Pipe Surface Sensor for Impulsive Force Measurement

Abstract

Impulsive force acting when the ball is hit with a baseball bat is interesting from the field of sports engineering. This study intends to develop an impulsive force sensor which can be attached to a column part of the baseball bat. The pipe surface sensor is a pressure sensor suitable for the measurement of high speed impulsive force. The pipe surface sensor consists of a thin pad sensor, a cover-plate and metal adhesive tape. The metal adhesive tape plays a role to wrap the sensor and cover-plate and fix these together to the bat tightly. First, a friction removal mechanism in contact interface, a bendable sensor configuration and a method of sensor installation on the surface of the pipe are discussed. Then, prototype sensors that can be installed on a pipe with diameter of about 70mm are made. The performance of sensor is investigated by the pipe punch test and the ball drop test. Then, the impulsive force is measured by the test that a batter hits the ball which the pitcher threw. A metal bat and a hard ball are used for the experiment of hit and bunt.