Proessa Sport, a spin-off from the French space agency (CNES), was awarded the ESA-BIC-Sud label in 2017. The company develops applications under the OTAKAM brand dedicated to cyclists of all levels up to professionals. This young start-up based in Toulouse is providing cyclists, coaches and cycling teams a performance analysis and monitoring platform packed with innovations.
Revolutionary and the result of several years of R&D, based on a CNES patent related to the monitoring of athletes’ physiological performance, OTAKAM’s latest innovation has just been deployed: the power calculation without power meter. Developed from a cross-referencing of data recorded by GNSS bike computers (position, speed, pedalling rate, heart rate, etc.) and machine-learning, the algorithms aim for an accuracy below 5%, equivalent to most power meters on the market.
«The innovation in this patent was initially designed to meet the need for forecasting and monitoring sports activities, as is the case, for example, for the medical monitoring of astronauts», explains Sébastien Rouquette, inventor of the patent and an engineer at CNES within CADMOS, the centre that prepares, organises, and monitors scientific experiments conducted in microgravity.
With this new innovation, performance analysis functionalities are now accessible to all cyclists, whether or not they already have a power meter.
«We are putting technology at the service of our passion, cycling», says Jérôme Legenne, co-founder and CEO of OTAKAM, before adding, «the price of power meters was a barrier for all cyclists who want to monitor and improve their performance during their training, rides or races.
Thanks to this exclusive OTAKAM feature, we are giving as many users as possible the opportunity to benefit from highly personalised data to analyse their performance and measure their progress without having to invest in the expensive purchase of a power meter!»
Already a partner of the French Cycling Federation (FFC) for the establishment of the first cyclosport ranking of the federation’s licensees, and of the ARKEA-SAMSIC professional team, OTAKAM has adapted the algorithms offered to professionals on its platform for use by all cyclists, regardless of their level of practice. «Professional cycling is in constant request of innovation and marginal gains. The ARKEA-SAMSIC team managed by Emmanuel Hubert trusts us to optimise the effort strategy of its riders during time trials. The algorithms we use for professionals have been adapted on our platform for use by all cyclists to predict their time», says Gaëtan Lemoine, a key member of the OTAKAM team and himself a high-level cyclist with the Occitane Cyclisme Formation (National 1).
