Motion simulator has athletic applications

The lateral motion simulator, or LMS, was conceived by John Pittman, a Nixa construction contractor and self-described “sports fanatic” who commissioned U.S. Photonics to build the concept he literally scrawled on a napkin.

The prototype was unveiled Feb. 1 for the Missouri State University Bears basketball team at Hammons Student Center, where players in defensive position shuffled sideways in unison with blinking LED lights on the horizontal bar in front of them.

Pittman said he contacted U.S. Photonics co-owner Ryan Zweerink, a longtime acquaintance, about building the simulator with lasers. U.S. Photonics later determined the simulator would be more cost-effective with ultrasound technology, which uses sound waves at a frequency higher than the human ear can hear.

The simulator is essentially a 15-foot bar consisting of 3-foot sections that can easily be broken down for portability, Zweerink said.

Once assembled and operating, the simulator has a red LED light – or “virtual player” – that randomly moves along the bar. A green LED light on the bar marks the defender’s position. An alarm sounds if the defender can’t keep up.

“As long as they’re overlapping, the defender is where he’s supposed to be,” said Pittman, who formed Advanced Athletic Technologies LLC last year to market the LMS.

The simulator has 10 speeds or levels of difficulty and a scoring system that can be used to train a range of athletes from youngsters to NBA players, he said. The simulator also could be applied to other sports, including volleyball, football and tennis, which require foot speed and lateral quickness, Pittman added.

“Everyone I have talked to in the sports industry has said that it’s a tremendous idea,” he said. “There have been comments like, ‘Somebody should have thought of this 10 years ago.’”

A retail cost hasn’t yet been assigned to the simulator, which Zweerink said is 90 percent complete but still in the prototype phase. Pittman said production costs would determine the simulator’s sale price.[[In-content Ad]]