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Master's thesis: TrollFish

NTNU TrollLABS, for the Norwegian Sailing Federation and Olympic Training Centre · 2025–2026

TrollFish brings together video, GPS and sensor readings from sailing sessions. Coaches and athletes can review manoeuvres and compare data from the same moment.

The thesis resulted in two peer-reviewed papers: one on 3D pose estimation from 360° video and one on sensor fusion using IMUs and load cells.

An ILCA dinghy sailing at speed on open water, with mountains behind.
An ILCA 7.

The equipment on board

The boat carries a hiking strap with six IMUs, pressure mats on the deck and a data logger. The equipment records measurements throughout each training session.

The cockpit seen from above, with the instrumented hiking strap along the centre, a clear electronics box, and pressure mats taped to the deck.
The strap, the electronics box and the pressure mats as fitted in the boat.
Side-view diagram of the hiking strap, with seven IMUs spread along the curve the strap hangs in, and the point HCoM marked at the top.
The sensors along the strap measure its shape, which is used to work out the athlete's foot position in the boat.
Four pressure mats shown as heatmaps, labelled MAT 1 to MAT 4, each a grid of readings in green and yellow.
The pressure mats show how weight is spread where the athlete sits.

The tool

Screenshot: a GPS track on a map on the left, three synchronised video panes on the right, and a timeline along the bottom showing speed, heading and heel.
Video, GPS track and statistics on one timeline.
Screenshot: two athletes compared with centre-of-mass heatmaps, summary figures and graphs for wind angle, heading and heel.
Two athletes compared over the same stretch.
Camera frame of a sail with detected contour lines for the luff, leech and three horizontal stripes.
Sail shape detected from the camera on board.
Generated PDF report with a map of the session, a summary table, histograms, heatmaps and polar plots.
The report that comes out after a session.

Publications

Further development

The video analysis, manoeuvre detection and reports can be adapted to other boat classes and applications.

Vietri offers further development of TrollFish and adaptation of the system for new projects. Get in touch to discuss your requirements.

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