WO2003076023A1

WO2003076023A1 - Electronic physical exercise system

Info

Publication number: WO2003076023A1
Application number: PCT/ES2003/000101
Authority: WO
Inventors: Antonio Ivorra Cano
Original assignee: Antonio Ivorra Cano
Priority date: 2002-03-11
Filing date: 2003-03-07
Publication date: 2003-09-18
Also published as: ES2192486B1; AU2003219173A1; ES2192486A1

Abstract

The invention relates to an electronic system which is used to exercise and to participate in games involving a certain degree of physical effort. According to the invention, the user (1) wears a unit (2) comprising acceleration and magnetic field sensors which can capture determined movements. The resultant signal is transmitted to a piece of information technology equipment (5) which interacts with the user via a screen (6) or by means of sounds which can be reproduced through earphones (7). In specific applications, the piece of information technology equipment is completely portable (3). Depending on the software used and the configuration of the components, the system can be customised for different applications, namely: a) a guided physical training system, b) a physical performance measuring system, c) a rehabilitation exercise assistance system, d) a system of computerised games which respond to the movements of the players, and e) a musical instrument.

Description

Electronic system for physical exercise

The present invention relates to an electronic system with capabilities for monitoring, instructing, and prompting physical activities carried out by one or more users carrying acceleration and magnetic field sensors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The objective of the present invention is to provide an electronic system with computing capabilities that allows physical exercise to be carried out and that has the following minimum characteristics: a) it must capture certain parameters related to the user's movement without significantly limiting its ability to move , b) must instruct the user on the physical activity to be performed, c) must be able to indicate to the user an assessment of the physical activity carried out and d) must allow the execution of virtual games or sports in which the control is carried out by means of the movements of the user and in which it is possible to compete alone or against other players. As detailed in the description, these objectives are met with a system consisting, roughly, of a set of sensors (acceleration and magnetic field), an information technology equipment (computer) and indicator elements. (screen, headphones, speakers ...). In one of the variants of the invention, the information technology equipment and indicator elements correspond to a laptop-type computer, especially of the PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) or electronic agenda type.

Currently it is possible to identify some systems that meet to some degree the objectives indicated above. For example, it is possible to buy stationary bicycles in which the pedaling and the steering of the handlebars allow the user to travel through a virtual world. There are also machines in which the force exerted by the user competes with artificial forces controlled by a computer system that emulates the interaction with virtual objects. Related to this type of systems we can find the following patents: US5466200, US5577981 and US5591104. However, these types of devices limit the user's ability to move and the range of exercises to perform. This has motivated the emergence of motion measurement systems. alternatives. Among the strategies used for this purpose is the use of electronic acceleration sensors (accelerometers).

The use of electronic accelerometers for monitoring physical activities is not new. There are numerous precedents in which this type of sensor has been used to count steps, detect the start of movements, measure forces, check trajectories ... The following patents detail some of these systems: US4192000, US4962469, US6002336, US6132337, US6135951, US6245014 , WO0033031 and US5984796. The most significant restrictions of these patents in relation to the present invention are: a) limitation to specific physical activities, b) absence of sensors for magnetic field detection and c) absence of high-performance portable information technology equipment.

Patents US5516105 and US59899157 refer to the use of acceleration sensors on the human body to transform its movements into movements of objects or characters in video games. These inventions can be understood as physical exercise systems that meet the aforementioned objectives. However, in both cases they do not include magnetic field sensors or portable or display computing devices.

Patent US6059576 refers to an accelerometer movement monitoring system that includes a portable computing element and that is capable of indicating the moment in which an incorrect or inappropriate movement occurs. Unlike the present invention, in this case the system does not allow the execution of games or the instruction on the exercises to be performed. The use of magnetic sensors is also not contemplated.

Accelerometers have also been used in computer or video game controllers with the aim of achieving more intuitive responses, without seeking the goal of physical exercise. The following patents detail some of these systems: EP1062994, EP1082981, US6183365, US6312335, US5734371 and US6072467. In these cases, the user interacts with an object that he generally carries in his hand. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention aims to meet the objectives set in the background section and overcome some of the drawbacks shown by existing systems.

The information provided here is sufficient for any person skilled in the art to be able to reproduce the invention.

The user (1) carries a User Unit (2) attached to his body by means of a fastening system (8) that may consist of a tape, strap or any other known method. Said User Unit (UU) contains the sensors that capture movement and, optionally, other parameters such as heart rate and temperature. The UU is responsible for transmitting (by radio frequency, infra-red, cable or any other known method) the measured values to an Information Technology Equipment (ETI) that can be carried by the user (3) or be located at a certain distance (4.5). Depending on the values transmitted and according to a program in execution, the ETI interacts with the user through a television screen, monitor or projector (6) or through signals and auditory sounds that can be transmitted through speakers or headphones worn by the user ( 7).

Depending on the type of application to which the invention is oriented, it is possible to make different configurations of the elements and resources. Likewise, the commercial distribution of the system will also condition its configuration, and it is foreseeable that said commercialization will be carried out through the sale of User Units and receiving stations that the end user will connect to his own ETI.

The simplest configuration of the UU will be: a) power supply system (batteries or rechargeable batteries), b) sensors to capture movements, c) electronic signal conversion and d) electronic information transmission element (radio frequency, infra- red, ultrasound or cable). The sensors for capturing movement will be accelerometers and magnetic field sensors. Electronic accelerometers are capable of providing information about changes in speed or the inclination of one of the user's axes. Magnetic field sensors can provide information about the direction of the Earth's magnetic field, or an artificially created external magnetic field. The sensors do not need to be placed inside the UU, they can be placed anywhere on the body and be connected to the UU by cables. In this way, the obtained movement information can be configured based on the activity performed.

Other elements and resources that can be included in the UU are: a) heart rate measurement using optical sensors placed on the ear or fingers, b) heart rate measurement using electrodes, c) temperature measurement using temperature sensors, d) generation of sound, music or voice signals, and e) capturing the user's voice.

If the required resources are not excessive and the technology allows it, there is the possibility of integrating the UU and the ETI in the same portable device. The user can carry multiple UUs to capture the movements of different parts of the body. Likewise, there is also the possibility that different users with different UUs interact with the same ETI. The technical realization of these systems should not pose any problem since there are various communication protocols that allow the communication of several transmitters sharing the same physical medium for any of the aforementioned transmission systems (radio frequency, infrared or cable).

An ETI can also communicate with other teams through telematic communication to share information about the movements of users and create a certain degree of interaction between them. Data can also be transmitted to other TSIs simply for informational purposes, for example to quantify the level of performance of a particular physical exercise.

The software executed by the ETI can be installed from any of the known methods (floppy disks, CDs, download connection with another ETI, from the Internet ...). This software may correspond to exercise programs, games with associated physical effort, databases or any other of the known categories. In the present invention, the Exercise Programs (PE) are not limited to the communication of a series of instructions on the exercises to be performed by the user depending on some parameters such as age, weight and the objective pursued. Based on the measurements captured by the sensors, the PE can modify their execution and communicate information, advice, stimuli or orders to the user, either audibly or graphically. In this way, PE can emulate the work done by fitness trainers or monitors. There are different acceleration sensors depending on the measurement principle

(piezoelectric, capacitive, inductive, resistive, thermal ...). Another classification at the level of functional characteristics divides them into those capable of measuring continuous accelerations and those that are only capable of detecting acceleration variations. The former, apart from providing velocity and position values

(first and second integration of the acceleration signal), can provide information about its inclination since they capture the Earth's gravitational field. The second ones can be cheaper but they will only be useful to detect movements and, in general, they will only be preferred to detect especially sudden movements (jumps, kicks, punches ...).

The information provided by the acceleration sensors is not enough to detect certain movements or changes in position. In some of these cases, the measurements provided by the magnetic field sensors will allow identifying these movements or positions. For example, if magnetic sensors are mounted to indicate the angle between the front of the body and the earth's magnetic field (azimuth), it will be possible to detect gyratory movements from variations in that angle. In addition, the response of the acceleration sensors is conditioned both by the movements and by the position relative to the gravitational field, so that it can be difficult or impossible to carry out routines that discern between certain types of movements. In this sense, the magnetic field sensors will help to solve the problem since their response only depends on their position with respect to the external magnetic field, that is, they will not be conditioned by the speed or acceleration in the execution of the movement.

On numerous occasions the information provided by both types of sensors will be redundant. Thus, for example, a trunk flexion can be detected as an alteration of the acceleration components due to a change in the relative inclination with respect to the gravitational axis, but it will also manifest itself as alterations in the different magnetic components due to a similar change with respect to the vector. of local terrestrial magnetic field. Procedures to determine the positions and movements of different parts of the human body from the measurements of the magnetic and acceleration sensors have been previously described. Especially significant is the dissertation that ER Bachmann made to obtain the title of doctor ("Inertial And Magnetic Angle Tracking Of Limb Segments For Inserting Humans Into Synthetic

Environments ", Eric R. Bachmann (Supervisor Michael J. Zyda), Naval Postgraduate

School, Monterey, California, USA, December 2000).

The receiving module (4), which receives the measurements from the UU and relays them to the ETI, may include processing and programming capabilities. The objective would be to provide adequate, or simplified, signals to the software running on the ETI. Thus, for example, the ETI could install a program in the transmission module (4) that made it behave like a joystick that responded to the user's movements (jump ≡ up, duck ≡ down, left turn giro left and turn right ≡ right). In this way, it would even be possible to use the existing gaming software.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of what is written in the present specification, some drawings are attached which represent diagrams associated with a practical embodiment of the system.

Figure 1 shows the main elements of the system. Attached to the user's chest (1) by means of a belt (8) is the User Unit (2). An external information technology equipment (5) connected to a screen (6) communicates with the UU through an RF transmission module (4). Also shown is the placement of a portable information technology (ETI) equipment around the user's waist (3). Figure 2 shows the main elements included in an embodiment of the

User Unit (2).

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The system proposed here is intended for applications in which a single user, or a group of users, interacts with an ETI that may be external (5) or carried by the user (3). In the second case it will be considered that it is a PDA. Figure 2 presents the main components of the User Unit (2).

The battery (9) is responsible for supplying current to all circuits. The bi-axial acceleration sensor (10) and the magnetic field sensors in perpendicular position (11) provide information related to movement to the microcontroller (12). This is responsible for encoding and transmitting the resulting information to the external ETI (5) through the RF link consisting of a transmission module (16) and an antenna (14) or to the

Portable ETI via RS-232 serial port (13). The UU can receive directions from the ETIs to generate sounds, voices or music. The manager of this generation is the digital signal processor (DSP) (15) that transmits the resulting signals to headphones (7) through an output connector (17).

The bi-axial acceleration sensor (ADXL202E from Analog Devices, Inc.) (10) is placed on the main board of the User Unit so that it is sensitive to movements made in the parallel plane of the UU (see arrows ). In this way, and taking into account that the UU will usually be placed on the chest, this sensor will be able to provide information on jump movements, transverse movements and trunk inclination. It can also be used to detect turning movements, however this task is preferably reserved for magnetic field sensors. The chosen sensor provides the measured values by means of pulse width modulation, immediately converting them to numerical values by the microcontroller.

The direction of the magnetic field is determined from measurements provided by two orthogonally placed magnetic sensors (Philips Semiconductors KMZ10A1) on a perpendicular plate (11) to the main plate. The output values are adapted by means of two differential amplifiers and transformed to numerical values by means of ADC converters included in the microcontroller. One of the values provides the intensity of the field on the left-right axis of the UU while the other provides the intensity on the orthogonal axis (back-front). In this way, it is possible to calculate the angle between the UU and the magnetic field and detect the turning movements made by the user. An important limitation of the sensors used is the fixed deviation (offset) they present. To correct this effect, simply compensate the measured values with reference values. Reference values can be obtained in different situations, examples: a) if the user remains immobile in a straight position, it is known that the longitudinal acceleration sensor must measure 1 g (9.8 N) while the transversal must measure 0 g and b) the sum of the vectors corresponding to two user angles separated 180 ° must be null. These situations can be forced by the ETI through orders directed to the user.

Once the User Unit (2) is activated, the microcontroller (12) initiates the transmission of the data corresponding to the reading of the sensors through the RF link (14, 16). Said transmission is cyclical and follows a fixed rate (10 ms). If at any time the microcontroller determines that a PDA has been connected (reception of a specific command through the serial port (13)), the transmission over the RF link is canceled and the communication begins to be carried out exclusively with the PDA through the port Serie.

The hearing capabilities of the UU will be especially useful in cases where communication is carried out with a portable ETI since the capacity for interactivity through the screen will be reduced or will be null. The simplest embodiment of the sound generator may consist of a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) followed by an amplifier. Other more sophisticated versions may comprise a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) to generate sounds, music and voices from digital signals with a low transmission rate (eg LPC and MPEG systems).

The RF link is made using an Ericsson ROK 101 007 module

Microelectronics AB. This subsystem contains all the elements necessary to implement the functionality of a Bluetooth ™ link in portable devices. Among other possibilities, these components allow data and voice communication between various equipment located within a radius of 10 meters.

Here are some possible system applications:

1) Physical exercise coach.

Using the visual and / or auditory capabilities of the ETI and the UU, the user is instructed on the exercise to be performed and the position in which the UU must be positioned to obtain correct measurements. During the exercise, the ETI processes the measures and provides the user with different information (level achieved in the execution of the exercise, number of cycles to complete, calories consumed ...)

Exercises can be part of an Exercise Program (PE) appropriate to the characteristics of the user (weight, age, sex ...) and the objective pursued by it (weight loss, increased aerobic capacity, increased coordination ...)

This application can be especially useful in rehabilitation exercise programs.

2) Measurement of physical performance. By acting in the same way as in the previous case, it is possible to use the system to assess the physical state of one or more people. One of the main advantages of the system, compared to classic measurement systems, is that it allows the response time to be accurately obtained for some movements of the user that were previously difficult to time (turning movements, jumps, starting speeds ...) .

3) Games.

The information provided by the User Units can be used to control the movements of objects and characters in a fictional space in the same way that joysticks, keyboards and other computer input peripherals are currently used. Thus, it is possible to implement games in which the user competes against virtual characters or other users in a virtual setting. These scenarios can represent real cases (sports emulation) or totally fictitious situations.

4) Musical instrument.

Using the listening capabilities of the UU or the ETI's own, it is possible to generate musical sounds that are related to the user's movement. Example: the angle to the magnetic field (azimuth) determines the pitch, or the synthesized instrument, and the jump force determines the intensity of the sound generated. This application is useful in itself or can be used as an accompaniment to physical exercise.

Claims

1. Electronic system for performing physical exercise characterized by being composed of: a) one or more portable units containing one or more acceleration sensors and one or more magnetic field sensors and which are carried by a user through a system of attachment b) an information technology team (TSI) c) an information link between the portable unit (s) and the TSI.

2. Electronic system for performing physical exercise characterized by being composed of: a) portable units containing one or more acceleration sensors and one or more magnetic field sensors and which are carried by several users by means of fastening systems b) a information technology team (TSI) c) an information link between the units and the TSI.

3. Electronic system for performing physical exercise according to claim 1 characterized in that the TSI is carried by the user.

4. Electronic system for performing physical exercise according to claim 3 characterized in that the TSI is of the type known as Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).

5. Electronic system for performing physical exercise according to claims 1 or 2 characterized in that the TSI includes or is connected to a television screen, monitor or projector to interact with users.

6. Electronic system for performing physical exercise according to claims 1, 2 or 5 characterized in that the TSI includes or is connected to a system for generating or reproducing sounds to interact with users.

7. Electronic system for performing physical exercise according to claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 characterized in that the portable units contain the following elements: a) power supply system. b) acceleration sensors and magnetic field. c) electronic conditioning and processing of sensor signals. d) transmission system of the processed signals.

8. Electronic system for performing physical exercise according to claim 7 wherein the transmission system consists of a radio frequency transmission module.

9. Electronic system for performing physical exercise according to claim 7 wherein the transmission system consists of a infrared-red transmission module.

10. Electronic system for performing physical exercise according to claim 7, characterized in that the arrangement of the magnetic field sensors allows to calculate the angle of the user with respect to the direction of the earth's magnetic field.

11. Electronic system for performing physical exercise according to claim 7 characterized in that the portable unit contains the necessary elements for the reproduction of sounds, voices or music.

12. Game system characterized by using any of the systems according to claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11.

13. Electronic system for performing physical exercise characterized by the fact of emitting sounds with a certain degree of musicality in response to the movements made by the users and for making use of any of the systems according to claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11.