SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COUNTING SWIMMING LAPS

• US 20120245714A1
• Filed: 07/16/2010
• Published: 09/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyle Doerksen, Neal Mueller
• Original Assignee: Kyle Doerksen, Neal Mueller
• Inventors: Mueller, Neal, Doerksen, Kyle
• Granted Patent: US 8,696,420 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/91
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/0663 worn on the wrist, e.g. wrist bands
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/0666 worn on the head or face, e.g. combined with goggles or glasses
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/17 Counting, e.g. counting periodical movements, revolutions or cycles, or including further data processing to determine distances or speed
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/40 Acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/89 Field sensors, e.g. radar systems
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/50 Wireless data transmission, e.g. by radio transmitters or telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2244/20 Swimming
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0062 Monitoring athletic performances, e.g. for determining the work of a user on an exercise apparatus, the completed jogging or cycling distance
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 71/06 Indicating or scoring devices for games or players , or for other sports activities

Abstract

The invention can be worn by the swimmer and comprises a sensor module, preferably with a digital compass and accelerometer, preferably worn under a swim cap or attached to goggles, and a human interaction device, preferably integrated into or worn as wrist watch, for displaying laps. The sensor module and the human interaction device are in communication with each other, preferably via wireless communication. A microprocessor with software is included in either the sensor module, watch or both. The microprocessor/software interprets data from a digital compass and digital accelerometer within the sensor to determine when the swimmer has changed directions and thereby count the number of laps. The watch can then display the number of laps.

Claims

5. A device for counting laps worn by a swimmer comprising:

a sensor module comprising a compass and an accelerometer outputting data;

a human interaction device integrated into a watch in communication with said sensor module;

a microprocessor integrated into said sensor module or human interface module in communication with the sensor module and human interface module; and

software executing on the microprocessor capable of

counting swimming laps by interpreting the data from the sensor module; and

displaying laps swum on the watch.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein said accelerometer comprises a 2-axis or 3-accelerometer.

7. A computer based method of counting laps swum by a swimmer based upon detecting turns in swimming direction comprised of:

reading directional data from a compass attached to the swimmer;

filtering the directional data with data from a second sensor attached to the swimmer;

determining the points where the swimmer turns directions and thereby counting the number of laps; and

displaying the number of laps completed on a display attached to the swimmer.

1. A system for counting laps worn by a swimmer comprising:

a sensor attachable to a swimmer outputting data;

a microprocessor attachable to a swimmer in communication with the sensors;

a human interaction device attachable to a swimmer in communication with the microprocessor; and

software executing on the microprocessor capable of counting swimming laps by interpreting the data from the sensor and displaying laps swum on the human interface.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is a digital magnetic compass, multi-axis accelerometer, a mutli-axis gyroscope or a GPS receiver.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said human interface is integrated into a watch.

4. The system of claim 1 comprising a plurality of sensors.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the second sensor is a multi-axis accelerometer or a mulit-axis gyroscope.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of filtering is further comprised of using data from the second sensor to adjust for the tilt of the compass during swimming.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of filtering is further comprised of using data from the second sensor to adjust for the roll/pitch of the compass during swimming.

11. The method of claim 7 further comprising the step of filtering the data using a standard deviation of a sliding filter.

10-1. The method of claim 7 further comprising the step of filtering the data using a sliding window median filter.