Building a Power Meter for Sledgehammer Strikes During a Shopify Sabbatical
By
François Leblanc
Front-window bakery material. Catches the eye, delivers the goods.
Summary
A Shopify employee used their paid sabbatical to build the Intensity Pad, a power meter for sledgehammer strikes. The article details the founder's journey over one month of hardware development, including the motivation (measuring striking power for fitness and training), the technical challenges of building a sensor pad, and lessons learned about hardware prototyping, IP strategy, and building in public. The project is positioned as a niche fitness tool for striking movements, with plans for future engineering writeups.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledI spent the last month building a power meter for sledgehammer strikes: a pad you hit that tells you how hard you hit it, and whether you can do it again tomorrow.
After five years at Shopify, employees get a paid month off
One month, one prototype — the first Intensity Pad, and why I think striking movements deserve a power meter of their own.
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