In preparing for Olympic competition, every detail is important. Athletes and coaches are not only interested in the physiological information, but also interested in the positional information. Physiological information can be relatively easy to obtain using relevant detectors. However, real-time high precision determination of the athletes' movement and the status of motion has been a challenging task. This contribution introduces the development of a smart real-time athlete monitoring and coaching system, which integrates a low-cost GPS, Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) inertial measurement units (IMUs), magnetometers, wireless communication and other physiological sensors. Surveying, Positioning And Navigation (SPAN) group at RMIT University in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Sport and Catapult Innovations Pty Ltd. has embarked this innovative development of the patented system since early 2003. The system was initially designed for elite Australian rowers in both Athens Olympics and the Lucerne International Rowing Regatta and now it has been tested and used across a large number of sport activities, including rowing, canoeing, skiing, running, sailing, footballing etc. The current developments of the system, system architecture, field validation and potential applications are presented and further developments (e.g. the interpretation of data and customisation for individual players) and its commercial aspect of the project are also outlined.
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