Acal Accelerates Swimming Innovation

OK, I'll confess an interest on this story. I've been an early morning swimmer for the past 16 years - 80 lengths of the pool day in, day out. If you are already questioning my sanity, here's the clincher. If ever I lose count, and think was that lap 20 or 21, I always go with the lower number.

So news that Acal Technology had helped Swimovate develop Pool-Mate, a waterproof pedometer caught my eye. Acal, eh, dived in to help when the original prototype was found to be too large and unable to provide sufficient run time from a standard watch battery.

Acal suggested Bosch's BMA020 triaxial accelerometer. As the distributor's Richard Pollard explains,“The BMA020 provides a low-cost method of differentiating products of all types by adding advanced power-management features such as shock and drop detection for warranty protection, menu scrolling and tip-tap functions, as well as automatic switching of displays from portrait to landscape. An evaluation board enables engineers to undertake feasibility studies quickly and with minimum investment or risk.”

What this all means is that swimmers won't have to push buttons to record performance data. The Pool-Mate will display and store the session time, average strokes per length, speed, distance calories, and efficiency as well as rest times between lengths for the overall session (rest times, huh! who needs them) and for each individual set.

It sounds a terrific piece of kit, probably a touch too good for the likes of me.