Computerized method and system for fitting a bicycle to a cyclist
First Claim
1. A system for quantitatively evaluating the ergonomic fit between a person and a person-propelled conveyance comprising a coordinate system;
- a plurality of detectible markers affixed to the person;
a marker tracking subsystem which is situated so to detect each marker at least 50% of the time, which measures the locations of the markers relative to the coordinate system, and which can measure the locations for at least one complete cycle of the motion that propels the conveyance;
a digital computer and software;
wherein the software is adapted to configure and control operation of the tracking subsystem;
the software is adapted to acquire, measure, and record the locations of the markers automatically;
the software is adapted to determine statistics about the locations of the markers, the distances between specified pairs of markers, and the angular relationships among specified trios of markers;
the software is adapted to recommend a specific alteration to the conveyance to optimize a physiological goal of the person based on the acquired statistics; and
the software is adapted to generate a report of such recorded measurements and recommendations.
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Abstract
This invention is an apparatus for quantitatively measuring the fit of an individual to one or more bicycles or other such human-powered conveyances. The apparatus comprises at least a three-dimensional marker tracking system, a software-based data analysis and presentation computer system, and (if necessary) a means of supporting a bicycle in a stationary location such that the individual being fit can pedal their bicycle in a normal yet stationary manner. In advanced embodiments, the system includes a means of simulating a bicycle, and perhaps even a means of altering the position of the bicycle components to perform a bicycle fit in a fully automated way.
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Citations
98 Claims
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1. A system for quantitatively evaluating the ergonomic fit between a person and a
person-propelled conveyance comprising a coordinate system; -
a plurality of detectible markers affixed to the person;
a marker tracking subsystem which is situated so to detect each marker at least 50% of the time, which measures the locations of the markers relative to the coordinate system, and which can measure the locations for at least one complete cycle of the motion that propels the conveyance;
a digital computer and software;
wherein the software is adapted to configure and control operation of the tracking subsystem;
the software is adapted to acquire, measure, and record the locations of the markers automatically;
the software is adapted to determine statistics about the locations of the markers, the distances between specified pairs of markers, and the angular relationships among specified trios of markers;
the software is adapted to recommend a specific alteration to the conveyance to optimize a physiological goal of the person based on the acquired statistics; and
the software is adapted to generate a report of such recorded measurements and recommendations. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A system for quantitatively evaluating the ergonomic fit between a person and a
bicycle, wherein the system comprises a coordinate system a purality of detectible markers affixed to the person a marker tracking subsystem which is situated so to detect each marker at least 50% of the time, which measures the locations of the markers relative to the coordinate system, and which can do so at least for one complete cycle of the pedals; - and
a digital computer system and software;
wherein the system is adapted to configure and control operation of the tracking subsystem;
to acquire and record the locations of the markers automatically;
to determine statistics about the locations of the markers over time;
to compute the distances between specified pairs of markers at specified times;
to compute the angular relationships among specified trios of markers at specified times;
to recommend a specific alteration to the bicycle configuration to optimize a specified physiological goal of the person;
to generate a report of the recorded locations and computed values; and
to recommend an alteration to the bicycle configuration. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81)
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82. A method of quantitatively evaluating the ergonomic fit between a person and human-powered vehicle comprising steps of
attaching detectable markers to the person; -
establishing a coordinate space to which the marker locations are relative;
acquiring details and characteristics about the person and the vehicle;
directing the person to begin powering the vehicle;
acquiring discrete times and locations of the markers for a period of time to acquire at least one cycle of the person'"'"'s motion in powering the vehicle;
fitting continuous trajectories to the set of discrete locations for at least one marker;
computing statistical information about each marker'"'"'s acquired locations;
computing the distance between at least one specified pair of marker locations;
computing at least one angle formed by a specified trio of marker locations;
displaying at least some of the above acquired and computed data on a computer screen;
recording at least some of the above acquired and computed data for later use;
determining whether the computed data is satisfactory according to the desired goals of the person;
if the last data is satisfactory, saving the acquired data and vehicle configuration;
if the last data is unsatisfactory, recommending at least one vehicle-specific adaptation;
if there is at least one unimplemented recommended adaptation, adjusting the vehicle configuration according to the adaptation; and
then repeating at least some of the above steps with the adaptation applied to configuration. - View Dependent Claims (83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98)
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Specification