SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IDENTIFYING AND CHARACTERIZING ATHLETIC MANEUVERS

• US 20140257743A1
• Filed: 07/01/2013
• Published: 09/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AlpineReplay, Inc.
• Original Assignee: AlpineReplay, Inc.
• Inventors: Lokshin, Anatole M., Kuzkin, Vitaly A.
• Granted Patent: US 10,548,514 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/141
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/10 Athletes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1122 of movement trajectories
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1123 Discriminating type of movement, e.g. walking or running A61B5/1116, A61B5/112 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/19 Sporting applications
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0639 Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure help automatically identify athletic maneuvers performed by actors and/or their sports equipment using data from sensors. Among other things, various embodiments help judges and spectators of extreme sports to assess athletic maneuvers based on objective, empirical data and allow action sport participants to objectively compare tricks performed at different times and/or different locations. A computer-implemented method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure comprises receiving, by a computer system, sensor data related to motion by an actor over a time period; determining, by the computer system and based on the sensor data, a plurality of motion characteristics; and identifying, based on the plurality of motion characteristics, an athletic maneuver associated with the motion by the actor during the time period.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by a computer system, sensor data related to motion by an actor over a time period;

determining, by the computer system and based on the sensor data, a plurality of motion characteristics; and

identifying, based on the plurality of motion characteristics, an athletic maneuver associated with the motion by the actor during the time period.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of motion characteristics include one or more of:

position;

velocity;

acceleration;

orientation;

rotation; and

translation.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor data includes data from one or more of:

an accelerometer;

a gyroscope;

a magnetometer;

a Hall effect sensor;

a global positioning system;

an ultrasonic sensor; and

an optical sensor.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of motion characteristics is determined relative to one or more axis of an absolute frame of reference that is independent of the actor, and wherein at least one other of the plurality of motion characteristics is determined relative to one or more axis of a local frame of reference that is associated with the actor.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the plurality of motion characteristics includes determining an orientation for the actor at the beginning of the time period.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the orientation at each time during the time period includes determining an angle of self-rotation for the actor and determining an angle of flip for the actor.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining the angle of self-rotation for the actor includes:

calculating a plurality of unit vectors orthogonal to a local vertical vector for the actor;

calculating a plurality of angles determining rotation of the unit vectors around the local vertical vector; and

selecting the angle of self rotation for the actor as a maximum angle from the plurality of angles.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein determining the angle of flip for the actor includes:

determining motion of a vertical unit vector, associated with the actor, in a global frame of reference.

identifying a plane of movement for the vertical vector;

calculating a projection of the vertical vector on the plane; and

selecting the angle of flip for the actor as the angle of an arc segment traveled by the projection on the plane.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining a local vertical vector for use in determining one or more of the angle of self-rotation and the angle of flip, wherein determining the local vertical vector is based on one or more of:

an average of sensor data from one or more accelerometers prior to the athletic maneuver;

an average of sensor data from one or more accelerometers after the athletic maneuver;

sensor data from one or more accelerometers associated with a portion of the athletic maneuver; and

sensor data from one or more magnetometers.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the plurality of motion characteristics includes determining a facing for the actor based on a direction of a velocity vector calculated from the sensor data and a direction of a magnetic vector calculated using information from a magnetometer sensor in the sensor data.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the athletic maneuver includes comparing the plurality of determined motion characteristics to one or more motion characteristics associated with a known athletic maneuver.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining a level of similarity between the plurality of determined motion characteristics and the motion characteristics associated with the known athletic maneuver.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising generating an alert in response to the level of similarity being beneath a predetermined threshold.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more motion characteristics associated with the known athletic maneuver includes one or more of:

an orientation of the actor at a start of the time period;

an angle of rotation around a local axis of the actor;

a direction of rotation of the actor around a local axis of the actor;

an angle of rotation around an absolute axis perpendicular to a plane of motion of the actor;

a direction of rotation round an absolute axis perpendicular to a plane of motion of the actor; and

a leading edge of a piece of sports equipment at a start of the time period.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the known athletic maneuver is stored in a database with one or more associated motion characteristics.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, via a user interface in communication with the computer system, input related to an athletic maneuver definition;

in response to the input, associating the athletic maneuver definition with one or more of the plurality of motion characteristics; and

storing, in a database in communication with the computer system, the athletic maneuver definition and the one or more associated motion characteristics.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

overlaying information related to the athletic maneuver on video of the actor performing the athletic maneuver, wherein the information related to the athletic maneuver is based on the plurality of motion characteristics.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein overlaying the information related to the athletic maneuver includes synchronizing the overlaid information and the video based on a time measured from a global positioning system.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the time period of the motion by selecting the time period based on a signal from a gyroscope.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the time period of the motion by selecting time period based on a fuzzy logic analysis of one or more sensor signals.

21. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a computing device to:

receive sensor data related to motion by an actor over a time period;

determine, based on the sensor data, a plurality of motion characteristics; and

identify, based on the plurality of motion characteristics, an athletic maneuver associated with the motion by the actor during the time period.

22. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

memory in communication with the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to;

receive sensor data related to motion by an actor over a time period;

determine, based on the sensor data, a plurality of motion characteristics; and

identify, based on the plurality of motion characteristics, an athletic maneuver associated with the motion by the actor during the time period.