Georgia college football RFID puts RFID in helmets to prevent heatstroke in athletes
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An Atlanta-area college football team has completed a test of embedding RFID heat sensors in helmets that transmit data on players’ body temperatures to coaches and faculty off the field. The five teams, who asked not to be named, plan to make the system permanent, according to Jay Buckalew, CEO of system developer Hothead Technologies. Separately, Georgia’s Kennesaw State University has conducted a second phase of testing of the system, in which the core temperature of the object being measured is mapped to data from a helmet temperature sensor and sent to a handheld reader.
The application of this technology is aimed at preventing heatstroke in athletes. Football coaches and athlete trainers are currently unable to identify when an athlete may experience heatstroke. Symptoms of overheating include confusion, dizziness, headache, and nausea, however, in some cases athletes with heatstroke do not experience any symptoms. Athletes are at high risk of heatstroke, sometimes fatal, during events in those hot regions, such as the South Central United States. College athletes are more likely to suffer from heat stroke because there are too many people on the field and not enough coaches or instructors to supervise athlete behavior or health.
Georgia college football coaches and Kennesaw University Research are now researching and testing the program, which will automatically provide coaches and trainers with the physical status of each athlete for the first time. Hothead’s Heat Observation Technology (HOT) system consists of a temperature sensor manufactured by the General Electric Induction Division connected to an Identec Solutions battery-operated 915 MHz RFID reader.
The sensor tag is embedded in the lining of the football helmet so that the sensor can come into contact with the skin surface of the athlete’s temple arteries. When athletes put on their helmets, sensors start to measure their temperature. The tag sends data and the tag’s ID code every 5 seconds. A Psion Teklogix Workabout Pro II handheld with an embedded RFID reader receives and stores information from tags up to 325 feet away. If the temperature exceeds a limit in several transmissions, the Hothead software installed in the handset alerts the professor on the sideline.
RFID tag embedded in helmet connected to temperature sensor
The ID code of the helmet sensor tag corresponds to the corresponding athlete within the Hothead software. In this way, the Psion Teklogix Workabout Pro II handheld displays the name of the overheated athlete. When the coach or instructor receives an alert, he must press a button to acknowledge the message, instructing him to receive and react to the alert. When the helmet is taken off, the sensor detects a rapid drop in temperature, and the system infers that the athlete is no longer wearing the helmet and withdraws from the competition.
This technology was first seen as an early warning system for field workers or other personnel exposed to high temperatures. About a year ago, Hothead and Identec began developing the system for use in football helmets. The system can also be used for firefighters, police, military and workers.
It took some innovation to design a tag that would fit in a helmet and withstand the intensity of a football game. Football is a high-impact activity, and getting the electronics to work stably in this environment was a big challenge, and Identec had to find a new, crash-resistant enclosure. The label is small in size, thin in thickness, has a battery and an antenna, and has an interface with a temperature sensor. The tags must also ensure stable transmission of data on fast-moving personnel in the field.
The research team is now conducting a second phase of testing of the system, the results of which will be made public within 12 months.
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