On the surface they look like nothing more than hunks of dark grey, hard plastic.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
But it's these custom designed race gloves that are propelling Madison de Rozario towards next year's postponed Tokyo Paralympics. And it's all thanks to the innovative team of engineers at the AIS who have recently ventured into the untapped world of 3D printing.
De Rozario is one of Australia's fastest wheelchair athletes. A three-time Paralympian already, the Western Australia native won 1500m and marathon gold medals at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games two years ago while still only 24 years old.
Using race gloves is common practice in her sport. They protect the hands while improving performance.
There is a problem, though. No two gloves are ever built from the exact same mould, which increases the possibility of fluctuating efficiency. Until now.
"The difference for me was immediate, you lose way less power in the push in the application phase," de Rozario said.
"It's designed to be minimal, your surface, your contact point is exactly what the glove is, nothing more and nothing less. So it's way more efficient in terms of that, and it forces you to push the same way each time."
So what's changed?
When de Rozario began competing seriously as a teenager, each glove would require a fresh mould made from thermoplastic pellets. It was a time-intensive process, and no two gloves were exactly the same.
As 3D printing technology continued to develop, Matt Crawford and his team of engineers at the AIS came up with a a new method to ensure de Rozario's gloves would always be exactly the same.
Crawford's team contacted I-Med Imagery, who did a CT Scan on de Rozario's mould.
That image is then stored as a digital file, which can be used to make a CAD model of the glove. This model can now be manipulated digitally without the need to ever mould de Rozario's hand again. Finally, the information is fed into a 3D printer, which creates the gloves.
"The best way to use 3D printing, you turn it on just before you go home, you come back in the morning and they're finished," Crawford said.
"Madi once had a problem with one of her gloves while she was competing overseas. We printed her another one and sent it to the hotel where she was going, and it was there waiting for her when she got there.
"That's another one of the beauties of having the digital file on hand. We can be pretty proactive in getting custom parts that once upon a time, if her glove broke during competition, it would not only affect the athlete physically, but also mentally, the stress and anxiety of not having another glove exactly the same."
Madi once had a problem with one of her gloves while she was competing overseas. We printed her another one and sent it to the hotel where she was going, and it was there waiting for her when she got there.
- AIS engineer Matt Crawford
Crawford presented on Friday at the annual AIS Sports Technology and Applied Research Symposium (STARS), which is being done virtually this year. The AIS hosts the event each year, as a way of sharing high-performance innovation across Australian sport.
De Rozario's gloves are but one of several 3D printing innovations Crawford and his team are pursuing.
"The 3D printers are running all day every day for various things, when you consider how many different sports we work for in the engineering group," Crawford said.
"It complements other pieces of technology like 3D scanning. We have a couple of different types of 3D scanners that we can scan the outside of something but when it comes to doing the inside surface of the glove, you can't actually see, then we need to use CT Scanning.
"There are places in America that do sell 3D printed wheelchair racing gloves but they're not custom to the athlete."
De Rozario's incredible career has earned her three Paralympics silver medals, and three World Championship golds. But the two gold medals won before a home crowd on the Gold Coast in 2018 are top of her list of career highlights.
"Commonwealth Games doesn't have the depth that World Champs or the Paralympics has, but being able to win a gold medal in front of a home crowd of Australians, I can't think of anything that's ever going to top that experience," de Rozario said.
"After winning the 1500 in that packed stadium, I was like no one's going to be lining up on the side of the road at six in the morning for a marathon, that's not a thing, but it was packed.
"The amount of people who not only knew the Australian athletes that were racing but knew anyone who had been in the 15 [1500m] on the road, recognised them, knew who they were. That doesn't happen in our sport.
"I was so proud to be Australian in that moment knowing we really invested in the sport, we fell in love with the sport, but also the athletes.
"That was one of the coolest experiences, to cross that line and get to share the podium with Eliza [Ault-Connell] and have Kurt [Fearnley] winning the men's race, having my family there as well."
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
