Introducing wearable force sensors in martial arts

In a collaborative effort, the Stanford Taekwondo Program, the Palo Alto Research Center, and Impact Measurement recently developed and introduced sensor technology for the unforgiving environment of the martial arts sparring ring. Our system, called SensorHogu, uses piezoelectric force sensors on body protectors to help Taekwondo judges and referees score tournament matches. We have two objectives for the technology: it should support the judges in accurately scoring the sparring matches, and it should merge with and minimize changes to existing equipment and thus blend into the activity's background. We are currently working with the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) and United States Taekwondo Union (USTU) to validate and certify the equipment for tournament adoption.