Two projects led by scientists from the Department of Human Movement Sciences have received funding from the NWO (Dutch Research Council) through the Open Technology Programme.
Designing handbikes and bicycles
Dinant Kistemaker, Knoek van Soest, and Maarten Bobbert have been awarded funding for their project Tuning the Muscular Motor for Sports and Rehabilitation, which focuses on redesigning components of handbikes and bicycles to enhance performance.
In handcycling and bicycling, speed depends on the functional capacity and fitness of the rider, and on equipment design. Traditionally, engineering considerations have governed equipment design. For example, chainrings are circular just because of engineering considerations. In contrast, the researchers seek to redesign handcycle and bicycle components, taking the human musculoskeletal system as a starting point.
Using new empirical research on muscles and advanced computer models, Kistemaker, Van Soest, and Bobbert redesign equipment to better exploit the potential of human muscles. Equipment will be tested by elite professional cyclist and daily-user handcyclists. Our aim: empower riders to achieve unmatched performance in handcycles and bicycles.
Dinant Kistemaker expressed his excitement about receiving the grant: “We believe that designing products and materials for sports and rehabilitation tools can greatly benefit from focusing on the biophysical properties of the human body,” says Kistemaker. “In this project, we combine fundamental muscle research with practical applications in sports and rehabilitation. We’re working with a fantastic scientific team and partners such as De Hoogstraat Rehabilitation Centre, handbike specialists at Frontline, and a UCI cycling team, Visma | Lease a Bike.”
Motivating patients in rehabilitation
Katinka van der Kooij, along with colleagues Jeroen Smeets and Yannick Hill, has received a grant for their project Room for Exercise Motivation with Variable Challenge, which investigates how to best motivate rehabilitation patients.
Rehabilitation requires a lot of practice and it can be hard to stay motivated. Computer games that register movements and provide feedback on them can enhance motivation. They do this, for instance, by adapting the challenges to the player's performance.
Research has shown that it is on average optimal to provide positive feedback 8 out of 10 times. “However, if we fixate the challenge to this optimum, the player doesn't experience performance improvement. It is unclear however what variation in challenge one should allow to motivate optimally. In this project, we investigate how variation in challenge influences motivation”, Katinka van der Kooij explains.
Van der Kooij is excited about the grant: “There is extensive expertise in motivation within the various disciplines of the Department of Human Movement Sciences, including sports psychology, neuroscience, and rehabilitation. With this grant, we look forward to connecting this expertise with the technological knowledge available in the companies,” says Van der Kooij.
Read this article for more about Katinka van der Kooij’s research on staying motivated to move.