IIT Madras partners with Inspire Institute of Sports to develop advanced boxing analytics software

At the recently concluded Commonwealth Games 2022, India’s best performance was in boxing and in badminton with three gold medals each. At the 2018 Jakarta Asian games, Indian boxers won five gold medals. However, when it comes to the Olympics, Indian boxers are yet to achieve the pinnacle, and have so far managed to get a total of three medals - all bronze. Vijender Singh won at Beijing 2008, Mary Kom at London 2012 and Lovlina Borgohain at Tokyo 2020.

IIT Madras research team worked with Inspire Institute of Sport for the ‘Smartboxer’ application with an aim to double India’s Olympic medals | Photo Credit: Supplied

In the 2024 Paris Olympics, efforts are on to make Indian boxers perform better. Indian Institute of Technology Madras researchers along with Inspire Institute of Sports (IIS) in Bellary, Karnataka, are developing a cost-effective boxing analytics platform `Smartboxer’ to increase India’s boxing medal tally at the 2024 Olympics.

The platform being developed as a multi-version software by the Center of Excellence for Sports Science and Analytics at IIT Madras, will provide an above-par competitive edge to Indian boxers. It will provide feedback and performance assessments using Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled wearable sensors and video cameras.

‘Smartboxer’ will be deployed to analyse the boxers’ performance at Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS). Based on the feedback from IIS, changes will be incorporated into the ‘Smartboxer’ analytics platform. This will enable the software to be effectively used to assist coaches and boxers, says a release from the institute.

Methodology

The research involves using IoT-based sensors and video cameras to provide analytics about player performance. It involvessensor embedded gloves to analyse Punch Force; wireless foot insole with a pressure sensor to record Ground Reaction Force; wireless EMG sensors to record movement in the player’s lower body and inertial Measurement Unit to record movement in player’s upper body.

Video cameras placed in the boxing ring will identify the left and right arms of a player and classify the movements as an attack, defence, or feint. These findings gathered from the sensors and video cameras will be merged to provide comprehensive boxing analytics about key traits of the boxer. These traits are evaluated in the Olympics for scoring in boxing matches. They include quantity and quality of punch, dominance of the engagements and competitiveness, the release said.

Babji Srinivasan, Associate Professor, Department of Applied Mechanics, IIT Madras, said, “The smart boxer system integrates data from video streams and multiple IoT devices. The information extracted from this multivariate data provides fight analytics that can not only help coaches but also the judges to quantify the key traits of boxing champions.

The IIT Madras Researchers along with IIS are planning to apply for a patent for the ‘Smartboxer’ after validation from the IIS.

Ranganathan Srinivasan, Head, Center of Excellence for Sports Science and Analytics, IIT Madras and Adjunct Faculty, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Madras, said, “This technology that is being developed will act as a bridge between the coach and the elite athlete to identify, understand and improve the performance constructively. Smartboxer is one among the many initiatives of IIT Madras aimed at winning more medals in the Olympics.”

John Warburton, Head of Youth Development (Boxing) at Inspire Institute of Sports (IIS), said, “This system will allow us to analyse a boxer’s performance in a way that aids progression. We will be able to highlight to the boxers their strengths as well as areas that require development such as patterns of movement, activity levels, punch and defensive repertoires – both, technically and tactically. I am greatly excited by the system’s potential to use data and artificial intelligence in a bid to identify coaching points and support our observations of the athletes.”