATION APPENDIX 3: MORPHOLOGY MATRICES APPENDIX 4: MICRO:BIT APPENDIX 5: DRAWING APPENDIX 6: TEST RESULTS – VIBRATION III

1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter describes the background, the purpose, the limitations and the method(s) used in the presented project.

1.1 Background

Flow motion Technology Flow Motion Technology AB is a company stationed in Östersund, Sweden, but also the name of a technical solution (the technical solution referred to as FMT during the report). FMT was originally developed to improve hockey players practice during off-season. FMT is today implemented in inlines and ice-hockey skates. These products are today presented under the brand Marsblade (Marsblade.com, 2018). The design differs, even though the principle is the same in both products. The ice hockey skates are designed to maximize the performance on ice, while the inline skates are built as a pre-season training product for ice hockey players.

FMT is a technology based on a two-part chassis that enables the curved component to roll against the other flat one. The principle is completely new - in traditional skates the chassis are fixed.

The FMT technology could be implemented in other products as well, not only in ice hockey products. The company is investigating the possibility to implement FMT in other types of products in other sports. Sports of interest are for example cross-country skiing, fitness inlines and alpine skiing. This thesis project investigates the potential for an FMT implementation in alpine skiing.

What is Flow Motion Technology? The FMT technology is a unique idea, developed by former ice hockey player Per Mårs. The purpose of the technology was to improve a roller skate to feel more like ice skating. Ice hockey players often have trouble keeping or improving their technique during the off-season. With FMT the players could train their technique all year around.

Figure 1. The movement of the chassi with Flow Motion Technology. The blue part has a straight surface that the white part with a radius could roll against to create a desired movement. Center of gravity and attachment point coincides like the lowest picture shows.

After developing the roller frame, FMT technology was implemented in ice-skates as well, since it occurred that there were several advantages using the technique in that type of product.

FMT is a technology were the original chassi is split in two, where one of the resulting surfaces is made round and the other one left with a flat surface, making the two chassis components able to create a rocking movement when pushed together.

Figure 2. The construction and assembly of the ice holder is designed with a two-part chassis with is a leaf spring that controls the movement. Set screws make sure the two-part chassis are attached together.

Why Flow Motion Technology? When using FMT in roller skates and ice skates, the contact area increase since the lower chassi is connected to the ground even if the user lay their weight on the toe or heel. This makes a huge difference from regular roller- and ice skates.

FMT in roller- and ice skates have a lot of positive effects. The surface between the ice skate blade and the ice increases, which makes it possible to take quicker turns, gain higher speed and increase power. FMT in roller skates results in a different feeling as regular roller skates do. The feeling of using FMT roller skates is similar to how the skates feel on ice. The technology makes it possible for ice-hockey players to improve techniques and strength even off ice-season.

1.3 Purpose

The purpose of the project was to answer to if there is a potential in implementing FMT in alpine skiing, see research question below.

Are there enough potential and benefits with implementing FMT in alpine skis to recommend Flow Motion Technology to further investigate in the future?

1.4 Hypothesis

FMT has successfully been implemented in ice hockey- and roller skates, showing that different positive effects occur while doing so, the master thesis aim to investigate if implementing FMT in alpine skiing would be beneficial too. When implementing FMT in alpine skiing the desired outcome would be improved skills when competing and training. The inline skate of Marsblade is designed to give the ice hockey player a way to train skills and technique during the off-season, whereas the ice skate is a product to make the skating more powerful when training and competing on ice.

To improve and affect the technique of the skier, the design of the alpine plate had to be adjusted. When skiing, the user could tilt the construction back and forth, a result of the split chassis that the concept of FMT is based on. The FMT could increase the maneuverability of the skis, for example it could be easier to keep the skis parallel throughout a turn. Hypothetically, the rocking ski plate could add an extra push to the skier when initiating a turn. When the user put more weight at a point further back at the ski, the rocking movement creates an acceleration forward. Since these hypothetical statements have not yet been tested, no proof lies within these assumptions.

To improve the performance when using alpine skis this alpine plate may reduce vibrations within the ski and therefore increase the contact between the ski and the snow. When increasing the contact area between the ski and the snow it could have a positive effect concerning speed and maneuverability. In this master thesis project, an evaluation was started

3 to investigate if the vibrations in fact do decrease in the ski when FMT was implemented. Tests concerning experienced feelings during alpine skiing as well as tests of the contact between ski and snow are also discussed and somehow tested with varying outcomes.

1.5 Delimitations

● A limited amount of time was dedicated to the project, 20 weeks of full time work. ● The project was conducted to give an understanding weather Flow Motion Technology should continue investigating the possibility to implement FMT in downhill skis. If the project showed that there were no purpose in continue working with alpine skis, the company would not have wanted to spent a huge amount of money. Therefore the budget was tight throughout the project. ● The vibration tests had to be done under specific weather conditions, it had to be tested on snow. ● The distance between KTH in Stockholm and Flow Motion Technology in Östersund could be seen as a limitation, since the work of the master thesis had to be divided. ● The project involves development of prototypes and tests. Deep analyzes are not conducted due to the time limit.

1.6 Method

The method of the project was traditional according to product development (Ulrich and Eppinger, 2015) The master thesis is based on a method of hypothesis, implementation, results and conclusions. The project will describe a product development process, with areas such as requirement specification, conceptual generation and evaluation. A huge part of the report is presenting the different measurement methods used to evaluate the principal FMT in alpine skis. The iterative design research process is described in Milton and Rodgers, 2013. The book presents an iterative process including looking, learning, asking, making (prototyping), testing, evaluating and selecting, and communicating. In this master thesis the iterative process had already been repeated at least once before, why conclusions and results from earlier prototyping, tests, knowledge, etc. were taken into account while repeating the process. Main focus in the project was testing a prototype and evaluate the results and methods for doing so. The sub categories looking, learning and asking is mostly presented as background, state of the art and requirement specification in 1. Introduction and in Appendix 2 – Requirement specification. Making prototypes and testing will be described under 2. Implementation while evaluating will be presented and discussed under 3. Results and 4. Discussion and conclusion.

2 FRAME OF REFERENCE

The reference frame is a summary of the existing knowledge and former performed research on the subject. This chapter presents the theoretical reference frame that is necessary for the performed research, design or product development.

2.1 Product development

Alpha prototypes A prototype built before the project started was used in several tests inside and outside lab during the thesis. The prototype was made by Flow Motion Technology in an earlier iteration of tests. It was a functional prototype in wood and carbon fiber. The bottom of the plate was rocked and the motion was damped with clay and disc springs, outer positions of the movement controlled by screws. To prevent the plate to disconnect from the ski, screws had been mounted in the middle through the plate and ski. The discs springs were mounted on those screws. Underneath, the plate body had been hollowed to enable damping material to fit between the ski and plate.

Figure 5. Two of the prototypes used in the master thesis. One in aluminum and one in carbon fiber and wood. The black one in carbon fiber were used during all tests.

A second prototype in aluminium was also designed by Flow Motion Technology before the master thesis project started. Both prototypes are shown in Figure 5.

Patents Flow Motion Technology AB base their products development on one technical solution implemented in various products. A patent on the technical solution made the ground for developing the product to make the technology as useful as possible. The patent therefore made the ground for the development of alpine skis as well. (Marsblade AB, 2014)

Figure 4. One picture from a patents of Flow Motion Technology.

Sustainability When selecting materials and manufacturing method, sustainability could be involved in the decision. The product should have an awareness of sustainability and for example be manufactured in as few parts as possible, in materials that could be recycled and/or durable and with a long life length. There should be awareness that material and manufacturing affect the environment. Decisions regarding material and manufacturing method should be taken with consideration to the environmental impact.

2.2 Alpine equipment

Alpine skiing includes many different sports; slalom, freeride and racing are a few examples. When pursuing the different sports, different equipment is used. Many things are much alike comparing these branches of alpine skiing, but for example the width of the skis varies depending on which sport to perform. Ski boots, bindings and mounting method to the skis could differ as well. Which equipment that is allowed could be found in regulations from Svenska Skidsportförbundet (Skidor.com, 2018).

State-of-the-art There are several products, established on the market, with the purpose to mount the bindings on alpine skis. The plates that different brands provide to customers have different functionalities and design. Salomon, Atomic and Marker are, for example, brands providing plates to mount on your skis and then mount the bindings on the plate (Skistore, 2018). The plate has functions such as reduce vibrations and to make the mounting of bindings easier. Weights could be included in the plates to work against the natural oscillations that generates in the skis, and the materials of the plates could be adjusted to reduce vibrations. Bindings and alpine plates could also be used to build a distance between the ski and the boot, to adjust characteristics of the skis.

Figure 3. Different types of alpine plates are available in stores, adjusted to meet requirements regarding weight, strength and functionality.

3 IMPLEMENTATION This chapter described the prototype development, how the tests were executed and what equipment that were used.

Three tracks of development and evaluation were conducted parallel throughout the project. One track contained development and implementation of the technical solution of FMT in alpine skis, and prototypes were developed. Second track consisted of tests that were run and analyzed. The tests evaluated the implementation of FMT in downhill skis. The third track running along the others were the part concerning design development. The design of the product had to be thought through to be able to present a suggestion of how the product could look when produced by Flow Motion Technology.

3.1 Prototype development

Prototypes can have several purposes. They can, e.g., be used to get a better understanding about the product. By creating a prototype with the right dimensions, weight, color, material or other specifics an understanding of the product could be evolved. With patents of FMT as a base, prototypes were developed. Prototypes and 3D models of the product were done using softwares such as Solid Egde st9 (Software, 2018), Keyshot (Keyshot.com, 2018), MATLAB (Mathworks.com, 2018) and the Office package (Products.office.com, 2018).

First loop of prototype development A prototype was made in an early stage of the master thesis project. Based on earlier prototypes, terms set by the company and ski manufacturing, limitations concerning knowledge, access of materials and time - a draft of a design of the plate was made. The prototype was manufactured in aluminum and shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6. Prototype made in aluminum at an early stage in the project. The prototype was made to generate ideas of development and to create an understanding of the product being tested and developed.

The construction of the prototype was analyzed with FEM-analysis. The result from that analysis showed that the design was not able to endure specified forces and as development of the product continued, the stiffness and durability were increased.

Figure 7. A mounting part placed in the boot-center fixated the plate and enabled the plate to move in a rocking motion.

The concept was built mainly by three types of components - a mounting part, two steering modules and a plate. In addition to this, the purpose was to add plate-springs and damping material. The mounting module was attached to the ski with screws. The part was designed to be able to take large forces. To steer the plate and keep it from rotating during usage, modules at the end and tip were manufactured. The steering modules had to be mounted directly on to the ski with screws.

Figure 8. Steering modules secure that the plate do not rotate. The modules are mounted on the ski with screws.

Areas of improvements All together areas of improvements could be detected with knowledge based on designed prototypes.

● The prototype needed to be more rigid, analyzing the construction with ANSYS showed that the model had to be more solid to endure the estimated powers. Shape, material or features could be changed to improve the strength in the construction. ● Tolerances and spacing had to be fitted. ● The mounting part in the prototype has to have additions in form of other materials, springs or changes of shapes. To control the rocking movement of the plate, materials with damping characteristics or springs could be used. ● To minimize the weight, carbon fiber or fiberglass could be used. Specific details in the design could be made in steel or stainless steel if needed.

To understand the benefit of a product with Flow Motion Technology within the alpine ski area, several tests were executed. Outdoor tests in the Swedish alps were done as well as tests inside the lab. The purpose of the tests was to investigate the differences (if any) between a

11 product with Flow Motion Technology and a regular product from a commonly used brand. Tests were executed to analyze if vibrations in the ski changed depending on which slalom plate was used, if the pressure between the ski and snow changed depending on slalom plate used and if there were any differences concerning the feeling while skiing. Prototypes and constructions were developed at the same time that the tests were run.

Ideation and concept generation Product development consists of a large part were new ideas, combinations and concepts are generated (Ulrich and Eppinger, 2015). Different technical solutions were drawn, analyzed and evaluated, some early sketches are shown in Figure 9. Morphological matrices were used for ideation, examples of these matrices are shown in Appendix 3 – Morphology matrices.

Figure 9. Showing some early sketches.

At an early stage of the project the focus was to do one prototype based on criteria set by the requirement specification and earlier prototypes. Different solutions were taken in account and the solution chosen to proceed with was selected partly because of the limitations of production in a short period of time. The purpose of this prototype and concept was to have something to increase the understanding of the product and principal of FMT with. During the product development and evaluation of the product, new and old solutions were brought up and included in the ongoing ideation and concept generation. In Figure 10, sketches at a later stage in the process are showed. These are still conceptual but more concentrated to specific details and functions.

Figure 10. Drawings of components and shapes during the product development process.

Second loop of prototype development With respect to what the tests had resulted in, the design of the FMT alpine plate was changed and improved. Solid Edge ST9 was used to model the plate in a 3D format, and improvements were continuously done and resulted in a final construction. The final prototype is presented and shown in chapter 3. Results. The final prototype was designed to be used in further tests of Flow Motion Technology. An axis running through the rocker, in the boot center, makes it possible to fixate the plate even better on the ski. This could be desired when skiing with wider skis, for example off-piste skis. When using wider skis, the forces on the design increase related to the gradient between boot and ground. The axis could be put out of gear when not needed. If so, the plate is fixated by springs instead.

3.2 Tests

Flow Motion Technology had already executed some tests with different prototypes attached to alpine skis. The purpose of doing another test loop was to further investigate if implementing FMT in alpine skis was beneficial.

An overview of tests conducted during the project is presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Overview of tests conducted during the project.

Category Title Short description

Test A - Feel while Estimated feeling of the skier skiing during usage. Outdoor tests (Swedish Alps) Test B - Vibration I Measurement of acceleration during skiing downhill.

Test C - Contact Investigating the contact between snow and skis.

Test D - Vibration II Measurment of acceleration with simple equipment. Tests inside lab Test E - Vibration III Measurment of acceleration with (KTH-lab) more advanced equipment.

Test A - Feel while skiing When skiing in the Swedish Alps, the test person was asked to try and feel a difference between the two skis with different slalom plates. The purpose of the test was to understand how the user experienced the prototype compared with one of the most high-end products existing on the market.

Test B – Vibration I Several tests were executed skiing downhill in the Swedish Alps, spanning over two days of trials. During these tests accelerometers were attached at the front of the ski to measure the acceleration of the ski during usage. The prototype used for these tests was a carbon fiber construction to analyze the function. Both the prototype and a standard plate were used during the tests, mounted on each ski. One difference between the tests was the measurement method. The same person tested the equipment both days.

Test day 1: In the first test the accelerometer was mounted on one ski at the time, and therefore the logging when using the prototype versus using the original one was made during separately rides.

Test day 2: In the second test, two accelerometers were used to be able to log data from both skis at the time, during the same runs. Half way through the test the user changed foot that the separate skis were attached to, to make the result as accurate as possible.

The electrical hardware and software used during the tests is described under 2.3 Equipment and measurement tools.

Figure 11. The prototype was tried in the Swedish Alps to collect data of vibration during downhill skiing.

The circuit board with accelerometer, a Micro:bit (Microbit.org, 2018) was attached to the ski with double-sided tape and a plastic cross to make the Micro:bit horizontal to the ski (see Figure 12 below). The extended cable from the Micro:bit was long enough to make it possible to ski with the battery lying in a pocket.

Figure 12. One Micro:bit with plastic piece and double-sided tape to be attached to a ski.

Test C - Contact The metal edges of the skis were painted, the material underneath the ski was left unpainted. Floor paint was used, recommended by Alcro (Alcro.se, 2018).

The purpose of the test was to analyze the abutment between the ski and the snow during skiing. During the tests both skis were painted but one ski had the FMT prototype mounted and one had an original plate used for comparison. If differences could be noticed between the two skis, one could discuss what the differences could mean for the user in terms of feel and performance.

Figure 13. The skis edges were painted with floor paint. The areas where paint had been removed after skiing could be compared to understand differences between the FMT prototype and an original alpine plate.

Test D – Vibration II Several different vibration tests were executed inside labs. The ski was mounted differently depending on test. The ski was mounted in a vice to fixate the ski. The tip of the ski was bended and released from a decided length (same length during each test but different between the tests). The oscillation that occurred when the tip was released was measured and logged in the same way as in the alpine tests. Hardware, software and equipment is described under 2.3 Equipment and measurement tools.

Figure 14. Figure showing the ski and plate fixated in a vice during vibration tests indoor.

Test E – Vibration III Vibration tests with other equipment than Micro:Bits were done. An accelerometer connected to a computer (see Figure 15) measured the frequency in the ski. Force was added by an impulse hammer. Frequency response functions (in (m/s^2)/N) were measured as a proportion to the added force and the acceleration of the vibrations the added force entails. The information that the test resulted in was gain from the frequency response functions, as a function of the frequency, which correlates with the excitatory force in the specific spot that the force were added with the hammer and the acceleration in the position where the accelerometer was attached.

Figure 15. An accelerometer was attached to the end of the ski to measure frequency when the ski had been triggered with an impulse hammer (left). The accelerometer was connected to a computer were data was collected (right).

The peaks in the frequency response functions show where the skis resonant frequencies are. The data could be analyzed by investigating how the graphs of frequency and input force looks like. Resonant frequencies and amount of damping material could be compared when analyzing the data.

These tests were done in the same way with both the regular plate and the prototype. The ski was mounted as shown in Figure 16 below. A slalom boot attached to the ski had been filled with epoxy to fixate a steel construction to make it easier to mount the whole boot and ski into a vice.

Figure 16. How the slalom boot looked when the steel frame had been attached with epoxy.

Figure 17. Data program used for this test (left). The accelerometer was placed at different places, at the same location for both the regular alpine plate and the FMT alpine plate (right).

3.3 Equipment and measurement tools

Hardware used in tests Alpine equipment used in the alpine tests were racer skis from Blizard, bindings from Markers, one slalom plate from Markers and a prototype in wood and carbon fiber attached with discs springs and screws with damping material underneath. To be able to measure the vibrations that were generated in the ski while skiing, measurement devices were needed. The estimated accelerometer needed was at least one that could measure up to +/- 8 g. To transfer data from the accelerometer, attached to a circuit-board, software in form of an app on the cell phone was used. To collect accurate data from the accelerometer, the equipment had to meet criteria concerning range of measurement and accuracy. Many solutions could meet these criteria, but due to limited amount of time and knowledge, the solutions were narrowed down.

Micro:Bit is a product directed at students. It is a circuit board with attached components where several functions are integrated and designed to be easy to code and work with. Micro:Bits are often used as a tool to program functions and to measure acceleration without the need of deep knowledge from the user.

Figure 18. The Micro:Bit, wires and battery mounted on one of the skis.

An accelerometer integrated in a Micro:Bit was attached to the ski. To provide current to the Micro:Bit, batteries were connected with extra-long cables that were soldered together. The battery was put in the users pocket during the tests to protect it from water and snow. More detailed information regarding the Micro:Bit is presented in Appendix 4 – Micro:Bit and accelerometer.

Figure 19. Pictures shows one Micro:bit with cables and battery.

During some of the vibration tests indoor a slalom boot was used to resemble as close to a person's foot as possible. Also the concept made it easy to mount the boot upside down into a vice during tests. The boot was cut to a lower height, filled with epoxy and a welded metal frame was attached in the boot, mounted into the epoxy.

Figure 20. The ski boot filled with epoxy and with attached metal frame.

Software used in tests The accelerometer was attached on a Micro:bit. The Micro:bit was delivered already programed to function together with specific software. The app Bitty Data Logger was used to receive data of the measured acceleration. Data was send from the Micro:Bit via Bluetooth to a cell phone with the Bitty Data Logger app. One mobile phone could only be connected to one Micro:Bit at the time. The Micro:Bit logged data every 20 millisecond and then sent the information to the mobile phone that saved the data. This was the shortest sample interval available of the Bitty Data Logger. If the time interval of sampling is 20 ms, the maximal frequency possible to measure is 25Hz according to the Nyquist criteria (Kth.se, 2018), se equation (2).

Figure 21. The Micro:Bit app (left). Accelerometer on the phone (right).

Most smart-phones have accelerometers integrated, which is sensitive and precise. Using a smart-phone in these tests was an option, but was not used because of the phones weight. If a smartphone would be attached at the tip of the ski, the vibrations would most certainly change due to the weight of the phone. An example of how the phone accelerometer app could look is shown in Figure 21 above.

Figure 22. How settings could look like inside the Bitty Data Logger.

Difficulties that occurred were that the sampling frequency did not seem to match the decided interval. When the data was analyzed one could see several gaps were data not existed or did not seem accurate. Used accelerometer could measure +/- 8 g. By analyzing the result and plotting the acceleration in graphs it seemed like acceleration was higher than 8 g and therefore maximum and minimum values was not able to be measured in these tests.

4 RESULTS Result is presented and shown with data and figures.

When the product development and the tests were completed, data from the tests could be analyzed and compared. A suggestion of the next generation of prototype could be designed. The developed prototype had the purpose of being able to function in future tests concerning vibration, estimated feeling, speed, technique and maneuverability. The final design is presented below.

While developing a prototype early in the process, FEM-analysis was conducted to understand the durability and constraints. The analysis in ANSYS (Ansys.com, 2018) showed that with the chosen material (aluminum), the construction could not endure the force required and had to be improved.

4.1 Final prototype

During tests and prototype development, a suggestion of the next generation of a prototype was designed. The purpose of this prototype was to make it possible to try the plate on both racer skis and broader, off-pist skis. New tests measuring vibrations could be redone with more advanced equipment to successfully understand the effects of using FMT in downhill skis. With more exact and advanced measuring methods in the alps, and with more test persons, a more scientific result could be reached. An example of how such a prototype could be designed is presented below.

Material The alpine plate would preferably be made in a light weight material with high strength, for example ABS-plastic or Carbon fiber. Carbon fibre is light, adjustable and strong, and could be a suitable option for this kind of product. Carbon fiber could, if designed correctly, easily be manufactured in one piece. Also, it is possible to manipulate the stiffness in the material in different directions when using carbon fiber. Depending on how the fibers are placed, the material could have both high strength and resistant of torsion in different directions. Fibers could be placed differently in different parts of the material as well, which could give different parts of the material separate characteristics. (Åkermo, 2018). This could be useful when manufacturing the alpine plate, to make it stiffer when it comes to rotational movements and manage bending without cracking.

Screws, springs and components that need to be in metal could be in stainless steel. Previous prototypes in the project have been made of either aluminum or carbon fiber. The risk with

25 combining aluminum and carbon fiber is corrosion. If combining metal and carbon fibre, steel is a better option. (Yari, 2018).

Manufacturing The prototype could be manufactured with few separate parts. The main plate could be manufactured in one piece. To make the manufacturing of the prototype easy, all angles on the product needs to be adjusted. All angels need to be obtuse to enable the carbon fiber canvas to follow the outlines of the prototype without braking. The overall shape is shown in Figure 23 below.

Figure 23. The overall form of the developed prototype. In the picture is the rocker shown, mounted on a ski.

When drilling and grinding the material, a special tool adjusted for carbon fiber is needed or else the tools will be destroyed quickly because of the strength of carbon fiber.

Design and functionality The plate is designed to rock against the ski to change the pressure on the skis, see Figure 24. The prototype is rigid and thick to make is easy to manufacture and make it durable towards bending stresses.

The main form of the product is developed with respect to large strains the design should be able to endure, see Appendix 2 – Requirement specifications for more details. The cross- section of the rocker is formed to be able to withstand bending stresses. (Sundström, 2013).

Figure 24. The FMT alpine plate can rotate back and forth. (I) shows the initial position of the rocker, (II) when the plate is tilted forward and (III) when it is tilted backwards.

The plate is designed to be durable and meet the constraints set in the requirement specification. The cross-section is formed as a “V” to follow the shape of the ski boot and at the same time build mass and height to improve strength. See Figure 25 below.

Figure 25. Cross-section of the rocker.

The rocker has a curved surface underneath to enable a rocking motion on the ski. Holes in the rocker make it possible to mount bindings and adjust the size to fit a wide range of boot sizes. The user mount the binding once and are then able to adjust the binding depending on shoe size, like a normal binding.

Figure 26. Shows drawing of holes and distances related. The figure is shown in Appendix 5 – Drawing.

Through the rocker goes an axle (see C in Figure 27). The axle is connected to the mounting parts when the axle-solution for broad skis should be used. When the leaf spring-solution for racer skis are used, the axle is put out of gear. When using racer skis and connecting the rocker to the ski with leaf springs the spring makes the rocker move in a controlled way and forces the rocker back to a normal position. Depending on who is using the product (users length, weight and experience) the springs could be weaker or stronger.

Description Part

A Rocker B Mounting screws C Axle D Racks

Figure 27. The alpine plate contains of several parts described in the picture.

In both cases a damping material is used to create a slower movement. The material is an adhesive mass. Besides improving the stability in the movement it also prevent snow and dirt from destroying the mechanism.

Mounting part To test the prototype on different types of skis the mounting and movement had to be adjustable. When using the plate on a racer-ski, the mounting could consist of springs and stop screws. But when using broad off piste skis the plate had to be constructed to work a little bit different. This type of solution differs from the original patent that Flow Motion Technology already has but was requested by the company.

Description Part

B Mounting screws C Axle D Racks E Leaf spring

Figure 28. Shows the components look, without the rocker, mounted on a ski. A leaf spring is mounted in the middle and two fixating mounting parts keeps the plate attached to the ski.

The solution is that an axle instead of springs and screws makes sure the rocker stays attached to the ski. When using the axle instead of springs the possibility to lift the plate a distance of around 2 mm of the ski emerges. By fixating the plate a few millimeters above the ski the movement is made more comparable to a teeter. The length between the axle and the point where the plate should have contact with the substrate could be decided. This will happen when the plate is tilted enough. When the plate get contact with the ski at one point the plate and ski will have more contact the more the rocker is tilted. This method has been tested before by Flow motion technology and seemed to be an interesting way of making the plate rock but under full control of the movement. When the plate is pushed against the ski, the ski will bend, enable the plate to keep contact to the ski without creating a lot of stresses in the mounting. The only visible difference between the two solutions is the axle and screws. The different components are shown in Figure 27 and 28. 29

Figure 29. Shows the rocker and racks mounted on a ski.

Racks mounted to the ski, steer the rocker and keeps it from rotating or moving lengthwise. The racks are made in stainless steel and are drilled on to the ski before mounting the rocker. The rocker improves the stability of the design and is vital to make the product secure. If the user fall while skiing the bindings have to be able to release as expected.

Design Design language of these products mediates functionality and highlight where the FMT solution is added to the product, for example the roller frame has blue wheels. On the ice skates, the split chassis is painted blue to highlight the technology of FMT.

Figure 30. The pictures shows how the blue color is used to highlight the function of FMT in already existing products at Marsblade.

The prime-colors used are discrete and clean, the accent color is drawing attention. The shapes are traditional and functional but mediate professionalism and craftwork. All angles and lines are slightly rounded and soft without tipping over towards mediating soft and weak. 30

With chamfered rounded lines, rounded angles, clean shapes and additional color highlighting function FMT creates the design language of their products.

The product developed in this master thesis is thought to be a prototype used in future tests, not a commercial product. However it is always a great idea to mediate the design of the brand even if the product should be used in tests. It is important to make an impact on the user in a positive way, the interface between product and user is therefore important no matter when and where.

Figure 31. Suggestion on design of the final prototype.

Figure 32 . Cross-section of suggestion on design of the final prototype.

4.2 Test results

Test A - Feel while skiing During the two tests that were executed in the Swedish Alps the user could not feel a difference between the two solutions. During these days the conditions were not optimal. The snow was quite soft and squashy, one could argue that a hard, compact snow would have been better when the aim was to feel a difference between the plates. The movement of the Flow Motion Technology prototype would probably be more prominent if the ground was hard.

Test B – Vibration I The data logged during tests while skiing did not seem accurate. The software was not advanced enough for the task. Sampling of data seemed to be clumped together in a way that was not wanted and that made the results unreliable. I.e. the Sampling frequency was not accurate enough. In plots below one could see that +/- 8 g is often reached in the graph. Therefore it could be that an accelerometer with higher limits would be preferable to be able to measure values over and under +/- 8 g.

Results from vibration tests were analyzed in excel. All data were transferred in to an excel sheet where the absolute value of the acceleration in every given point was calculated. The test consisted of 8 separate ski races over 2 days (4 ski races for each day). A selected period of time (same for each ski race) was analyzed and a mean value of all absolute values was presented. One mean value for data logged when using the FMT plate and one when using a regular plate.

Table 2. Mean value of absolute values of acceleration.

Product FMT alpine plate Regular alpine plate

Time Day 1* Day 2** Day 1* Day 2**

Mean value of G-force 1,55079 2,62777 1,56823 2,59867

*Day 1 = 19th of April 2018. 3 ski races were measured.

**Day 2 = 27th of April 2018. 4 ski races were measured.

Test C - Contact After one run with the skis, the paint was gone. No color was left - from end to end of the ski. The result is therefore that painting the ski edges was not a successful way to measure the abutment. The friction between the edges and the snow was too high to enable any of the paint to stick to the ski.

Figure 33. Shows the FMT and a regular plate during tests.

Test D – Vibration II The prototype seemed to make the oscillation decrease faster than the regular alpine plate. Graphs below show the results.

] 2 m/s [

[ms] Figure 34. Shows results of decreasing oscillation using the FMT alpine plate. On the x-axis is time [ms] and on the y-axis is G-force.

] 2 m/s [

[ms] Figure 35. Shows results of decreasing oscillation using a regular alpine plate (Markers). On the x-asis is time [ms] and on the y-axis is G-force.

In Figure 32 and 33 plots of the oscillation are shown. The oscillation seems to decrease faster with the FMT plate than with the regular plate. The measurements were done with Micro:Bits and accelerometers that could measure up to +/- 8 g and with a sampling frequency at 20 milliseconds. This test could work as a suggestion to further look into this type of comparison. With many sources of errors and equipment not as accurate as desired this result works as an indicator to further investigate this topic.

In other tests the results show that there are not significant differences between the two ski- solutions. In one specific test there were more elements that contributed to an unsecure result. The equipment used was unstable, resulting in disturbing vibrations from the table and mounting equipment.

Test E – Vibration III Vibration tests with accelerometer and impulse hammer were done 11 times on each ski/plate. The impulse hammer was positioned of different positions; 150 mm from the tip of the ski during the 3 first test runs, 55 mm for measure 4 and 5, 400 mm measure 6 to 8 and 140 mm from the end of the binding measuring test for run 9 to 11. Example from all different hammering points are presented in Appendix 6 – Test results vibration lab. Figure 33 shows an example of the measurements. In the figure, the y-axis is the frequency response function (acceleration/force) with unit [(m/s^2)/N]. The x-axis is the frequency with unit [Hz].

Relevant conclusion from these results could be to calculate the ratio of the frequency response functions between the FMT plate and the regular one. What a difference between these would mean, and if it is good or bad, could be discussed.

The frequency response function ((m/s^2)/N)) was affected by the added force (with the force-hammer) and the acceleration of the vibration in the ski. The acceleration in the ski was also effected by the position where the force was added, as well as where the accelerometer was attached.

Figure 36. Measurement 1 with the FMT alpine plate.

Figure 37. Graph showing measurement 1 with a regular alpine plate.

According to Figure 36 and 37 there is a peak around 1500 to 2000 Hz. The value in Figure 36 at that point could be compared with the value at the same frequency from Figure 37. An calculation could approximately be as shown in equation (1).

250/210 = 1,190 (1)

The result means that the offset for the regular plate is around 1,19 times larger than the dislocation for the FMT plate.

Sources of error Different aspects need to be taken into account while studying results of the different tests.

● The environment while executing the test could have an impact. Weather conditions have an impact on the experience and could have affected the feeling of the user. Only one person participated during user- and vibration tests in the Swedish alps, therefore the result could be affected by mood or daily physical condition. ● The test person used in user tests had a lot of experience from downhill skiing in several disciplines. Depending on experience and technique the result of the tests could differ. ● During the user tests, data information from the electrical device, including an accelerometer, were sent by Bluetooth to smartphones. Troubles with sending or handling data could be a source for errors in the results. ● The accuracy and capacity of used accelerometer most certainly had an impact on the result. ● When executing tests in lab many factors due to humans involved could lower the accuracy of the test results. ● Equipment used in tests in lab could have affected the results. Unstable equipment could affect data of vibration in the ski.

4 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS Here are discussions and conclusions from the different parts of the work presented.

4.1 Discussion

Design The design and branding of the product could be further developed. Depending on which target group the product is aiming for the design could be adjusted to speak to the right customer. The product is today designed to speak to a professional target group but is in the same time still in an early stage of product development. The design and construction still mediates that the purpose is to test functions with the product, since it is still a prototype. When the product is further developed and the final product could be launched, one suggestion would be to target a professional exclusive group of athletes and with a superior design and form language mediate a premium feeling. Since the FMT alpine plate might be able to be used by professionals in different alpine sports the product could help athletes to reach a higher level and perform better at both training and competitions. If professionals enjoy a product that helps them reach better results, one could assume that others within the sport will follow (Neumeier, 2006)

4.2 Conclusions

Research question To answer the research question there has to be enough correct data from tests and conclusions based on that data. Research question from 1.3 Purpose was as follows:

Are there enough potential and benefits with implementing FMT in alpine skis to recommend Flow Motion Technology to further investigate in the future?

From tests executed during this master thesis the conclusion is instead that the majority of data was not accurate enough and that more analyzes and conclusions must be investigated before the research question could be answered. To be able to give a recommendation to Flow Motion Technology, more tests with more advanced equipment have to be done. Correct data needs to be collected and from that reliable analyzes and conclusions need to be done.

Conclusions from tests An evaluation and analysis were done after testing the prototype and receiving results. The evaluation became the foundation to further develop the product. Problem areas could be investigated and identified. The analysis was an important part of the project. The purpose of the master thesis was to be able to recommend Flow Motion Technology if the company should investigate resources and further develop the alpine plate.

The tests that were included in the project for evaluating the FMT technology in alpine skis were tests of the product as much as tests of measurement equipment. To understand what equipment that had to be used, different technologies and methods were tested. The conclusion concerning measurement equipment and tools was that more advanced equipment than used in these tests would be preferable. The capacity of used equipment was too low in many situations. Based on these trials equipment that should be used are recommended under 5. Recommendations and future work.

Conclusions from development of prototypes The product developed had the purpose to be able to work as a prototype in further tests. After testing the product, the design and construction should be updated and developed. The CAD model could be updated and improved, and the design and branding could then be applied to the product.

In this project the principle of Flow Motion Technology has been implemented in skis used for alpine skiing. The FMT principal combined with slalom skis has been evaluated in different tests, mostly measuring vibration s in the ski. The results from the tests are considered to be insecure due to too unsure measurement tools and a small test group. The lack of precise and reliable test results makes it impossible to draw convincing conclusions regarding how the FMT plate is performing compared to a standard plate. However, nothing

40 indicates that the FMT plate would not be as good as the standard plate and therefore it could be interesting to further investigate how the FMT principal works integrated in alpine skis. Some results from vibration tests indicated that the FMT alpine plate absorbed vibrations better than a regular alpine plate. If these results should be trusted or not could however be discussed.

5 RECOMMENDATIONS AND FUTURE WORK Recommendations and suggestions of future work are presented and discussed.

5.1 Recommendations To be able to present more reliable test results the measurement equipment could be more advanced and precise. The tests could be expanded to involve more test persons to make the results more reliable. The tests that were executed outdoors in the Swedish alps had a lot of sources of errors due to the impact that environment had on the results. If the tests could be completed without those insecure external influences the results could be more reliable. What hardware and software equipment and how the tests could be developed in the future is presented under respective test in section 4. Results. The summary of recommendations is that accelerometers with a capacity to measure higher accelerations with a high measurement frequency and a memory for storing the measurement data in a sufficient and secure way should be used if the same type of tests are redone. A huge problem during tests in this project was that data sent from the accelerometer device was irregular and not reliable. An improvement would be to connect an accelerometer with high capacity with a device coded to collect information, without losses due to eg. network connection or Bluetooth, so that the data would be logged in a secure way. The sampling frequency in conducted tests in this project was 20 ms. A shorter period of time between samplings would be preferable.

To be able to measure pressure and shift of weight while using the product, a test with pressure sensors could be conducted. With small pressure sensors the force on different parts of the product and the ski could be measured. This could be of interest when improving the design of the product.

Snow and dirt control should be developed and tested. Different plastic materials should be tested to find out which material that is suited best to fulfill the purpose. It has to be a material that could endure a lot of bending stresses and manage degrees below zero.

The construction should be developed and changed before becoming a final product. The construction and design is developed to fit user tests that might be executed before developing the final product.

Tests and equipment One recommendation for future work is to use more people in a subjective test where the user answers written questions and scale effort according to Borg’s scale (Gih.se, 2018) when skiing with the FMT alpine plate. The test persons would be able to appreciate if the experience when using the FMT alpine plate differs from using a regular alpine plate. With standard questions, scales and known methods a subjective test could be documented and conducted in a reliable way.

It could be interesting to use an accelerometer with higher accuracy than used in tests in this project. If the equipment used in the tests would be more advanced the chance of collecting accurate data increases. The accelerometer and equipment for measuring, storing and sending data need to be able to measure more than +/-8 g with a sampling interval of less than 20 ms. If the tests are redone it could be interesting to look at minimum and maximum values of acceleration, which could not be measured with equipment used in this project. Used accelerometer had a limit of +/-8, which was too low. In the tests conducted in the project, a sampling frequency of 20 ms was used. Data sent from the accelerometer was irregularly measured; the sampling frequency did not seem to be every 20 ms all the time. Tests with an exact sampling frequency would be recommended.

During the test were contact between snow and ski was evaluated it would be better to use the skis for a shorter period of time than a whole race. It might be possible to find the sweet-spot where the paint has started to fall off, but not yet been totally scraped off.

It could be interesting to conduct pressure-tests to analyze how pressure affects the design of the prototype. Pressure could be measured with pressure sensors. The sensors need to be placed at strategic positions, depending on what type of pressure that is desired to analyze. Sensors could be placed between the alpine plate and the ski or between the mounting part and the rocker to measure the pressure within the design.

Method Time was early located as a limitation in the project. In this master thesis project, tests were conducted and prototypes designed in a short period of time. Further work could be done by executing more tests and analyzing already collected results. One suggestion could be to narrow the project down, if it was to be redone. By focusing on a smaller part of the project the work could be even more detailed and deep. If the project was redone, one test could be evaluated with already manufactured prototypes. Only to execute one type of test takes a lot of time if doing it thoroughly. The test equipment should be adjusted and developed, the environment should be correct and the test group should be satisfying in terms of quantity and knowledge.

5.2 Future work

A lot of work could be done in the future. Development of the prototype and product, improvement of tests and design could easily be done. Two things should be done based on the outcomes of this project – redo Test D – Vibration II with more advanced equipment and analyze results from Test E – Vibration III.

Several tests could be redone and/or improved. Tests inside lab to measure the vibration when adding an oscillation to the tip of the ski would be interesting to do again. The results from Test D – Vibration II is interesting and should be further investigated. The results from this test indicates that the first and maybe even the second natural frequency is quite similar, between the two skis with different plates, but the oscillation decreases a lot faster when the FMT plate is used.

Data from Test E – Vibration III should be analyzed. Due to lack of time the results from this test was not further analyzed. The data in this test is assumed to be accurate and reliable. The test was conducted at KTH with advanced equipment and with help from a professor who had done similar tests many times before.

6 REFERENCES

Alcro (2018) [online] Available at: http://www.alcro.se/ [Accessed 26 Aug. 2018]

Bbc.co.uk. (2018). BBC - Technical Specifications - Media Centre. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/microbit/specs [Accessed 26 Aug. 2018].

Gih.se. (2018). [online] Available at: http://www.gih.se/global/3_forskning/fysiologi/elinekblombak/borg_rpe_skalan.pdf [Accessed 26 Aug. 2018].

Google.se. (2018). bitty data logger - Google Search. [online] Available at: https://www.google.se/search?q=bitty+data+logger&oq=bitty+data+logger&aqs=chrome..69i 57j0l5.3341j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 [Accessed 26 Aug. 2018].

Keyshot.com. (2018). 3D Rendering Software - KeyShot. [online] Available at: https://www.keyshot.com/ [Accessed 26 Aug. 2018].

Kth.se. (2018). [online] Available at: https://www.kth.se/social/files/5468c221f276541a43a8b526/Nyquistkriteriet.pdf [Accessed 25 Nov. 2018].

Marsblade AB (2014). SKIORSKATE BINDING. US 8,801,025 B2.

Marsblade.com. (2018). Make Yourself a Better Hockey Player. [online] Available at: http://marsblade.com/ [Accessed 26 Aug. 2018].

Mathworks.com. (2018). MATLAB - MathWorks. [online] Available at: https://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab.html [Accessed 26 Aug. 2018].

Microbit.org. (2018). Micro:bit Educational Foundation. [online] Available at: https://microbit.org/ [Accessed 26 Aug. 2018].

Neumeier, M. (2006). The brand gap. Indianapolis, Ind.: New Riders.

Products.office.com. (2018). Jämför alla Microsoft Office-produkter | Microsoft Office. [online] Available at: https://products.office.com/sv-SE/compare-all-microsoft-office- products?tab=2&OCID=AID717967_SEM_7oljvZa8&lnkd=Google_O365SMB_N [Accessed 26 Aug. 2018].

Skidor.com. (2018). [online] Available at: https://www.skidor.com/globalassets/alpint/dokument/tavling/regler/competition- equipment_1213_aug12.pdf [Accessed 25 Nov. 2018].

Skistore. (2018). Alpint – Bindningar – Skistore. [online] Available at http://www.skistore.se/sv/597-alpint-bindningar [Accessed 26 Aug. 2018].

Software, S. (2018). Solid Edge Download. [online] Plm.automation.siemens.com. Available at: https://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/plmapp/se/en_SE/online/Shop#ACTION=1189811 524 [Accessed 26 Aug. 2018].

Sundströ m, B. (2013). Handbook of solid mechanics. Stockholm: Department of Solid Mechanics, KTH. Pp 332. Ulrich, K. and Eppinger, S. (2015). Produktutveckling. Johanneshov: MTM, pp 169

Yari, M. (2018). Galvanic Corrosion of Metals Connected to Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers. [online] Corrosionpedia. Available at: https://www.corrosionpedia.com/galvanic- corrosion-of-metals-connected-to-carbon-fiber-reinforced-polymers/2/1556 [Accessed 26 Aug. 2018].

Åkermo, M. (2018). Farkost och flyg, KTH.

APPENDIX 1: TIME SCHEDULE

In an early stage of the project a time schedule were set. Overall the time plan has worked well during the master thesis project. The presentation and final report had a change of deadline due to summer vacation.

APPENDIX 2: REQUIREMENT SPECIFICATION

Requirements were set to understand limitations and goals with the project.

Requirements:

● Maximal height of the middle of the alpine plate: 13 mm. ● Maximum height of the alpine palate at boot center: 18 mm. ● The alpine plate should be 67-67,5 mm broad. ● The plate should have a length so that majority of shoe sizes will fit on the plate. ● The alpine plate must be able to mount on a ski. ● The contact area between the ski and the plate shall move with respect to how the user puts her or his weight. ● The plate should not be able to move in x- or y-direction and should not be able to rotate either. ● The plate should be able to load about 100 N without braking.

Requests:

● The construction should have 4 mounting screws on each mounting part, each screw should be able to endure 2000N. ● The screws on the mounting part should not be mounted closer than 42,5 mm. ● The angle the plate should be able to rotate, should be 5 degrees, both backwards and forward.

APPENDIX 3: MORPHOLOGY MATRICES

Morphology matrices worked as a tool to create new ideas and concepts during the process.

APPENDIX 4: MICRO:BIT

Equipment used in the different tests with the alpine plates were for example several Micro:Bits with included accelerometers. The technical specification is from bbb.co.uk. (bbb.co.uk, 2018).

Technical Specifications

Date: 06.07.2015 Last updated: 20.07.2015 at 17.04

Category: Learning; Online and interactive; Make It Digital

Board layout - front

1. Button A (left button with edge connector at the bottom) – labelled A on the board 2. Button B (right button with edge connector at the bottom) – labelled B on the board 3. P0 (left large pin (crocodile clip port) with edge connector at the bottom) - labelled 0 on the board 4. P1 (middle large pin (crocodile clip port) with edge connector at the bottom) - labelled 1 on the board 5. P2 (right large pin (crocodile clip port) with edge connector at the bottom) - labelled 2 on the board 6. +3V - labelled 3V on the board. This is 3V PWR OUT 7. GND 8. P3 – P22 pins from left to right with edge connector at the bottom. Referred to as Pins when referencing that part of the board. Text will talk about 'pins' when referring to individual connections or the general way of connecting to the board – not labelled on the front of the board 9. LED matrix referred as the 'screen' - not labelled on the board 10. LED coordinates starting at 0,0 top left corner - not labelled on the board

The order of the large pins as follows: P0 P1 P2 3V GND labelled 0, 1, 2, 3V GND on the board

Board layout - back

1. USB Plug (Micro-USB plug) – labelled USB on the board 2. Button R (reset button) – labelled Reset on the board 3. Status LED – not labelled on the board 4. Battery socket – labelled Battery on the board

There are additional copper pins on the back of the board that will not be connected to anything. These are to facilitate labelling, while ensuring that a board plugged in the wrong way around doesn't damage any external accessory.

Other components

1. Accelerometer 2. Compass 3. Bluetooth Smart Technology Antenna 4. AAA Battery Holder - not labelled on the board 5. Processor (Cortex M0) 6. P3 – P22 plus P0, P1 and P2 pins from left to right with edge connector at the bottom. Referred to as 'pins' when labelling that part of the board. Text will talk about 'pins' when referring to individual connections or the general way of connecting to the board – labelled PINS on the board

The runtime includes:

A simple, unified OO model for the device

A lightweight, non-pre-emptive fibre scheduler

Managed types for immutable strings and bitmapped images

A message bus for shipping software and hardware events (eg button presses, device in freefall, scroll text complete)

LED matrix display driver

A simple image manipulation library

Electronic compass driver

Accelerometer driver

Button sensor

Inference-based digital and analogue I/O abstractions

Bluetooth Smart Technology over-the-air programing

Bluetooth Smart Technology peripheral mode exposure of runtime components

Capacitive sense pins

Figure from Micro:Bit homepage. (Microbit.org, 2018)

APPENDIX 5: DRAWING

Early in the product development process, a prototype was constructed to gain an understanding of the product. Below is a drawing from that construction.

APPENDIX 6: TEST RESULTS - VIBRATION III

From several tests focusing on measuring vibration data were collected. Below are some results presented. When executing the tests an accelerometer was attached at different places at a ski. One result will be presented per location of the accelerometer and alpine plate used.

Measurment 1 with the FMT alpine plate.

Measurment 5 with the FMT alpine plate.

Measurment 7 with the FMT alpine plate.

Measurment 10 with the FMT alpine plate.

Measurment 1 with the regular alpine plate.

Measurment 5 with the regular alpine plate.

Measurment 7 with the regular alpine plate.

Measurment 10 with the regular alpine plate.

TRITA TRITA-ITM-EX 2018:651