Jenario Johnson has an invention he thinks is a knockout.
It’s called StrikeSense, and it answers a problem the Florida Poly junior noticed in his martial arts classes. Two instructors teaching a class of 20 couldn’t accurately keep track of a student’s individual progress. StrikeSense uses an accelerometer to measure in real time the velocity and power of punches and kicks. That data is then used to chart a student’s improvement over time, Jenario explains.
While accelerometers are nothing new, Jenario’s StrikeSense increases the portability and versatility of a device. While his original vision is to improve martial arts, Jenario sees this moving on to ankle bracelets for soccer players and a device for baseball bats.
“There’s a lot of potential,” Jenario says. “The main use is track and sense forces that are hard to see with the naked eye.”
Big dreams can get bogged down in technical realities. Coding StrikeSense and coordinating its Bluetooth capabilities, for instance, have tested the limits of Jenario’s knowledge. He takes heart, though, in the camaraderie of his fellow students and their encouraging words, as well as an environment at Florida Poly that encourages innovation.
“When I first had this idea it was just a pad, but through talking it through it’s become what it is today,” Jenario says.
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Lydia Guzman
Director of Communications
863-874-8557