Development of a custom land canoe and research of its paddling biomechanics

Flatwater canoeing is one of the Olympic disciplines that awards the highest number of medals. In addition, the popularity of this sport is increasing day by day. Due to the nature of the discipline, training is typically performed on lakes, specially constructed canal tracks, or rivers with low current. Therefore, suitable water conditions are critically important for training. In stormy, wavy, or cold weather conditions, training cannot be carried out, and in particular, in northern European countries, the long-term freezing of lakes can also hinder training. Canoe ergometers, developed to meet the biomechanical and physiological requirements of the canoe stroke, provide training opportunities by simulating canoe movement in such situations. In this thesis study, a land-based canoe vehicle is proposed as an alternative to canoe ergometers when water conditions are unfavorable. This land canoe is propelled by paddle stroke force and features a three-wheeled structure. Motion models have been developed for the on-water canoe, the canoe ergometer (simulator machine), and the wheeled land canoe. To replicate the hydrodynamic resistance experienced during actual canoeing, a braking fan system has been designed, where the resistance varies with vehicle speed. As a result, it has been concluded that the land canoe can provide a more realistic simulation compared to the ergometer. Based on this, the design and design parameters of the land canoe have been presented and implemented. Using the manufactured land canoe and a canoe ergometer, kinematic data related to the paddling motion were collected under the same test protocol by the same athlete and then compared. The comparison revealed a strong compatibility between the kinetic and kinematic data sets. Accordingly, it is concluded that the proposed system can serve as an alternative to canoe ergometers in simulating canoe motion both kinetically and kinematically.