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Product Design

Oscar Wilson-Toy

Product Design

Final year project

Improving Technique of (Field) Hockey Players [Read more]

Proposal Hero Shots

Hockey is a sport that relies heavily on the player’s technique. The technique that a player does or does not have can be the difference between them being an average, good or even great player. By making the connection on the correct part of the stick and having the stick at the perfect angles should mean that every pass or shot is on target and has the potential to have full power. This project aims to develop a product that can provide this information to a player of any level to improve their game.

Proposal Scenario

1. The top device is slipped down onto the stick.
2. The sensor pad is stuck down by attaching towards the top end and being gradually pressed down the stick, once finished with the pad can be peeled off and reused up to 1000 times.
3. The devices are turned ON by pressing the power button of both devices, the LEDs will turn blue.
4. To connect the product to a device, the Bluetooth button is hit, the LED flashes blue while searching for devices and stays blue once connected.
5. The user trains as normal and can view the data picked up by the product on their connected device whenever.

Embedded Systems

With the key to the viability of this product being the working embedded systems, a fully functional circuit was created. When the force sensors are hit, the first circuit would send information including the location of the ball and speed, to the second circuit. This circuit would read the angle and vibration of the stick. All this information could be read out on a Bluetooth connected device.

Early Testing

In the early stages of the research, it was found that the product would have to be an addition to the stick, due to rules on hockey sticks meaning they could not have metal elements, this included electronics. Therefore, testing was done to find the optimum regions for the device to be attached. To reduce the impact of the added weight and so the product would not be in the way of the user’s hand movements.

Lo-Fi Prototyping

Low-fidelity card modelling could take place to work out the scale of the device and test the impact it would have on the player as they train.

Detailing

The product is designed to protect the electronics from a strike of the ball and so has surface textures that give it a rugged look and feel. The polyurethane rubber material can stretch over the handle to fit any stick.

App

Once the user has practised the desired skill, they are able to view their progress on the designed app. This also gives them feedback and tips on how to improve as well as creating healthy competition within clubs and between teammates.

Materials

The product was designed to be as lightweight as possible while being strong enough to withstand a direct hit from a ball, without breaking. Materials were studied and calculations were done to ensure this. Using a polycarbonate casing with a polyurethane rubber sleeve, the whole system was designed to be ball and weatherproof.

Oscar Wilson-Toy

I am a product design student with a particular interest in the fields of mechanics, electronics, and embedded systems.

Using my skills and knowledge in mechanical and embedded systems, I have always tried to focus on these aspects within my projects.



Along with this and a passion for sport, I have sought to make expensive technology more available and affordable for wider use amongst amateur and semi-professional sport. This is because electrical products like this are designed, made, and marketed to elite athletes.



This means that most athletes miss out on the opportunities these devices bring, such as taking themselves to the next level; and manufacturers miss out on the growing amateur sport and fitness fanatic market.

Final year project

Improving Technique of (Field) Hockey Players

Work Experience

Akuma Sports.
Junior Designer while on Placement 2019-2020.
Gaining design experience as part of a design team - Creating designs for sports teams and their kit, as well as taking these designs and art-working them into print-ready designs for high-quality sublimation printing.

Tony Sandles Glass.
Continued role 2015+
Successfully working as part of a small team making antiqued mirrors for various commissioned contracts, including world-renowned restaurants such as the Sexy Fish Restaurant.