Body heat radiation in working life and sports – measurement in STRC's climate tunnel

The project will meet the business community's need to measure the thermal radiation of people and objects while simultaneously increasing STRC's and the region's innovative power and attractiveness.

Windtunnel, Sports Tech Research Centre in Östersund

Background

Measuring temperatures and estimating heat radiation during simultaneous physical activity can give people better opportunities for sustainable physical activity – where clothing, equipment and one's own physical effort can be optimized to make it sustainable for the body and the environment. If a person experiences too much discomfort during physical activity, it can lead to them giving up completely. This is especially true for people with a disability that in many cases affects blood circulation, muscle control and sensation. Today, there is a lack of a good range of clothing and equipment that are optimized for, for example, wheelchair users with loss of sensation in large parts of the body in terms of temperature control and control, especially during simultaneous physical activity. Another important area is in defense, where clothing and one's own body's ability constitute a very important part of the defense capacity in the field or when people are exposed to crisis situations with, for example, strong winds and cold temperatures, which would be possible to study in the climate tunnel.

Objectives

The objective is to develop a system for measuring the temperature of people/objects in the climate tunnel and to start functions for estimating thermal radiation. The strengthening of the lab environment at Mid Sweden University is expected to increase business collaboration and hopefully also the establishment of companies and research activities in the region.

Previous research

The research project picks up where the previous Augmented Sports project left off, where over 70 companies were in contact with STRC and 55 ran various R&D projects that resulted in 27 new or modified products. A decisive factor for these collaborations has been STRC's lab, expertise and students. Many of the companies were connected to the sports and outdoor industry with issues surrounding the development of textile materials and products, which were tested both in the textile laboratory and in the climate chamber. In the collaboration with the companies, innovative solutions have been developed and new questions and ideas have been raised.