METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ESTIMATING A MOTION PARAMETER

• US 20080214360A1
• Filed: 03/18/2008
• Published: 09/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Garmin Switzerland GmbH (Garmin Limited)
• Original Assignee: Garmin Limited
• Inventors: MacDonald, Paul R., Rooney, James K., Stirling, Ross G., Kulach, Christopher J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,827,000 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 482/9
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/10 Athletes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2505/09 Rehabilitation or training
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1038 Measuring plantar pressure during gait
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1112 Global tracking of patients, e.g. by using GPS
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1123 Discriminating type of movement, e.g. walking or running A61B5/1116, A61B5/112 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6807 Footwear
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6823 Trunk, e.g., chest, back, abdomen, hip
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/185 for gravity
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 22/006 Pedometers

Abstract

A system for estimating motion parameters corresponding to a user. The system may generally include a receiver operable to receive a signal from an external source, an inertial sensor operable to be coupled with the user and arbitrarily oriented relative to the direction of user motion for generation of a signal corresponding to user motion, and a processing system in communication with the receiver and inertial sensor. The processing system can be operable to utilize the receiver signal to estimate a first parameter corresponding to a first motion parameter type, utilize the inertial sensor signal to estimate a second parameter corresponding to a second motion parameter type, generate a user-specific motion model to correlate the first parameter type and second parameter type using at least the first and second estimated parameters, utilize the inertial sensor signal to estimate a third parameter corresponding to the second parameter type, and utilize the motion model and the third parameter to estimate a fourth parameter corresponding to the first parameter type independent of the receiver signal.

Claims

1. A system for estimating motion parameters corresponding to a user, the system comprising:

a receiver operable to receive a signal from an external source;

an inertial sensor operable to be coupled with the user and arbitrarily oriented relative to the direction of user motion for generation of a signal corresponding to user motion; and

a processing system in communication with the receiver and inertial sensor, the processing system operable to

at least once, utilize the receiver signal to estimate a first parameter corresponding to a first motion parameter type,

utilize the inertial sensor signal to estimate a second parameter corresponding to a second motion parameter type,

at least once, generate a user-specific motion model to correlate the first parameter type and second parameter type using at least the first and second estimated parameters,

utilize the inertial sensor signal to estimate a third parameter corresponding to the second parameter type, and

at least once, utilize the motion model and the third parameter to estimate a fourth parameter corresponding to the first parameter type independent of the receiver signal.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the receiver is operable to receive Global Position System (GPS) signals.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the receiver is operable to receive cellular network communication signals.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the receiver is operable to receive heart rate signals from a heart rate monitor worn by the user.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the inertial sensor includes at least one linear accelerometer.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the first parameter type is user speed, the second parameter type is user cadence, and the motion model is a cadence-to-speed model.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the first parameter is selected from the group consisting of user speed and user stride length and the second parameter is selected from the group consisting of user cadence and user stride duration.

8. The system of claim 1, further including a user interface in communication with the processing system and operable to present a visual indication of the fourth parameter.

9. The system of claim 1, further including a communications element operable to communicate with an exercise machine to provide the fourth parameter to the exercise machine for display and/or machine configuration.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further operable to utilize the receiver signal to estimate a fifth parameter corresponding to the first parameter type and merge the fourth parameter and the fifth parameter.

11. A system for estimating motion parameters corresponding to a user, the system comprising:

a Global Position System (GPS) receiver operable to receive GPS signals;

an inertial sensor operable for coupling with the user and including one or more linear accelerometers arbitrarily oriented relative to the direction of user motion for generation of a signal corresponding to user motion; and

a processing system in communication with the GPS receiver and inertial sensor, the processing system operable to

at least once, utilize the GPS receiver signals to estimate a first user speed parameter,

utilize the inertial sensor signal to estimate a first user cadence parameter,

at least once, generate a user-specific speed-to-cadence motion model to correlate user speed to user cadence using at least the estimated user speed and user cadence parameters,

utilize the inertial sensor signal to estimate a second user cadence parameter,

at least once, utilize the motion model and the second user cadence parameter to estimate a second user speed parameter independent of the GPS receiver signals.

12. The system of claim 11, further including a housing for housing the GPS receiver and the processing system.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the system further includes a cellular transceiver disposed within the housing to enable the processing system and transceiver to function as a cellular communications device.

14. The system of claim 11, further including a first housing for housing the inertial sensor and the processing system and a second housing for housing the GPS receiver, the first housing and the second housing being separate and the GPS receiver being operable for wireless communication with the processing system.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the inertial sensor is operable for attachment to the user on any portion of the user'"'"'s body.

16. The system of claim 11, further including a user interface in communication with the processing system and operable to present a visual indication of the second user speed parameter.

17. The system of claim 11, further including a communications element operable to communicate with an exercise machine to provide the second user speed parameter to the exercise machine for display and/or machine configuration.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the first parameter is selected from the group consisting of user speed and user stride length and the second parameter is selected from the group consisting of user cadence and user stride duration.

24. The method of claim 17, further including presenting a visual indication of the fourth parameter to the user.

25. The method of claim 17, further including communicating with an exercise machine to provide the fourth parameter to the exercise machine for display and/or machine configuration.

18. A method for estimating motion parameters corresponding to a user, the method comprising:

estimating a first motion parameter corresponding to a first motion parameter type utilizing a signal received from an external source;

estimating a second motion parameter corresponding to a second motion parameter type utilizing a signal generated by an inertial sensor coupled to the user and arbitrarily oriented relative to the direction of user motion;

generating a user-specific motion model to correlate the first parameter type and second parameter type using at least the first and second estimated parameters;

estimating a third motion parameter corresponding to the second motion parameter type using utilizing the signal generated by the inertial sensor; and

estimating a fourth parameter corresponding to the first parameter type using the motion model and the third motion parameter independent of the signal received from the external source.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the signals received from the external source are Global Position System (GPS) signals.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the signals received from the external source are cellular network communication signals.

21. The method of claim 18, further including utilizing the receiver signal to estimate a fifth parameter corresponding to the first parameter type and merging the fourth parameter and the fifth parameter.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the first parameter type is user speed, the second parameter type is user cadence, and the motion model is a cadence-to-speed model.