From Dr. Al finch:

January 22, 1998 

Alfred E. Finch, Ph.D.
Department of Physical Education
HHP Bldg C17
Indiana State University
Terre Haute, IN 47809
FAX: 812-237-4338
E mail: pmfinch @scifac.indstate.edu

I have provided a letter to Mr.  concerning my excellent experiences with the Ariel APAS 3-D motion analysis system and Ariel Dynamics, Inc., but it appears that not all that information was conveyed to you, so I will address your questions of inquiry.

I have had over 20 years of experience in the motion analysis area which included constructing digitizing systems and writing software for 3-D film analysis, force platform kinetics, electromyographic analysis and exposure to the Selspot system. In 1991, Indiana State University purchased it first Ariel system which had 3-D film software, EMG & force plate module, video report generation capabilities, the DELTA, ANTHRO, and GAIT software packages, in addition to (2) 60 fields/sec Industrial cameras and VCR. This system has been very reliable and was working perfectly when it was stolen during a laboratory theft. Because of the excellent performance of the original system, the Biomechanics laboratory has purchased an additional 4 systems, 1 APAS Notebook with analog collection capabilities, a APAS/ CES system, and 2 pentium class APAS systems besides 6 Ariel APAS workstations. The APAS workstations have provided the ability to obtain data for multiple projects with the collection units and then have several students simultaneously work on each project. In addition, I personally own an Ariel 486 75MHz APAS notebook with analog collection capabilities that I use in consulting projects and for real-time multimedia classroom demonstrations.

The units have been amazingly trouble free. During that time period with those systems, a CD-ROM had to be serviced in order to reattach a wire connection broken by a graduate student and this was done at Ariel Dynamics promptly and at a reasonable cost. Hardware upgrades on the systems have included larger or additional hard drives, which were provided by Ariel Dynamics for a reasonable market price.

Any software updates for modules purchased were immediately provided over the Internet or utilizing a modem by John Probe of Ariel Dynamics at no additional expense, provided the existing hardware was capable of supporting the necessary functions.

Using the APAS desktops and notebook computers, we conducted research projects with up to 5 cameras at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics on the following Track and Field events:

1. Discus (Men’s & Women’s)
2. Long Jump (Men’s & Women’s)
3. Triple Jump
4. Women’s Javelin
5. Pole Vault
6. High Jump
7. Shot Put
8. Sprints
9. Hurdles
10. Hammer Throw

Besides the Track and Field events our laboratory using the Ariel systems have analyzed the following activities:

1. Swim Starts
2. Water Polo Shots
3. 35 pound Weight Throw with 5 cameras
4. Martial Arts (Back & Front kicks, Jabs & Cross Jabs)
5. Sprint Starts
6. Tethered Gait in a Rehabilitive Prototype
7. Basketball Shooting
8. Jumping
9. Power Lifting
10. Volleyball (Overhand Serve & Spike)
11. Golf Swing (Drivers & Putting with a traditional and experimental putter) check Ariel web site at 65.13.9.20/wildman
12. Step Aerobics
13. Soft & Stiff Jump Landing Mechanics
14. Raising from a Seated Position
15. Good and Poor Lifting Mechanics
16. Gymnastics
17. Gait Alterations with different orthotics

Recently, I have utilized the panning function and APASview to evaluate cross country running alterations during a competition and pole vault pole’s elastic response characteristics.

All these APAS systems provide 60 fields per second capabilities and higher speed video cameras have not been purchased yet because of the cost and also because the laboratory possesses an 500 frames per second LoCam camera which has been used in the high speed applications. In that I have purchased these units over a relatively long time period in which computer technology and prices have changed quite dramatically, I think it would be best that you contact Ariel Dynamics for their current pricing information.

I have found the APAS systems very versatile, as indicated by the variety of projects that I have conducted, I have verified its accuracy against my previous systems, the software is extremely capable and yet very flexibile, while easy to learn. I have used the Video Report Generator to make instructional training videos using the computer simulation, and the video grabbing function to make digital movies similar to those found on the Olympics on the Ariel server. By owning an Ariel system, I find myself part of a large international user group that I can communicate with, to compare research methologies or project results and this is very beneficial being the only biomechanist at my institution.

The system is very reasonably priced, and comes as a complete 3-D package, with a software analysis package that is extremely powerful, accurate, and versatile to meet the needs for numerous applications.

Based on the experiences that I have listed above, I would strongly recommend purchasing an Ariel 3-D APAS system, as I have purchased 5 APAS collection systems since 1991.

Please feel free to ask for any other additional information concerning the Ariel APAS systems.

 

Sincerely,

 Alfred E. Finch, Ph.D
Professor Physical Education
Indiana State University