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Latest News The Biddulph manufacturer is supplying fibre cables for interactive coaching firm MiSport, which has bases all over the world. MiSport's Pitch Vision product features mats containing electronic sensors which register every time they are hit by a ball or a foot. The signal can then be relayed to a computer or mobile phone, allowing players to analyse their performance later. Selectus' fibre cables make sure the electronic signals are relayed accurately. The project marks the firm's increasing focus on hi-tech fabrics – other products include electronic textiles which can be sewn into clothes and used to control the wearer's MP3 player. Traditionally Selectus has focused on decorative trims and ribbons for the fashion and craft industries, but it is diversifying into more technical areas in a bid to increase sales. Managing director Josephine Bagnall said: "We're still making the narrow fabrics we've traditionally been known for, but five years ago we took the decision to create a 100 per cent dedicated research and development department. "The margins are better and the price points aren't so sensitive, and of course it's not so sensitive to changes in fashion. "It now makes up about 20 to 30 per cent of our turnover. It's a very important side to the business and it's developing and growing all the time." MiSport managing director Richard Welch said Pitch Vision would never have come to fruition without Selectus. He said: "It aims to take the level of performance analysis you see on TV down to the grass roots level for schools and clubs. "The grass roots community is very educated about the hi-tech tools that are available, they simply don't have access to them. We set out to build a product that would fit into that price point, which had to meet quite a barrage of requirements. We grappled with various incarnations over more than two years but they all had one or two flaws which meant they fell just a little bit short. We started working with Selectus about two years ago on fabric cables. We couldn't have done it without them. "The system consists of a cricket net, within which we lay out mats which contain sensors, so whenever a foot or a ball hits them they relay a signal to a mobile phone or a computer. "As a result, you can analyse things like the bowler's pace, the bounce of the ball and where the batsman hit the ball. "You can also set up a virtual field so even though you're in a net you can see how many runs you would have made or whether you would have been caught out. "The fundamental properties of the product Selectus developed gave us the right level of sensitivity for the sensors. "The sensors that lie on the pitch are lying on a hard surface, so they respond in a certain way when you hit them. There's nothing behind the nets so they move around quite a lot, and we needed something that could cope with all the different circumstances." Selectus employs around 50 people at the Uplands, Biddulph, and also has a base in China. Nigel Yates, head of research and development, added: "We've had some experience over the past few years working with conductive textiles, which can be used in clothes to control things like MP3 players. We got involved with MiSport because of our work in that area and we realised the issues with the sensors themselves. "When something hits them it closes a switch and then opens again, and it has to do that in a reliable way, if you think about the repeated impact of a cricket ball. We had to develop something that was robust enough to give the same performance over time." Links: The Sentinel PitchVision & miSport
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