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Integrated system for boxing and martial arts-based group competitive training and method of use the same

  • US 9,931,539 B1
  • Filed: 03/14/2017
  • Issued: 04/03/2018
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2017
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. An integrated system for boxing and martial arts-based group competitive training comprising:

  • a. an electronic registry means that allows users of the system of the present invention to register as a user before the beginning of a training or competition session, the electronic registry means recognizes individual participants, assigns to each participant an impact receiver identified by an individual code and sends the user'"'"'s and impact receiver'"'"'s information to a local server'"'"'s scoring software for each particular training or competition session including a list comprising each user'"'"'s name, the impact receiver assigned to that user for the particular session, a user'"'"'s nickname, the user'"'"'s picture, the user'"'"'s gender, a user'"'"'s pre-determined skill level and a median of prior scores assigned to the user;

    b. one or more fixed impact receivers that receive the users'"'"' strikes, the impact receivers comprising a top portion and an impact portion, the fixed impact receivers being boxing and martial arts training devices such as punching bags and other devices capable of receiving strikes in a safe and ergonomic manner for the users, the fixed impact receivers being of different heights, thickness, and made with various impact-resistant materials, the impact receivers being positioned vertically with respect to the user, which positioning can be achieved by diverse means comprising hanging, fixed against a floor surface, sitting against the floor surface or attached to a wall, depending on the type of training or competition session taking place, each fixed impact receiver comprising a code to facilitate assignment to an identified user, each impact receiver being placed sufficiently apart from each other and in geometric configurations to allow users during group training or competition to safely strike them without interfering with each other while using the system;

    c. user'"'"'s body protective means comprising bandages, training gloves, shin guards and elbow guards to protect the areas of the user'"'"'s body that come in contact with the fixed impact receiver thus allowing the user to deliver the strikes safely;

    d. multiple Wi-Fi sensors, the Wi-Fi sensors being hardware devices that detect the impact receivers'"'"' movement, identify each user'"'"'s impact or strike, and emit an impact signal which is converted into an electronic impact file comprising information about each impact, the electronic impact file being then transmitted electronically to a local server through a Wi-Fi communication protocol, with each fixed impact receiver comprising at least one Wi-Fi Sensor positioned preferably on the top portion of the impact receiver in such a location as to not to receive direct strikes from the users, the Wi-Fi sensors further comprising;

    i. a housing encasing and engaging the Wi-Fi Sensor'"'"'s elements;

    ii. a source of electrical power;

    iii. a light emitting diode (LED) placed on the housing visibly to the users, the LED signaling to the users and trainers an off or on state of the Wi-Fi sensor, so if the LED is red, it indicates that a source of electrical power is low, if it is green, it indicates that the source of electrical power is charged, and if the LED is completely off, it indicates that the Wi-Fi sensor is off and is receiving no power, which, in the case of a battery power source, it might mean that the battery has no charge;

    e. a micro-controller comprising a signal management software, the micro-controller being connected to an accelerometer that is continuously emitting acceleration data, the micro-controller also being connected to the LED and it recognizes whether the Wi-Fi sensor is off or on, and the state and level of the source of electrical power;

    f. an accelerometer which is a hardware component connected to the micro-controller and to the source of electrical power, the accelerometer detects the Wi-Fi sensor'"'"'s movement with 6 degrees of freedom and transmits to the micro-controller continuous information about the Wi-Fi sensor'"'"'s movement so when a user strikes the impact receiver, the Wi-Fi sensor accelerates and the accelerometer detects the acceleration and the accelerometer then sends to the micro-controller Wi-Fi sensor'"'"'s real-time acceleration data measured at real-time intervals that the accelerometer gathers continuously;

    g. an in-house signal management software (SMS) designed specifically for the purposes stated in this application and installed in the micro-controller'"'"'s hardware, the SMS receives, interprets and manages the acceleration data the accelerometer detects and emits, the SMS also uses an algorithm to distinguish in real time whether the accelerometer'"'"'s data is due to a real user impact or to any other event such as impact receiver bouncing, swinging or any other pre-strike or post-strike movement not directly related to a user actual strike, while interpreting the information it receives from the accelerometer to detect the strikes the user makes onto the impact receiver, the SMS prepares an impact file, the impact file comprising data related to the strike such as a Wi-Fi Sensor'"'"'s code, a time of strike, a detected acceleration and a level of the source of power;

    h. a Wi-Fi Interface which a hardware component integrated within the micro-controller and which emits the impact files the SMS creates and sends them to the local server via a wireless Wi-Fi communication protocol;

    i. a power source circuit (PSC) which is a hardware component located inside the Wi-Fi Sensor'"'"'s housing and which is connected to the accelerometer and to the micro-controller thus providing electrical energy to both of them, the PSC also being connected to an external power source (EPS) which comprises an external battery in the invention'"'"'s preferred embodiment, the EPS provides energy to the PSC so, the EPS obtains energy from the PSC and provides that energy, as necessarily adapted, to the Wi-Fi sensor, the accelerometer and to the micro-controller;

    j. a USB external battery located outside and engaged to the Wi-Fi sensor'"'"'s housing, the USB external battery being a rechargeable battery that is connected to the Wi-Fi Sensor'"'"'s PSC via a USB cable so that the LED is red if the USB external battery is not charged and green when it is, the USB external battery being chargeable as often as necessary using a commercially available battery charger;

    k. a USB external battery charger which is a commercially available battery charger capable of being connected to an electricity source and of charging a single USB external battery or more than one simultaneously as required by the system'"'"'s use;

    l. a Wi-Fi receiver which is an independent hardware component that is connected to a local server via a network Ethernet cable, the Wi-Fi Receiver enables a Wi-Fi network that facilitates communication between the Wi-Fi Sensors, and the local server creating a local area network (LAN);

    m. a users'"'"' registry software which is an internet accessible software that allows the users to register before beginning training and/or competition and that uses the Internet to interface with a users'"'"' registry server which comprises a users'"'"' registry database so that upon registering, a user obtains an impact receiver number, from that point, until the user checks out, the user'"'"'s registry software assigns that impact receiver to that particular user which shows the impact receiver as “

    in use”

    in the users'"'"' registry server, the users'"'"' registry server warns a scoring software that is loaded in the local server that a particular user is training using a particular impact receiver and adds additional registration information about the user, the users'"'"' registry software being accessible from any terminal that is connected to the internet using a password or other available access security so that users can register into a training or competition session and reserve their impact receiver hours or days before the training or competition session starts thus preventing problems of impact receiver assignments which greatly improves the system'"'"'s service to the users;

    n. a users'"'"' registry server which is a hardware computer server connected through the internet to the local server and it hosts the users'"'"' registry software, the users'"'"' registry server also hosts the users'"'"' registry database and manages a competition application that connects all users wherein it produces inter-users'"'"' rankings, organization of users'"'"' tournaments, games and competition leagues, the users'"'"' registry database comprising the users'"'"' names, email addresses, telephone numbers, photos, nicknames, age, height, weight, gender, among other personal data, and users'"'"' profiles, the users'"'"' profiles further comprising data related to the users'"'"' training, number of impact receivers, reservations each user has made, and attendance to specific training sessions organized by date and time so that each user can access her profile in the users'"'"' database using a user name and password to modify the data therein;

    o. a competition application which is a software application that allows a single user to compete against herself, and to participate in team competition, league competition and all kinds of different competition based on a value point system which results directly from each users'"'"' performance while using the system of the present invention, an assignment of value points then allows the creation of diverse types of inter-user competition such as one-on-one, tournaments limited to a single session or a pre-programmed number of sessions or leagues where teams compete against each other over a pre-programed number of sessions or time, the competition application also creates users'"'"' rankings that can be organized by location and time the user'"'"'s ranking information also being available to each user via a user name and password so that the user can obtain ongoing evaluation of the comparative users'"'"' performance which, in turn, provides motivation to train and compete using the system of the present invention;

    p. a local server which is an internet connectable computer which is also connected via a network Ethernet cable to the Wi-Fi Receiver and via an HDMI cable to an image displaying means so that using the internet, the local server communicates with the users'"'"' registry software, a video server and to the users'"'"' registry server, the local server comprising the video software, video archives and the scoring software, the local server coordinates the overall performance of the system of the present invention via specific functions comprising;

    i. receiving the impact files that the Wi-Fi sensors send out;

    ii. sending the moves and strikes the users must imitate to the displaying means;

    iii. synchronizing time measuring means between a local server time, the Wi-Fi sensors, the scoring software and a video software;

    iv. assigning and relating points to each move and strike the users make and sending them to the displaying means together with each move and strike to which the point(s) correspond;

    v. sending to the points each user receives after a training or competition session to the users'"'"' registry server; and

    vi. managing (storing and displaying) training and competition routine videos;

    the local server also receives, stores and transmits information pertinent to the user'"'"'s vital signs and statistics comprising pulse, cardiac rhythm, VO2 consumption and calories spent, and integrates with commercially available hardware and software;

    q. a video software that opens and displays video images that are stored in the local server so that the system'"'"'s users and trainers can select a video(s) that displays pre-choreographed sequences of moves and strikes that are used for an exercise, particular training or competition session, the video software having been developed on a free software module and adapted to the needs of the system, the video software of the system of the present invention allows, among other features, selection of videos among a library of stored videos in the local server'"'"'s drive, creation of reproduction lists, and start of a video or list of videos and being able to play it in slow motion, pause it or end it at any desired point through the displaying means, the video software being connected to a video server that comprises video archives, so the user can download new available training or competition videos and store them in the local server'"'"'s drive;

    r. a set of video archives comprising a video catalog of the exercises to realize during a training or competition session, each video comprising a visual display of each pre-choreographed move and strike and a musical piece which rhythm the users must follow as they perform the moves or strikes, the video archives being downloaded from the video server and stored in the local server and remain there for a period of time the sessions'"'"' trainers determine so that periodically, new videos are added to the video archives catalog so the trainers can vary the strikes and moves and the accompanying musical pieces which keeps the training and competition sessions fresh and allow the trainers to design fresh strike and move sequences, and hence, fresh scoring patterns to keep the users motivated;

    s. an in-house scoring software that is installed into the local server which comprises an installed Linux system in order to operate the scoring software, the scoring software synchronizes the different elements needed to allow real time competition such as the video software, Wi-Fi sensors, local server and scoring software, assigns value points to each user based on the impact files it receives from the Wi-Fi sensors, calculates and produces users'"'"' points and displays them through the displaying means, allows the trainers to assign an impact receiver number to a Wi-Fi sensor code so the points are correlated, catalogued and assigned to a specific fixed impact receiver number and to a specific Wi-Fi Sensor and allows the trainers to configure the scoring system to manage and handle many different types of exercise pre-choreographed routines, scoring methods and training or competition sessions, the scoring software also comprises timing files whereupon the trainers create a timing file for each pre-choreographed sequence of moves and strikes represented in one exercise video archive so that for a particular exercise, there will be a timing file with a register of each move or strike proper timing, each exercise or pre-choreographed sequence may have diverse duration and number of moves or strikes, the timing files indicate the time after the beginning of the video (time

         0) when each strike or impact must occur, the scoring software then compares the times pre-set in the timing files with the time in the impact files allowing for a pre-programmed margin of error as defined by the trainers so that if a strike takes place within the pre-programmed margin of error assigned for a particular impact in the timing files, the user will then receive the maximum allowable number of points assigned to that impact;

    t. multiple timing devices incorporated into the Wi-Fi sensors, the video software, the scoring software and the local server thus allowing real-time comparison of the time files and the impact files the timing devices being synchronized through the local server scoring software so that the Wi-Fi sensors time synchronizes precisely with the local server time as soon as they are powered up using a network time protocol (NTP) in such a manner that when a new video exercise starts, the video software warns the scoring software that a new exercise has started and the scoring software starts up simultaneously and requests to the video software the current play time, thus creating a play time reference, with the scoring software using a local server time as a local server time reference that is already synchronized with the Wi-Fi sensors so at that precise moment the scoring software can coordinate time references for all the elements that comprise the synchronization such as a video software play time, local server time, scoring software timing files and impact files coming from Wi-Fi sensors all of which become synchronized thus providing proper real time competition;

    u. a minimum acceleration threshold the trainers create an establish for each move or strike in order for the impact received by the impact receiver to count as a valid impact so that an impact with a measured acceleration higher than the minimum acceleration threshold receives proportionally higher points, the acceleration thresholds being set based on gender, weight, height or other user'"'"'s parameters resulting in higher training and competition rewards assigned to users who exert themselves more by creating higher acceleration impacts;

    v. a displaying means which is an image receiving means capable of providing a clear visualization of the user'"'"'s moves and/or impacts by receiving an image and audio signal through an HDMI cable connected to the local server which in turn, server, through the video software, emits a video file comprising a particular move or strike in real time and through the scoring software also issues the points each user is accumulating according to the point scoring impacts the user is performing, the image shown by the displaying means comprising;

    i. a move or strike display zone located generally in the center of the displaying means which allows the user to appreciate exactly when to initiate a particular strike onto the impact receiver to the music'"'"'s rhythm and the proper execution of the move or strike;

    ii. a chronometer that shows the time remaining to complete an exercise; and

    iii. a point display zone located generally on each side of the displaying means where the points of each user are shown and that illustrates for each user the impact receiver number, the user'"'"'s nickname, the points accumulated, the user'"'"'s performance level and the user'"'"'s picture, with the points accumulated being upgraded in real time, so the user can know at all times during a session the state of her points, with the score software being responsible of upgrading the users points in the points display zone and of projecting the images in the display means; and

    x. one or more speakers connected to the displaying means allowing the users to hear the musical piece required to follow the proper rhythm while executing the choreographed sequence of moves and strikes.

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