This is a desktop application to measure climbing specific finger strength metrics such as critical force. With this software, it's possible to capture the force applied to a load-cell and analyse the data.
There is a research paper of Dave Giles et al. (Lattice Training Ltd.) that describes why critical force can be a useful metric for climbers and how it can be measured. This whole software is based on this paper. The paper can be accessed via this link.
Here you can find a video of Dave MacLeod doing the test at Lattice, including some explanations.
- A load-cell (preferably S-type) and 2 eyebolts to hang it up. The maximum load should be higher than the force you can apply to a 20mm crimp with one arm. As long as you're not Alex Megos, 100kg should be fine.
- A (wooden) finger rung, that is somehow attached to the load-cell. Preferably 20mm with 10mm radius to ensure comparability.
- A load-cell amplifier (NAU7802). I am using this one but this one should work as well. Attention! This software is not compatible with the commonly used HX711 amplifier.
- An MCP2221A USB board to connect the amplifier to a computer via USB.
- A cable to connect the MCP2221A and the NAU7802 (Qwiic/STEMMA QT compatible JST-SH cable).
See also this blog.
This software contains everything you need, to connect to the load-cell, run a workout, and analyze the data.
If you want to use the software, you can download the latest release here:
- Executable for Windows (64bit)
- Application for Macs with Intel chips (allow app start)
- Application for Macs with Apple M chips (allow app start)
If you want to contribute to the source code, fix some bugs, or change the background color to pink, you need Python >=3.9. I've developed the software with version 3.11. You can use the requirements.txt file to install the required packages with pip install -r requirements.txt.
The app is started via python start.py.
You can compile an executable/application for windows/mac via pyinstaller start_win.spec or pyinstaller start_mac.spec.
Copyright 2024 Dr.-Ing. Philipp Bulling
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.