The Research Lab is where all the magic happens. It has undergone a number of changes throughout the years, none more capable or high powered than it’s current configuration. From its first conception that had nothing but a radar gun and some WiiMotes to estimate biomechanics, to today where it boasts an instrumented batting cage equipped with world-class motion capture cameras and instrumented batter’s boxes and pitching mound.
Affectionately known as “The Launchpad”, the lab is capable of collecting collect pitching biomechanics, hitting biomechanics, and even biomechanics from pitchers and hitters in live competition, all paired with any number of ball tracking technology and sensors. This is all on top of the ever-progressing performance tracking away from the lab that we use in the day-to-day training environment to steer training programs and improve athlete development.
The Launchpad
- Optitrack Prime 17W 360hz cameras (15 in each lab) forming the backbone of our motion capture laboratory, generating gold-standard kinematic, kinetic, and computed muscle control reports for both pitching and hitting
- Edgertronic SC1 high-speed cameras (7) for marker-less motion capture, slow-motion optical tracking and videography, synced and genlocked, providing side, rear, and overhead views
- Bertec Fixed Force Plates (7) installed into the pitching mound and batter’s boxes, providing force plate profiles in the front and back legs of pitchers and hitters
- Rapsodo Pitching 2.0 and TrackMan Portable optical- and radar-based ball tracking devices to measure spin rate, pitch break, trajectory, and velocity
- Stalker Sport Pro II+ radar gun to measure pitch velocity
- Blast Baseball Swing Analyzer and DiamondKinetics SwingTracker bat sensors used to monitor swing path
- K-Motion K-Baseball for monitoring hitting biomechanics
- HitTrax batted ball tracking device to measure pitch location and batted ball launch angle and exit velocity in real-time
The High Performance Lab
- OptiTrack Prime 13/13W 240 Hz cameras (10) used to collect marker-based motion capture on gait, jumps, and other general purpose athletic movements
- Bertec Portable Force Plates (2) tri-axial force plates providing ground reaction force data on various jump protocols, gait, as well as isometric strength testing
- Vald Performance ForceDecks (2) single-axis force plates used for jump testing and isometric strength testing
- Keiser Infinity Series Functional Trainer to measure rotational power and prescribe minutely graduated consistent resistance exercises in injury rehabilitation cases
- Tendo Power Analyzer with Bluetooth sending units (2) to measure bar speed and power output in resistance training movements
The Other Toys
- PULSE Throw IMU-based sensors for workload tracking and biomechanical data
- Diamond Kinetics Pitchtracker and pitchLogic IMU-integrated baseballs for consumer-grade pitch physics data collection
- Pupil Labs gaze tracking headset to characterize gaze patterns and eye tracking
- SensorEdge Hitting Plate Pro pressure plate to evaluate center of pressure and weight distribution of the feet for hitters
- Somaxis Cricket wireless electromyography sensors (4) to precisely measure muscle output in athletic movements
- Omegawave heart rate variability and DC potential sensors to measure fatigue and readiness
- Emotiv Flex electroencephalography headset to analyze brain wave patterning in vision-related tasks and efficiency metrics on skill development