Instrumentação para aquisição e avaliação das forças exercidas nos pedais por ciclistas / Instruments for acquisition and evaliation of the forces measured in the pedaling by cyclists

RESUMO

Due to the great heterogencity in the utilization of the bicycle, a great deal of curiosity is emerging. Many research efforts have been carried out regarding the analysis of the possible causes of lesions during the action of pedaling. Also, some efforts tried to establish the factors that are important for increasing the efficiency of the force application on the pedals, such as the symmetry of pedaling. The study of pedaling has unquestionable importance. However, no publication at this point has presented a detailed description of the parts, with their dimensions, and the procedures needed for building a pedal with force transducers. The objective of this paper is to present detailed instructions for building a pedal with force transducers. Moreover, a calibration system has been developed for this kind of pedal, allowing the evaluation of forces that are purely vertical, purely horizontal, or a combination of these two modes. In order to offer complete information for developing research in this area, a mechanism for determining the position of the crank set is presented. This mechanism provides reference points that allow the averaging of the forces measured in the pedaling cycle, yielding mean values which are more significant. The data gathered from this set are presented in two ways. In the first representation, the average forces are presented as a function of the angular position of the pedal. In the second representation, a vector representation of these average forces is presented at 16 equidistant angular positions. The described system and the different ways for analyzing the acquired data are expected to contribute to the development of research in this area.