Electronic scoring system helps GB Taekwondo stars go for gold

Developed by Truescore with components from Texas Instruments, the system uses data from embedded sensors which is then transmitted over a wireless link. To award a point in the sport, judges must determine not just if a blow was landed, but if it had sufficient impact. With up to four kicks per second and contacts often lasting for less than 10ms, this can be highly subjective. Truescore's system uses a combination of piezoelectric and inductive sensors in the competitor's vest and a strong magnetic sensor in their footwear. As a competitor is about to strike their opponent, inductive sensors sense the approaching magnet and open a time window for a valid strike. Then two piezoelectric sensors log the impact. This eliminates false readings from inadvertent contact. "We have an impact sensor and a proximity sensor. The proximity sensor's function is to differentiate a proper kicking technique versus incidental contacts, such as from elbows or knees," explained Truescore's ceo Jin Song. "Once the impact is measured, it will send that information across the wireless link to the receiver desk and the information is displayed on the screen." The algorithms are executed by Texas Instruments' MSP430 16bit microcontrollers which also handle baseband processing. The system includes TI's CC2520 ZigBee IEEE 802.15.4 rf transceiver which is designed to provide a robust rf link despite interferences in the 2.4GHz band.