Measuring foot contact time and foot loft time of a person in locomotion
First Claim
1. A method for analyzing activity of a person in locomotion on foot on a surface, comprising steps of:
- (a) using a sensor to generate a signal in response to movement of the person when the person is in locomotion without exerting compression forces on the sensor to generate the signal; and
(b) analyzing the signal to determine a moment that the foot leaves the surface during a footstep taken by the person.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The time period that a foot is in contact with the ground during a stride taken by a user, and the period that the foot is not in contact with the ground between strides taken by the user are determined by processing and analyzing the output signal of an accelerometer. The accelerometer is mounted on the user such that its acceleration sensing axis senses acceleration in a direction substantially parallel to the bottom of the user'"'"'s foot. The output of the accelerometer is high-pass filtered, amplified, and fed to the input of a micro-controller, which monitors the signal for positive and negative signal spikes that are indicative, respectively, of the moment that the foot of the user leaves the ground and the moment that the foot impacts with the ground. By measuring time intervals between these positive and negative spikes, average "foot contact times" and "foot loft times" of the user may be calculated. To derive the pace of the user, the average foot contact time is multiplied by a first constant if it is less than 400 milli-seconds (ms) and is multiplied by a second constant if it is greater than 400 ms. This pace value may, in turn, be used to calculate the distance traveled by the user.
525 Citations
59 Claims
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1. A method for analyzing activity of a person in locomotion on foot on a surface, comprising steps of:
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(a) using a sensor to generate a signal in response to movement of the person when the person is in locomotion without exerting compression forces on the sensor to generate the signal; and (b) analyzing the signal to determine a moment that the foot leaves the surface during a footstep taken by the person. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A device for analyzing activity of a person in locomotion on foot on a surface, comprising:
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a sensor to be supported in relation to the foot, the sensor being configured and arranged to provide an output signal in response to movement of the foot during at least one footstep taken by the person without requiring compression forces thereon to generate the signal; and a signal processor coupled to the sensor to receive the output signal therefrom, the signal processor being configured to analyze the output signal of the sensor to determine at least one moment that the foot leaves the surface during the at least one footstep. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for monitoring activity of a person in locomotion on foot, comprising steps of:
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(a) using a first electronic device to determine at least one foot contact time of the person; and (b) transmitting information, via a wireless communication channel, from the first electronic device to a second electronic device, which information is based upon the at least one foot contact time determined in the step (a). - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A system for monitoring activity of a person in locomotion on foot, comprising:
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a first electronic device to measure at least one foot contact time of the person; and a second electronic device, coupled to the first electronic device via a wireless communication channel, to receive information from the first electronic device which is based upon the at least one foot contact time measured by the first electronic device. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A method for analyzing activity of a person in locomotion on foot on a surface, comprising steps of:
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(a) mounting a sensor above a bottom surface of the foot so that the sensor generates a signal in response to movement of the person when the person is in locomotion; and (b) analyzing the signal to determine a moment that a foot of the person leaves the surface during a footstep taken by the person. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A device for analyzing activity of a person in locomotion on foot on a surface, comprising:
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a sensor supported by the person above a bottom surface of a foot of the person, the sensor being configured and arranged to provide an output signal in response to movement of the foot during at least one footstep taken by the person; and a signal processor coupled to the sensor to receive the output signal therefrom, the signal processor being configured to analyze the output signal of the sensor to determine at least one moment that a foot of the person leaves the surface during the at least one footstep. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A method for analyzing activity of a person in locomotion on foot on a surface, comprising steps of:
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(a) using a sensor to generate a signal in response to movement of the person when the person is in locomotion without exerting compression forces on the sensor to generate the signal; and (b) analyzing the signal to determine at least one of at least one foot contact time and at least one foot loft time of the person during at least one footstep taken by the person. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A device for analyzing activity of a person in locomotion on foot on a surface. comprising:
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(a) a sensor to be supported in relation to a foot of the person, the sensor being configured and arranged to provide a signal in response to movement of the foot during at least one footstep taken by the person without requiring compression forces thereon to generate the signal; and (b) a signal processor coupled to the sensor to receive the signal therefrom, the signal processor being configured to determine at least one of at least one foot contact time and at least one foot loft time of the person during at least one footstep taken by the person. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A method for analyzing activity of a person in locomotion on foot on a surface, comprising steps of:
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(a) mounting a sensor above a bottom surface of a foot of the person so that the sensor generates a signal in response to movement of the person when the person is in locomotion; and (b) analyzing the signal to determine at least one of at least one foot contact time and at least one foot loft time of the person during at least one footstep taken by the person. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. A device for analyzing activity of a person in locomotion on foot on a surface, comprising:
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(a) a sensor to be supported by the person above a bottom surface of a foot of the person, the sensor being configured to generate a signal in response to movement of the person when the person is in locomotion; and (b) a signal processor coupled to the sensor to receive the signal therefrom, the signal processor being configured to determine at least one of at least one foot contact time and at least one foot loft time of the person during at least one footstep taken by the person. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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Specification