Blind in surfing
From Aitor Frances: Surfing is everything to me. With this I was born with a tablet under my hand more or less. I've been doing this all my life and now even if I'm blind I'm going to keep surfing so for me it's all my life.
I’ve known my daughter’s mom to surf, so my whole life revolves around surfing.
Aitor Azpiroz, engineering: For me, surfing is a big affair. It’s such a big hobby that every day it takes me a while, if it’s to see the sea or to surf, but every day I have to take an hour or two of mine to come to the sea and if it’s to enter and see if it’s not.
Aitor Azpiroz, of Axpi and Aitor Frances, are two zarauteros that Gallo surf has united. They have gathered around this special surfboard. It is the smart board that Axpi has created especially for Gallo.
Aitor Azpiroz, engineer: Aitor was known to me and I knew him from the water. Then when he went blind I saw him surfing in the sea and I thought to make a board for Aitor that would help him get to the point where the waves explode.
Two years ago, Aitor Frances had an accident while surfing, and the blind man stopped.
But, she has had vision problems since birth, was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma and lost her right eye at the age of 14.
The problem has been closely linked to surfing with amateur and professional problems.
He has been the coach of some of the greatest professional Basque surfers, Aritz Aramburu, and Asier Muniain, among others.
Its current state has not moved it away from the sea.
From Aitor Frances: Since I have had problems with my eyes all my life, I used to walk in the sea like this before, so it has not been so difficult for me to walk in the sea when I was blind. The waves give me information and so do the runners, and also the sound of the waves, I do the exercise with the sound of passing the waves underneath. Depending on the sound I know how much time I have to go under the waves. But I had a big problem: knowing where the north is.
The place where the waves explode is the north of Zarautz Beach. This surfboard has been designed to direct the surfer to this area.
Aitor Azpiroz is a professor at the Oteiza High School in Zarautz and is studying Higher Engineering at the UPV/EHU. He has developed the board for the blind as an end-of-study project. He has made the technological design and prototype of the surfboard himself, then with the help of the designer Juanma Indo they have integrated electronic devices into the surfboard.
Once the design is finished, the board is manufactured by Pukas.
To slide the surfboard to the north, this is the goal of the project. When in the correct position the board gives the surfer a warning by sound.
Assisted by Aitor Azpiroz: The board contains three technologically electronic elements. The sensor is one: the sensor will measure the magnetic field and is a magnetic sensor. What you're gonna do at the base is figure out where the magnetic north is. If I twist that magnetic sensor a little bit, it's going to suffer from a deviation. It gives me the number of that deviation, if two degrees are two degrees and if eight degrees are eight degrees.
This deviation data is sent by the sensor to a microcontroller. The microcontroller is programmed to make a certain sound while the board moves between several degrees.
EXHIBITION by Aitor Azpiazu
The sounds emitted by the board are sent by a radio transmitter located on the surfboard itself; the surfer brings the radio receiver back into the liquor. Listen to the sounds through a series of small, non-permeable speakers.
Assisted by Aitor Azpiroz: He wears it in his left ear and takes it off whenever he wants. So he takes it off when he doesn't need it when he's surfing and when he needs it here he takes it off his chest and goes ahead.
From Aitor Frances: if my friends were only surfing with me all the time they didn’t catch the waves, then now it is also for them the peace of mind of Christ that I have that data with that machine. For me as well as for my collaborators, it is the help of Christ. They also have more freedom to ride.
A vital element to get going in the way that happens with any electronic device is the battery. The designer Juanma Indo is the expert in battery matters. He created the world’s first board that works with LED lights, and has installed the invention he specifically designed for this purpose on the board for the blind.
Assisted by Juan Mari Indo: The main difficulty is that the batteries do not get wet and the electronics do not get wet. And then the other was the weight, that's what we got. We purposely make some small batteries for lithium polymer for us. In surfing with light, the approximate duration of those who walk with LED is four to five hours and in the Gallon tabla or the blind tabla can last 12 hours or more.
Juanma Indo has developed a special battery charging system. The rope or “inventory” that surfers wear attached to their feet is attached to this piece. Using this same piece he has created devices to recharge the battery. Thread a wire onto the stainless shaft. It has connected this wire to the battery and then shielded the system with a foil to prevent water from entering.
Assisted by Juan Mari Indo: How to load it? We take a charger with these little crocodiles like this and here we put it on and use this to recharge it. Both positive and negative. We put the positive and the negative and with this we are charging the battery.
The board on which the electronic elements can be switched on and off has a magnetic switch, which is also special: a magnet performs the function of the switch.
With the magnet removed, the electronic elements of the surfboard are put into operation, and the board is ready to go in search of waves.
Buletina
Bidali zure helbide elektronikoa eta jaso asteroko buletina zure sarrera-ontzian
Teknopolis
