Speedometer for a moving sportsman

• US 20010034583A1
• Filed: 02/15/2001
• Published: 10/25/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/1994
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nike, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Curtis A. Vock, Dennis M. Darcy, Peter Flentov
• Inventors: Vock, Curtis A., Flentov, Peter, Darcy, Dennis M.
• Granted Patent: US 6,516,284 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/142
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/11 Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor, mobility of a limb for measuring pulse A61B5/02 ;A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6807 Footwear
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6895 Sport equipment
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2069/185 for ski-jumping
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 71/0605 Decision makers and devices using detection means facilitating arbitration
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 3/50 for measuring linear speed G01P3/56 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 11/14 using ultrasonic, sonic, or infrasonic waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/60 wherein the transmitter and receiver are mounted on the moving object, e.g. for determining ground speed, drift angle, ground track
• CPC Class Codes: G04F 8/08 Means used apart from the time-piece for starting or stopping same

Abstract

The invention detects the loft time and/or speed of a vehicle, such as a sporting vehicle, during activities of moving and jumping. A loft sensor detects when the vehicle leaves the ground and when the vehicle returns to the ground. A microprocessor subsystem converts the sensed information to determine a loft time. A display shows the recorded loft time to a user of the system. In addition, a speed sensor can detect the vehicle'"'"'s speed for selective display to the user. The invention is particularly well-suited to sporting activities such as snowboarding where users loft into the air on ski jumps and catch “air” time but have no quantitative measure of the actual time lapse in the air. Therefore, users in skiing can use invention to record, store, and playback selected information relating to their sporting day, including the total amount of “air” time for the day and information such as dead time, i.e., time not spent on the slopes.

Claims

1. An accelerometer based speedometer system, comprising:

a first accelerometer constructed and arranged to generate motion signals in response to the forward acceleration of a moving sportsman; and

a processor for processing the motion signals to determine at least one of speed and distance traveled of the moving sportsman.

2. A speedometer system of

claim 1

, further comprising a clock for providing timing information used to determine the speed and distance.

3. A speedometer system of

claim 1

, wherein the processor is selected from the group of microcontrollers and microprocessors.

4. A speedometer system of

claim 1

, wherein the processor integrates the motion signals to determine speed.

5. A speedometer system of

claim 1

, wherein the processor double integrates the motion signals to determine the distance.

6. A speedometer system of

claim 1

, further comprising at least one additional accelerometer constructed and arranged to generate centripetal acceleration signals responsive to centripetal acceleration of the moving sportsman, the processor compensating the motion signals based on the centripetal acceleration signals.

7. A speedometer system of

claim 1

, further comprising at least one additional accelerometer constructed and arranged to generate gravity signals responsive to force of gravity, the processor compensating the motion signals based on the gravity signals.

8. A speedometer system of

claim 1

, further comprising a display for displaying one or both of the speed and distance traveled to the moving sportsman.

9. A method for determining speed of a moving sportsman, comprising the steps of:

sensing acceleration along a first axis and responsive to forward movement of the moving sportsman along a direction;

sensing acceleration in an orientation substantially perpendicular to the first axis;

processing data representative of the accelerations to compensate for angular orientation of at least one of the first and second axes relative to the direction; and

processing data representative of the accelerations to determine at least one of speed and distance traveled along the direction.

10. A method of

claim 9

, wherein the step of processing data representative of the accelerations to compensate for angular orientation comprises compensating the accelerations for gravitational forces along at least one of the first and second axes.

11. A method of

claim 9

, further comprising the step of determining airtime of the moving sportsman based upon at least one of the accelerations.

12. A method of

claim 9

, further comprising the step of utilizing an inclinometer to determine angle of at least one of the first and second axes relative to the direction.

13. A method of

claim 9

, further comprising the step of processing data representative of the accelerations to determine height of a jump of the moving sportsman.

14. A method of

claim 9

, further comprising the steps of (a) determining airtime of the sportsman based upon at least one of the accelerations, and (b) determining a height of the sportsman off of ground during the airtime.

15. A method of

claim 9

, further comprising the step of calibrating accelerations to enhance accuracy of at least one of the speed and distance.

16. A method of

claim 9

, wherein the steps of sensing accelerations comprise the utilizing accelerometers attached to the moving sportsman.

17. A method of

claim 9

, wherein the steps of processing data comprise processing the data via one of a microprocessor or microcontroller attached to the moving sportsman.

18. A method of

claim 9

, further comprising the step of generating timing information via a clock attached to the moving sportsman to provide timing signals used in determining at least one of the speed and distance.

19. A method of

claim 9

, further comprising the step of displaying one of the speed and distance to the moving sportsman via an LCD display attached to the moving sportsman.

20. A method of

claim 9

, further comprising the step of preprocessing and filtering the accelerations through electronics attached to the moving sportsman.

21. A method of

claim 9

, further comprising the step of processing data representative of the accelerations through state machine logic attached to the moving sportsman.

22. A method of

claim 9

, further comprising the step of storing data representative of maximum speed in memory attached to the moving sportsman.

23. A method of

claim 9

, further comprising the step of storing data representative of distance traveled in memory attached to the moving sportsman.

24. A method of

claim 9

, further comprising the steps of determining airtime of the moving sportsman, based upon at least one of the accelerations, and displaying airtime to the moving sportsman.

25. A method of

claim 9

, further comprising the steps of processing data representative of the accelerations to determine height of a jump of the moving sportsman, and displaying height jumped to the moving sportsman.

26. A method of

claim 9

, further comprising further comprising the step of displaying one or more successive records of speed to the moving sportsman.

27. A method of

claim 9

, further comprising the step of averaging speed for display to the moving sportsman.

28. A method for determining speed of a moving sportsman, comprising the steps of:

attaching an altimeter to the moving sportsman;

determining an angle of descent corresponding to movement down a slope;

processing, over time, altitude data from the altimeter and relative to the angle of descent to determine speed.

29. A method of

claim 28

, further comprising the steps of attaching an accelerometer to the moving sportsman, sensing acceleration indicative of ground vibration received by the moving sportsman, and processing the acceleration to determine airtime corresponding to a jump by the moving sportsman.

30. A method of

claim 28

, further comprising the step of utilizing an inclinometer to determine the angle.

31. A method of

claim 28

, further comprising the steps of attaching a plurality of accelerometers to the moving sportsman, sensing a plurality of accelerations of the moving sportsman, and processing the accelerations to determine height of a jump of the moving sportsman.

32. A method of

claim 28

, further comprising the steps of attaching a plurality of accelerometers to the moving sportsman, determining airtime of the sportsman based upon at least one of the accelerations, and determining a height of the sportsman off of ground during the airtime.

33. A method of

claim 28

, further comprising the step of generating timing information via a clock attached to the moving sportsman to provide timing signals used in determining at the speed.

34. A method of

claim 28

, further comprising the step of displaying the speed to the moving sportsman via an LCD display attached to the moving sportsman.

35. A method of

claim 28

, further comprising the step of storing data representative of maximum speed in memory attached to the moving sportsman.

36. A method of

claim 28

, wherein the step of attaching an altimeter to the moving sportsman comprises attaching a pressure sensor to the moving sportsman.