As a former rowing coach, Hydrow’s CEO Bruce Smith saw an opportunity to create an improved ergometer, bringing a previously unknown caliber of indoor rowing to both elite and casual athletes.
Through a partnership combining Bruce’s deep knowledge of athletes’ psychology and physiology with our experience developing innovative exercise equipment, we designed a product that matched his two basic requirements: “It has to be drop-dead gorgeous. It has to be pin-drop quiet.”
To meet his first stipulation, we partnered with Boston-based Essential Design who developed the device’s sculptural form while we addressed his second requirement by developing the electromechanical dynamics. Our parallel work streams converged in a beautiful design with a dominant screen that immerses rowers in their training.
We identified eddy current brake technology as the best method to provide the quiet, controllable electromagnetic resistance needed. To explore and develop the machine’s control systems, precision, and inertial characteristics, we built an exploratory platform affectionately named “The Fortress of Erg.”
The Fortress’s modular design allowed our engineers to exhaust all possibilities before deciding on the best system architecture, including the control system, brake resistance unit, inertial dynamics, and smooth nylon webbing for the handle attachment.
Manufacturing team assembling beta prototype
To help meet Hydrow’s aggressive timelines, we travelled with their team to qualify candidate contract manufacturers in Asia. The selected manufacturer carried the beta design through production while we refined the Rower’s controls, software, and electromechanics.
To develop the controlling algorithm, we used a robot (called “Rowbot”) that could simulate the inertia and resistance of any rower to an uncanny degree. This algorithm was used to test the machine’s force trajectory to quantitatively assess the Rower’s accuracy and precision until the qualitative feel of its resistance was perfected.
Hydrow’s CEO had a dream that he was able to state in two short sentences. We created and executed a plan to realize that dream.
