US20150265903A1 - Social web interactive fitness training - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a social fitness and wellness website which teaches an individual fitness training exercises using video pod casts. The exercises teach proper use of gym equipment and home exercises requiring no special gym equipment. The website staffs certified physical trainers and dieticians who develop customized strength, conditioning and nutrition plans based on profile information provided by the individual. Goals are established and progress monitored by a variety of sensors body and/or gym mounted equipment. Optionally, a hand held smart computer device is used as a wireless interface to transmit the exercise data to the website.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE
• This application makes reference to, claims priority to, and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/852,968 filed Mar. 26, 2013 and entitled “Social Web Interactive Fitness Training.”
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
• The present invention relates generally to the fitness industry and more specifically to monitoring an individual's physical activities to capture real time wireless bio-mechanical sensor data for use in comparing actual body generated physiological performance with a customized fitness program. A cloud-based website dedicated to fitness and wellness programs runs an interactive application which wirelessly collects the data and provides algorithmic enhanced data feedback to the individual. A combination of body building muscle specific or groups of muscle specific training videos and nutritional dietary plans can be downloaded as can counseling by certified strength and conditioning specialists and dieticians from worldwide participating websites as it relates to the individual's customized fitness and wellness programs developed from profile data provided by the individual. The fitness website provides links to other website members as well as social networking websites as an added incentive to support the individual's efforts.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
• People worldwide increasingly aspire to a better life style by intelligent use of fitness training regimens. Many are frustrated with past attempts to lose weight through dieting and/or exercising plans. Essential to successful weight control is the teaching of lifetime good eating habits as a permanent replacement for poor eating habits. Often, proper motivation of an individual's self-esteem through interaction with social websites can provide a powerful incentive to maintain and/or improve the person's level of physical fitness. Unfortunately, too many people when left to their own devices are not very good at choosing and reinforcing good dietary habits. The scheduling of daily available time to devote to exercise can be undermined depending on a multitude of variables, examples being weather, travel time, gymnasium hours of operation and prime time use. Lapses in record keeping also plague attempts to control calorie intake of dieters. Poor or nonexistent record keeping can contribute to ineffective exercising such as under exercising, over exercising, and/or the wrong type or manner of exercising.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
• The present invention employs body worn and/or exercise equipment mounted inertial sensors incorporating MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) sensors as part of a highly miniaturized data acquisition system. The motion of any rigid moving object can be described by its six degrees of freedom (6-DOF). The translational elements are its position in 3-D space, the X, Y, Z location referenced to an arbitrary coordinate origin. The rotational elements are its orientation in 3-D space, roll, pitch and yaw angles, also referenced to the same arbitrary coordinate axes.
• The 6-DOF data is acquired via the use of ultra-miniature MEMS inertial sensors each incorporating three axes of an accelerometer to acquire the translational data, and three axes of gyroscope to acquire the rotational data. The signals generated by motion of the MEMS devices are controlled by a single Integrated Circuit (IC) which may be 4 mm×4 mm×0.8 mm in size.
• The accelerometer portion of the 6-DOF MEMS sensor outputs the instantaneous acceleration along each of the three axes. The acceleration data allows the determination of the force applied by the user. A mathematical integration yields the velocity, a 2^ndintegration yields the displacement, or change in X, Y, or Z from the starting position. In a similar fashion, the gyroscopic portion of the 6-DOF MEMS sensor outputs the angular velocity in terms of degrees per second of rotation around each of the three axes. An integration of the angular velocity yields the angular rotation over the integration period, yielding the instantaneous orientation in space of the X, Y, Z position. The aforementioned parameters represent all that can be known about the 3-D motion of any rigid body.
• The small size of the MEMS along with low power requirements allow the devices to be battery powered and body or exercise equipment mounted without affecting or inhibiting the natural body motion to be captured. The unit cost in some instances of the 6-DOF sensors has been reduced to the $10 range while providing high measurement accuracy.
• In the fitness and health field, the use of MEMS inertial body sensors integrated with a body carried device or integrated with a Bluetooth enabled smartphone is well known in the art as disclosed by way of example by InvenSense Inc., 1197 Borregas Ave, Sunnyvale, Ca. in U.S. Pat. No. 8,351,773.
• The present invention in one form uses a body mounted dongle module such as a wrist mounted dongle module to permit two way radio communication between gym equipment mounted sensors and a wireless remote virtual fitness website. The dongle module is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The dongle module has a transceiver circuit with antenna integral therewith to permit data packet reception of data collected by RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) sensor tags mounted on well known gym equipment devices such as, but not limited to machine weights, free weights, treadmills, rowing devices, bicycles, etc.. The dongle incorporates a MEMS 6-DOF sensor such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,689,378 which issued on Mar. 30, 2010 to Paul T. Kolen and presently assigned to CELLULAR C-Lan Singapore PTE, Ltd., with main offices located at 111 North Bridge Road, #16-04, Peninsula Plaza, Downtown Singapore, Singapore, 179098. The Kolen patent, U.S. Pat. No. 7,689,378, is herein incorporated by reference in total as part of this application's disclosure. The dongle module further incorporates a master cell which receives and controls data packet reception from the RFID sensor tags having the 6-DOF sensor. The use of a picoPAN master cell mounted on a body as contrasted with mounting on sport equipment is disclosed in abandoned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/098,394 (U.S. Publication No. 2008/0252445) to Kolen which disclosure is herein incorporated by reference in total.
• The person carried dongle module forms with the RFID sensor tags a C-LAN (Cellular Local Area Network) network.
• The sensor tags may be implemented in various configurations suitable for attachment to different types of gym equipment. Those skilled in the art may be expected to recognize that the principle design rule for such configurations is that the form does not interfere with the function of the equipment. An example of a form adjusted sensor tag is one placed in the interior of an exercise weight ball so as to be soft foam cushioned to absorb shock and yet allowing the tag to be easily retrievable for replacement of the battery or nonfunctioning RFID sensor tag.
• The dongle module besides forming part of a C-LAN system is part of a larger picoPAN network system. The dongle module incorporates a MIST operating system (MIST being an acronym for Magneto Inertial Sensing Technology) disclosed by the above referenced Kolen patent. The dongle module acts as a local picoPAN controller to coordinate the formation of the personal area network (PAN) of sensor tags and the data transfer between the wireless sensor tags within the network and the dongle module. The MIST operating system can optionally be configured to control an Inertial Magnetic Motion Capture (IMMCAP®) module which adds a tri-axial magnetometer as an additional MEMS sensor to the 6-DOF sensors disclosed in the Kolen patent U.S. Pat. No. 7,689,378 as part of the dongle module. In some instances the present invention invention simplifies the MIST protocol by not using as a MEMS sensor magnetometer.
• The user activates a RF signal identifier incorporated in the dongle module as a coded identification assigned the user upon joining the fitness website. The identifier generates a unique identification wireless signal when activated to correlate the exercise data being generated with the particular user profile history received and recorded at the fitness website.
• A variation of the dongle module adds Bluetooth® connectivity capability to the module to take advantage of smart computer devices, such as smartphones and tablets having built-in Bluetooth™ wireless interface features. Apple, Inc. has placed Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) support in their iOS 5 and 6 for the iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPad 3 and iPad Mini and iPod Touch 5^thGeneration. Other smartphones and tablets using Google Inc.'s Android or Android Jelly Bean operating system and having the requisite Bluetooth™ wireless interface and BLE support can also have wireless dongle module connectivity. Examples of an Android smartphone include Samsung, Inc.'s Galaxy S® III and LG Electronic Inc.'s Nexus™ 4, 7 and 10. Non-Apple tablets such as the Nexus 7 and Amazon, Inc's Kindle Fire™ HD can also support Bluetooth™ wireless and BLE connectivity. Yet other examples of a non-Apple tablet are the recently announced Microsoft. Inc.'s Surface® tablet featuring Windows® 8 Pro and the Sony Tablet S using an Android Honeycomb operating system.
• Another example of a smart computer device compatible with the dongle module is a touch screen laptop powered by Google? s Chrome™ operating system called the Chromebook Pixel™ with one version having both Wi-Fi and built-in LTE wireless technology using a Bluetooth® 3.0 protocol.
• Another example of smartphone operating systems compatible with the dongle module are the Blackberry (formerly known as Research In Motion, Inc) smartphones using theBlackberry® 10 operating system which is certified for the Bluetooth® 4.0 protocol. Yet another example of a smartphone system compatible with the dongle module is Microsoft, Inc.'s Windows Phone 8 operating system which uses theBluetooth® 4 protocol to support data transfer. The Nokia, Inc.'s flagship smartphone, theLumi® 920, also runs on Microsoft's Windows® Phone 8 operating system.
• A Russian company, Yoda Devices, produces a dual screen smartphone using a Google Android Jelly Bean operating system in conjunction with a Qualcomm 8960 platform with a main screen color LCD display on the front side and a black and white reader screen on the back side with a battery power saver feature which only uses power when an image is changed which is also compatible with the dongle module of the invention.
• The dongle module of the invention is also compatible with the Bluetooth® connectivity to smart laptops and smart flat screen HD televisions.
• Each Bluetooth® enabled dongle module of the invention also has specific apps which may be downloaded either from the fitness training website or an apps store to the above smart computer devices to ensure compatibility with the operating systems of the specific devices.
• The present invention is directed to an all inclusive fitness training website which provides to users real time access to virtual personal trainers who are certified strength and conditioning specialists. Additionally, the website provides access to certified dieticians who prepare nutritional dietary plans personalized based on the user's individual profile and goals. The purpose of the website is to assist the user in a regimen of physical training and conditioning and a weight control regimen personalized to meet exercise activity and weight control goals.
• The fitness website differs from previous fitness websites by presenting to the user on a web page a navigational tool in the form of an animated human like 3-D figure named an IMAGETRON™. This navigational tool serves as a chapter locator and/or a reference locator for specific exercise video podcasts. The term IMAGETRON is a proprietary trademark of JAWKU, LLC, a Delaware Company. Alphanumeric lettering or numbering is provided on the IMAGETRON™ figure at the location of various muscles and muscle groups. Alternately, other symbols such as a round flashing spot may be used at various muscle group locations. The user activates the particular alphanumeric designated body area of interest to pull up an exercise video podcast menu. To view dietary information and contacts, the user is prompted to click on the mouth of the IMAGETRON™ figure. The IMAGETRON™ figure can be rotated between a front and rear view to show the alphanumeric designation associated with a particular best view of a muscle or muscle group. The IMAGETRON™ figure serves as a gateway to an extensive teaching library of exercise videos in the form of short video podcasts featuring website trainers demonstrating workouts aimed at strengthening and conditioning a particular muscle or muscle group. The viewer is prompted to choose the particular exercise video or videos according to a physical health profile the viewer has provided upon registering as a fitness website visitor. The viewer can click on the alphanumeric number on the IMAGETRON™ figure associated with the mouth to receive dietary guidance prepared by the virtual certified nutritionists who have reviewed the viewer provided health profile. For example, non-meat diets are provided for a vegetarian viewer.
• The exercise library features the virtual trainers exercising with equipment typically present in health gyms. Also featured are podcasts of typical home exercises using popular home workout equipment such as stationary bikes, treadmills, weights, rowing devices, jump ropes, etc.. The podcasts also demonstrate a variety of home calisthenics exercises requiring little or no equipment such as dancing or yoga. Both audio and text instructions are provided to enhance the teaching technique of the video podcasts, a particular aid to deaf or visually handicapped users.
• The fitness training website is designed to actively interact with a viewer in real time by gathering viewer generated physiological data from the dongle module bio-mechanical sensors worn by the viewer or mounted on exercise equipment. This data is wirelessly sent to the remote fitness website for integration with the exerciser's performance profile history. The website has a web based application designed to accept bio-mechanical data generated by the body/device mounted wireless sensors. The application includes algorithms for any and all required analysis to extract the desired performance data from the compiled raw data in a useful form for feedback to the viewer.
• The website has embedded buttons known as “plugins” on at least one web page giving the viewer access to several popular social media websites. Examples of such social websites include, but are not limited to, Facebook®, Twitter®, Google+®, Digg®, LinkedIn® and Reddit®. In this manner, the fitness website gives the user the opportunity to interact and attract more viewers. The viewer benefits by receiving reinforcement and feedback from the circle of friends or contacts developed on such social websites. Additionally, a gift plugin is also on a plugin web page. This presents a marketing opportunity for the selling of website membership and various health and fitness related products as well as non-related products and supplements.
• Also provided in the embedded buttons web page is a larger prominent JAWKU social membership button exclusively for the viewer to contact other members of the website. This enhances the user's ability to interact with other website members as well as provide a feedback and reinforcement to the viewer in a social contact setting such as dating. Other examples of using social contact buttons would be for users forming weight reduction competitive teams with rewards, such as recognition, prizes, and/or discount coupons, being offered to the competitors. Other examples may include, but are not limited, to other competitions such as racing events like foot marathons, triathlons or cycling contests. In this manner cross competition with rival social interne fitness websites may be encouraged and promoted to attract a wider website following.
• A potential marketing opportunity for such weight reduction competitions would be a prize, as an example, of free 30 day preplanned and home delivered food packages marketed on television by well known industry weight loss leaders.
• A potential marketing opportunity for cross competition would be a realty based television series pitting one website's team of followers and the training regime employed against a rival website's team with various brand name gyms and gym equipment being featured.
• The fitness training website has proprietary memory banks which contain user provided health history profiles including the collection of ongoing fitness data. This provides a unique opportunity for many “data mining” business opportunities. An example is the collection of a user's zip code, sometimes based on knowledge of the potential buyer's “IP Address”. The zip code data may be used to offer different prices for the same product being offered at the online website by vendors based on knowledge of how far a user's location is from a rival commercial outlet offering the same or similar product. Staples.com, Homedepot.com and Rosettastone.com are examples, reported by the Wall Street Journal, of companies engaged in such zip code based pricing tactics. Another example of data mining is the gathering of browser history from third party “cookies”.
• The power of data mining can also be applied to the choice of presenting product price lines geared to the user's profile history to gain an advantage in guiding the consumer given the limited time and attention a consumer may allocate to the pricing of a desired product or service.
• The concept of “dynamic pricing” may also be applied based on data mining of discount pricing practices of competitors in a rapidly changing demand driven market.
• Data mining based on whether the customer is using a search engine or a social media link can also be effectively employed to influence the level of discount being offered for products or services offered by the fitness website.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• Further features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of the present invention, taken in conjunction with the following drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which:
• FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an interactive wireless web exercise monitoring system according to one embodiment of the invention having a C-LAN/picoPAN motion sensor system.
• FIG. 2 is an example of operation of the master controller dongle module for the wireless sensing network ofFIG. 1.
• FIG. 3 is a an example of operation of a RFID motion sensor tag associated with the operation of the master controller dongle module inFIG. 2 and the wireless sensing network inFIG. 1.
• FIG. 4 is a representative table of smart computer devices known to have Bluetooth® interface connectivity circuitry compatible with the system ofFIG. 1.
• FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an interactive wireless web based exercise monitoring system according to another embodiment of the invention having a separate exercise sensor monitoring a variable human physiological parameter mounted adjacent to or integrated with a Bluetooth® enabled master controller dongle module also mounted on the person.
• FIG. 6 is a master controller dongle module embodiment ofFIG. 5 having an integrated blood pressure/pulse oximeter sensor for mounting on a wristband.
• FIGS. 6A and 6B are views of a viewing screen of a blood pressure/pulse oximeter sensor ofFIG. 6 withFIG. 6A showing the sensor disconnected from its wrist band andFIG. 6B showing the sensor mounted on a representative wrist band.
• FIG. 7 is another embodiment of a master controller dongle module having a range extender dual transceiver for use with an ambient C-LAN network or a smart computer device.
• FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of yet another embodiment of the invention showing the interaction between a person and specific forms of weight equipment having picoPan weight sensor tags mounted on free weights or weight variable machines to identify the weight(s) being lifted in conjunction with a 6-DOF MEMS type RFID sensor tag.
• FIG. 8A is a schematic diagram of a variation of theFIG. 8 weight machine embodiment of the invention showing the interaction between a person and a weight variable machine using picoPAN weight sensor tags in conjunction with a 2-DOF MEMS type RFID sensor tag.
• FIG. 8B is schematic diagram of a variation of theFIG. 8A embodiment.
• FIG. 9 is another embodiment showing a schematic of a “Centroid Location” network geometry of overlapping RF area coverage of a C-LAN slave cell network under the control of a fixed master cell unit.
• FIG. 10 is another embodiment showing a schematic of a “Segmented Cluster” network geometry of extended RF area coverage of a C-LAN slave cell network under control of a fixed master cell unit.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
• In one form shown inFIG. 1, the present invention relates generally to the gathering of exercise data and to the wireless transfer of such data through the interne to a remote fitness website through the interaction of a picoPAN sensor network with a data gathering cellular local area network (C-LAN) operating at lower radio wavelengths in a defined area which can be a beach or park or a weather protected outside area such as a tent or pavilion and/or an indoor gymnasium.
• The defined area can also be the human body with at least one mounted sensor. The picoPAN sensor system may use motion sensors which are body mounted or sensors which are exercise equipment mounted or a combination of both.
• FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of asystem100 for gathering of motion data by deploying a network ofRDIF sensor tags2 located in a defined area. The straight double arrows shown in the figures indicated two way wireless signal transmission.Sensor tags2 are affixed to a variety of well known in the art dynamic or static gym equipment collectively identified as10, such as by way of example, tread machines, bicycles, cross cycles, recumbent cycles, leg presses, arm press type machines, resistance apparatus, elliptical machines, treadmills, rowing machines, free weights (such as dumbbells, barbells, kettle bars, curls) and weight lifting machines.
• The system ofFIG. 1 has the flexibility to be adapted to and integrated with specially designed training machines used to condition specific muscle groups considered crucial by elite athletes engaged in highly competitive major sports. Baseball players, for example, strive to condition and stretch crucial muscle groups around the shoulder blades, pelvis and hip joints using such machines rather than relying simply on calisthenics. An example of such a specially designed machine is the “High Pulley” machine manufactured by World Wing Enterprise, a Japanese company that researches and develops advanced training concepts designed to lengthen and loosen muscles while attaining greater flexibility and range of motion rather than shortening and tightening muscles by traditional weightlifting exercises.
• Sensor tags2 are tailored to physical forms not interfering with the functions of a wide variety of gym exercise equipment being demonstrated in video pods presented by the fitness website8. Various well known means of attachment of the sensor tags2, such as by way of example, magnetic or adhesive backing may be used. Attachment of the sensors tags may, for example, take the form of pocket holders or other mechanical attachment devices affixed to a gym equipment with thesensor tags2 inside thereof.
• In system100 a body mounteddongle module3 performs two basic functions. Thedongle module3 acts as a local picoPAN controller to coordinate the formation of the personal area network (PAN) and data transfer betweenwireless sensor tags2 within the network and thedongle module3 proper. Thedongle module3 coordinates the data transfer and control between thewireless sensor tags2 and the dongle module proper. A bi-directional digitally encrypted RF data link transfers data between thesensor tags2 and themaster dongle module3.
• Thedongle module3 is worn by anindividual4 and is designed to be belt, arm, wrist or pocket mounted. Activation of the dongle module wakens the sensor tag ortags2 of the particular machine or weight being exercised to change from a passive low battery power state to an active state which identifies itself and wirelessly communicates raw exercise data to thedongle module3 over a short range of about 1.5 to 2 meters. Received data is stored in aflash memory55 of themaster control dongle3 shown inFIG. 2. The user can elect to transfer the data to a nearby smart computer device20 (shown inFIG. 1) such as a smartphone which acts as a communication modem with the remote fitness website8.
• Thedongle module3 ofFIG. 1 acts as a master controller for the C-LAN/picoPAN data gathering operation. Themaster dongle3 and thesensor tags2 have in their housings both hardware and firmware enabling operation on either or both ISM bands on 2.5 GHz or 915 MHz frequencies. The C-LAN enabledsensor tag2 data received by thedongle module3 is in real time sent by long range RF data transfer via the internet to the website8. Once received, the raw sensor tag data is processed to produce algorithmic enhanced bio-mechanical data. Some raw processing of motion data may also be done by the dongle module's microprocessor. As many activated master dongle modules may be in use simultaneously in a crowded gym environment, it is necessary to provide each master dongle module with a unique identification frequency code. Such code is assigned to each user's training website account.
• The invention utilizes well known in the art operating system types for control and coordination of the C-LAN/picoPAN data gathering operation. An example of one such operating system is the MIST type operating system disclosed in Kolen patent U.S. Pat. No. 7,689,378 and Kolen US Pub. No. 2008/0252445. The transmission of such data is preferred, though not required to be in real time.
• As shown inFIG. 2, thedongle module3, acting as a master controller, incorporates amicroprocessor5 to collect data wirelessly from each sensor tag and store such for subsequent data processing operations such as data storage and packet formation. Aflash memory55 for temporary data storage may be used with the micro-processor5. A circular memory (not shown) may also be integrated with theflash memory55. Either flexible or rigid circuit boards may be used with the module components potted and being encased in a protective foam material which acts as a mechanical low pass filter to protect against dropping on hard surfaces. These circuit boards may be greatly miniaturized by 3-D printing.
• Thedongle module3 incorporates, as an interface, Bluetooth® transceiver circuitry6 to wirelessly relay the processed exercise data through theinternet cloud7 to a remote cloud based server application, such as fitness website8, and receive data there from. The Bluetooth® interface allows the use of anysmart computer device20 having programmed apps specific to thesmart computer device20's platform.
• The smart computer device may be a smartphone, laptop, tablet, etc. to provide long range data transport via any Wi-Fi or cellular provider to the website8. Some program apps are downloaded on line to the smart computer device to complement preloadedprogram apps23 in thedongle module3. Thetransceiver circuitry6 allows wireless digital communication to and from each of the RFID sensor tags2. Thedongle module3 may optionally include MEMS sensor(s)19 for obtaining data generated by an activity of the person, such as calisthenics or aerobic exercise motion. These motions may be independent of the motions being sensed by the sensor tagsMEMS sensors28.
• EachMEMS sensor19 generates an analog voltage which must be amplified, filtered and offset corrected under the control of themicroprocessor5 by ADC, DCA, analog signal processing (not shown) contained in the dongle module. A DC-DC voltage converter and regulator (not shown) provide the stable power supply voltages needed by the analog and digital elements of the mastercontroller dongle module3 frombattery26.
• Another component of thedongle module3 is Bluetooth® enabledcircuitry22 capable of wireless data transfer using, for example, Bluetooth® 4.0 protocol or higher complemented by BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) technology. Appropriate programmedcontrol applications24 permit hardware and software protocols in thesensor tags2 to be sequentially scanned once turned on as is the case if sensor(s)19 is present. A turned onsensor tag2 is programmed to initiate a search for a turned on master controller dongle module by emitting a search beacon at a default RF frequency. Thesensor tag2 is program timed to place itself in a power sleep mode when such mastercontroller dongle module3 is not found.
• This default RF channel is also used to acknowledge and assign to a new or replacementRFID sensor tag2 the information required for network integration. Thedongle module3 sends out configuration data to eachsensor tag2. Once thenew sensor tag2 acknowledges receipt of the configuration data, thenew sensor tag2 becomes admitted and integrated into thenetwork100. A new RF channel is assigned to the newly admittedsensor tag2 for subsequent wireless communication with the master controller dongle module at a given time slot. As a power source, a rechargeablelithium ion battery26, such as a lithium polymer type battery, is contained within thedongle module3.
• An on/off control, such asbutton27 which may be a flexible membrane, controls power to the circuitry contained in thedongle module3. The pressing of one button permits the user to activate the dongle module without being distracted by having to make eye contact.
• TheRFID sensor tags2 are mounted to various free weights used in the gym. In normal mode thesensor tags2 are in low power sleep mode to extend battery life. When the weight is picked up, a miniature motion sensor will bring the RFID sensor tag out of sleep and allow the RFID sensor tag to send a picoPAN data packet to thedongle module3 to announce it is active and who it is, for example a 40 lb dumbbell. Once this data packet is sent, the sensor tag immediately goes back to sleep mode.
• When the RFID data packet is picked up by the user's dongle module, an audio beep is generated via anacoustic transducer25 requiring the user to again press thebutton27 which begins the data acquisition process. In this manner the user acknowledges the start of the exercise. If another adjacent exerciser wearing a dongle module also picks up the RFID data packet, this adjacent exerciser simply refrains from hitting the button of the dongle module worn by the adjacent exerciser to avoid the double button activation click. This is an important feature if there are multiple users in close proximity, not uncommon in gymnasiums at peak hours.
• The MIST protocol operating system previously identified controls the above master controller dongle module components and other functions such as memory storage, battery status and proper functioning of electrical components. The MIST protocol assures synchronous backhaul so as to preclude self-induced data packet collisions.Programmed control applications24 control the operation of the MIST protocol. Thedongle module3 has a RFidentifier signal unit79 therein to identify the user by the coded frequency wave length assigned the user by the website. This signal is paired with the data packets being sent the website so that the data packets are associated with the correct user profile.
• Appropriate firmware17 is integrated with the master dongle module's circuitry. An example of such firmware use would be to smooth out the effects of shock and vibration to which the dongle module maybe subjected during certain exercises.Firmware17 also may incorporate compensation circuitry (not shown) for temperature induced errors to improve the accuracy of the MEMS sensor(s)19. Also, calibration circuitry (not shown) used primarily for periodic gyroscope adjustments of MEMS sensors is integrated within the firmware.
• Details of theRFID sensor tag2 are shown inFIG. 3. TheRFID sensor tag2 has contained therein amotion detecting sensor28 such as one of the MEMS type 6-DOF sensor or 9-DOF sensor. Each of the sensor tags operate under direct control of adedicated microprocessor29. Each of the MEMS sensors generates an analog voltage that must be amplified, filtered, and offset corrected under the control of themicroprocessor29 via ADC, DAC, and analog signal processing contained within the sensor tag housing. Themicroprocessor29 also formats the data stream generated by the MEMS sensors for transmission via a dedicated radio frequency (RF) digital data link. A DC-DC converter and voltage regulator provide the stable power supply voltages needed by the analog and elements of the sensor tag frombattery38. On some equipment, a simpler 2-DOF sensor may be used, as for example, where only two directional movement of a variable weight carriage of a weight exercise machine is being sensed. Appropriate programmedcontrol logic applications31 are integrated with amicroprocessor29 as part of eachsensor tag2.
• The programmedcontrol applications31 control the operation of the MIST protocol. Optionally,microprocessor29 can be a data processor having a memory for mass data storage, such as a flash memory for temporarily holding raw motion data and microprocessor refined data. A buffer memory such as a circular memory (not shown) may also be integrated with the flash memory. Thesensor tag2 incorporates an analog motion data converter to digital data form for RF data transmission. A Bluetooth® transceiver circuit30 is integrated in theRFID sensor tag2. This circuit permits two way wireless communications with thedongle module3 via Bluetooth® enabledcircuitry36 in the sensor tag and the dongleBluetooth® circuitry22. A bi-directional digitally encrypted RF data link is established between the sensor tags and the mastercontroller dongle module3.Circuitry36 uses, for example, Bluetooth® 4.0 protocol or higher with BLE. A power source in the form of a replaceablelong life battery38, such as a lithium ion or lithium polymer battery, supplies power to the components of thetag sensor2. The MIST operating system previously identified controls the above components of the RFID sensor tag as well as other functions such as a sleep mode for power conservation and data memory storage. Thesensor tag2 compensates for temperature induced errors by having an internal temperature measuring circuit (not shown) integrated infirmware12. Calibration circuitry (not shown) is integrated into thefirmware12 for periodic adjustment of theMEMS gyroscope sensors28.
• Dongle module3 maybe incorporated in a wristband with a data display face shown inFIGS. 6A and 6B having a led readout of data such as pulse rate or calories burned based on the total workout recorded inmemory55. This total may be either per exercise set or a cumulative daily total. Other features may include time of day.
• To reduce overall weight and thickness of the dongle data display portion of the dongle, the display may incorporate an “electronic-ink” interface using energy saving display technology used for example in the original Kindle® e-reader. This type display is particular favored for bright light conditions. An example of an electronic-ink interface is a wrist band watch developed by Central Standard Timing of Chicago, Ill. and marketed as the CST-01.
• In the system shown inFIG. 1, asmart computer device20 such as a local computer which can be either a hard wired or wireless computer is used to access thecloud7. Preferably, this computer could be any smart computer device having built in Bluetooth® interface connectivity with thecloud7. A Wi-Fi or cellular data network based computer may also be used.
• As shown inFIG. 4,smart computer device20 may take many forms. In one favored form, the computer is asmartphone60 ortablet62 oriPod Touch 5^thGeneration® 64 such as those identified in the Summary of the Invention. The primary requirement for thesmart computer device20 is that it can support data transmission by having a built in Bluetooth® enabled protocol such as Bluetooth® 4.0 and BLE. Similarly, asmart laptop66 having built-in Bluetooth protocols, such asBluetooth 3 or 4 or smart HDflat panel television68 may be used as thesmart computer device20 ofFIG. 1. Use of asmart computer device20 permits apps to be transmitted for various purposes, as for example to adjust various dongle module parameters for calibration purposes.
• Various methods of integration of sensor data can be used by the operating system of the website8. One method uses a REST service which relies on continually polling for data and uses a JSON format for data. Another method uses a queue containing data messages in a JSON format for events occurring in the operating system of the website. This data uploaded to website8 is stored inmemory15 as anexercise history18 and made part of an overall interactive updateduser profile history16. The history profile is available to a certifiedpersonal trainer52 and acertified nutritionist53 previously selected by theuser4 at the fitness website8. The trainer has the constantly updating history profile as a tool to effectively interact with the user as a virtual instructor who interprets the exercise data in a useable data form to provide feedback to theuser4 on how best to improve the performance of the particular exercise being attempted.
• The website8, by maintaining for each user an exercise data history, provides a grading tool for any trainer who may be assigned to mentor the user in adjustments to the assigned exercise regime. This grading tool may be used as a measure of the effectiveness of the trainer or spotlight the need for an improved exercise video pod cast. The exercise adjustments may be, for example, to increase or decrease the pace or repetitions of certain exercises or to add or delete certain exercises or to respond to a reported change in the health status of the user.
• The nutritionist is guided by theuser profile history16 previously provided to offer suitable customized daily or weekly dietary plans taking into account estimated calories burned based on the exercise data provided. The website8 maintains in memory for each user adietary data history21. This dietary history can be useful particularly to a user trying to reduce weight. The dietary history also is valuable to the medical community, as for example, in developing a more accurate medical profile of the exerciser.
• The certified nutritionist's goal is to develop a customized dietary plan which seeks to balance metabolic rate and calorie burn with prevention of lean body mass loss. The physical trainer complements the nutritionist by providing guidance to increase the lean body muscle mass which in turn allows the dieter to increase calorie burn. An individual when dieting loses weight causing the body's basal metabolic rate (BMR) to be lowered. The nutritionist takes into account such factors as age, gender, weight, height, level of physical fitness, and genetic history in determining the BMR for a customized dietary plan. Also factored in are known physical handicaps, medical conditions, such as being a diabetic or having food allergies.
• Web basedprogram applications32 are designed to accept the data generated by theRFID sensor tags2 and optionally sensor(s)19.Program applications32 includealgorithms34 for any and all required analysis to extract desired performance data from raw sensor data via any of the supported methods.Programmed applications32 incorporate bio-mechanical parameters such as but not limited to details of types ofgymnasium equipment10 being used, the exerciser's body segment lengths, weight, height, age, gender, physical condition rating, physical handicaps and medical conditions.
• The programmedapplications32 fuse the relevant data from the personalized personalprofile history memory16 with the 6-DOF sensor tag data to permit accurate analysis of performance as determined by the nature of the exercise goals residing in the memory ofexercise history18. The programmedapplications32 execute calorie burn computations based on factors such as the level, duration and intensity of the exercise workout thereby providing an individual exercise burn rate and a total daily exercise burn rate.Algorithms34 are employed to continually calculate and update reliable estimates of calorie intake and calorie burn. This permits adjustments in the dietary plan given the website user. In this manner, the nutritionist is provided with an ongoing and continually updated user profile where many important factors such as age, weight and rate of metabolism are integrated for each user in the design of these algorithms as a basis for dietary planning and adjustment. Such a recommended adjustment could be “no cake tonight”.
• The individual4 may access the exercisevideo pod library50 through the IMAGETRON™navigational tool48.
• The programmedapplications32 are designed to provide interactive streaming of data between the training website8 and theindividual4.Programmed applications32 are also uniquely designed to be compatible with the training website8's operating system supporting the website. The double arrows shown within the website8 ofFIG. 1 indicate two way data communication which may be wired or wireless. Worldwide servers may thus participate with the website8 opening the door for remote viewing of and sharing of associated exercise video pods originating or residing in remote/foreign websites.
• Likewise, worldwide servers may also participate with the website8 in providing a wireless link to participating worldwide virtual mentor trainer and nutritionist websites. New and fresh exercises, for example in yoga, dancing, pilates, cross training, plyometrics and water based gymnastics may thus be introduced to prevent stale content.
• The participation of other fitness websites in providing exercise video pods allows the inexpensive sharing of such which introduces new and fresh exercises/tutors to retain audience interest in seeing new techniques/equipment, a benefit to both websites.
• This worldwide communication sharing feature opens the well being and fitness benefits of the present invention to all nations of the world. The website8 can be the basis for a master template model suitable for franchising worldwide. The template would feature modifications to take into account the local customs and cultural preferences concerning exercises and diet of differing ethnic traditions presented as a best practices model.
• The exercise data gathering system ofFIG. 1 is based on gym equipment mounted RFID sensor tags forming a network in combination with mobile 6-DOF body mounted sensor merged with a master controller dongle module. The highly accurate sensor tags provide advantages of scale as few as one sensor tag is needed per machine to service sequentially multiple gym patrons. Activation of the master controllerdongle module button27 activates the particular gym equipment tag sensor which provides a short range radio frequency signal identifying the type of equipment being used. Specific exercise movement data tied to specific gym equipment is thus uploaded to the master controller dongle module. The master controller dongle module merges this data with a unique personal identification signal assigned to a particular dongle module to identify the user. The master controller dongle module in turn uploads the data generated and assigned to a particular user to a web server in the gym.
• Alternatively, the master controller dongle transfers the exercise data to a nearby smart Bluetooth enabledcomputer device20, such as one of the ones listed in the table ofFIG. 4.
• Also, it is possible for the user to use the dongle module memory capability and later upload the exercise data using for example a user's home computer.
• The master controller dongle module automatically identifies what exercise is being done, what piece of equipment is being used and routes the data using asmart computer device20 to the website8's database for analysis and archiving. The smart computer device uploads wirelessly the data collected using the cloud to communicate with the remote training website. Great advantages in cost are thus derived using the C-LAN/picoPAN network operating under the MIST protocol. Installation costs are minimal and expensive hard wiring of components is not needed. Further, advantages of streaming two-way communication using the visual screen/display capabilities of a smart computer device are generated. The website8 has through the smart computer device the ability to download specific exercise video pods using the training website's IMAGETRON™ navigational tool.
• A modification of thesystem100 ofFIG. 1 is shown inFIG. 5. An interactive web basedexercise monitoring system200 in one simplified form does away with the RFID sensor tag system which used a C-LAN/picoPan network under MIST protocol for a defined area. Mist protocol control is also eliminated. Instead, a single wrist band mounted module serves as a stand alone mastercontroller dongle module70 which is integrated with abody parameter sensor80. Optionally, more than one body parameter sensor (not shown) may be mounted onbody4 separately from theintegrated dongle module70 which sensor can be in wireless communication with the Bluetooth® enabledsmart computer device20. InFIG. 5, like numerals have been used to depict like components with thesystem100 ofFIG. 1. Thesystem200 differs from theFIG. 1system100 in that it relies on sensing the changes in one or more human body physiological parameters.Sensor80 in one form is a heart monitor measuring changes in blood pressure and/or the rate of blood pulsations and intensity corresponding to each heart beat of thebody4. In one form,sensor80 functions to take systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings. The data generated by these readings is uploaded through asmart computer device20 and in a manner similar to the system ofFIG. 1 can be wirelessly transmitted through theinternet cloud7 to fitness website8. Special algorithms at the website interpret heart data collected to monitor the exercise progress of theperson4. Accurate calorie burn is obtained in this manner. Workout intensity and duration are among other data determined from such heart monitoring. Optionally, a MEMS 6-DOF sensor19 like that used inFIG. 2 may also be incorporated in thedongle module70 in addition tosensor80 sensing human body heart physiological parameters. Thesystem200 may be used indoors or outdoors and can be employed anywhere the user chooses via access to a smart computer device.
• FIG. 6 depicts the components of the mastercontroller dongle module70. Amicroprocessor71 receives data from an integrated blood pressure/pulse oximeter sensor80 and stores such data for subsequent data processing and operations such as data storage and data packet formation. Aflash memory72 for temporary data storage may be used with the micro-processor71. Other memory devices such as a circular memory (not shown) may optionally be integrated with theflash memory72. Thedongle module70 integrates Bluetooth® transceiver circuitry73 to wirelessly relay the processed heart data to asmart computer device20 for further wireless relay through theinternet cloud7 to the training web site8.Transceiver circuitry73 also receives downloaded data from the web site. Such download data may be calibration data for various dongle or sensor components. Another component of the module is Bluetooth® enabledcircuitry74 using an appropriate Bluetooth® protocol, such as 4.0 and BLE to wirelessly transfer streaming data packets to thesmart computer device20 which may be a Bluetooth® enabled smartphone.Programmed control apps75 are integrated with thedongle module70 to ensure compatibility with the operating system of the particularsmart computer device20 being used. A rechargeablelithium ion battery76 provides power for thedongle module70. Abutton77 which may be of a flexible membrane type located on the side or top of the dongle is used to turn on the circuitry in the dongle. Any one of the smart computer devices identified inFIG. 4 may be used with the200 system. Thedongle70 further incorporates asensor80 which preferably combines a blood pressure sensor with a pulse oximeter sensor.
• Thedongle70 also has incorporated an RFidentifier signal sender79 for sending a frequency specific to a unique identification code assigned the user by the website8.
• Sensor80 may in other forms measure various physiological parameters either singly or in combination. These include but are not limited to detectors of heart rate, pulse rate, breathing rate, blood flow, VO₂, VO₂Max, heartbeat signatures and blood pH levels.
• FIG. 6A is a view of thesensor80 ofFIG. 6 in anencasing module81 in wrist band watch form withtabs82 for a removable wrist strap not shown. A pulse rate is shown as “80”. The time may also be shown in adisplay screen83 associated with the encasing module along with the pulse rate or separately as shown inFIG. 6B. The wrist band is formed of a snugly fitting material such as silicone as some tightness is essential to a good sensor reading fromsensor80.Control buttons84, which may be flexible membranes, permit displaying the time or particular sensor reading or combination thereof as is well known in the art.
• FIG. 7 depicts a further modification of a wrist band mounted mastercontrol dongle module3 used with thesystem100 ofFIG. 1. In place of themodule3 is a rangeextender dongle module90. By the term “range extender” is meant theextender dongle module90 provides a dual uploading capability for the situation where a server is not available. The rangeextender dongle module90 incorporates adual transceiver capability91. The 1^sttransceiver92 of thedual transceiver91 operates on a 2.5 GHz or 915 MHz band to interface with the local picoPan 6-DOF sensor tags2 and provide long range exercise data packet transfer to the ambient C-LAN network.
• Asecond transceiver93 of thedual transceiver91 operates on a 2.5 GHz band and provides a generic interface to any Bluetooth enabled smart computer device such as a smartphone having a Bluetooth protocol circuitry, such as 4.0 operating on a BLE battery power source. The smart computer device runs an apps program obtained from the website8 or an apps store wherein the app is compatible with the operating platform of the particular smart computer device.
• The range extender dongle module is used to gather and transmit exercise data from a fixed picoPan RFID sensor tag system and/or from a body mountedsensor80 such as that ofFIGS. 5-6 which gathers heart exercise related data, such as blood pressure and/or other human body physiological parameters. The rangeextender dongle module90 functions the same as thesensor dongle module3 when using the 1^sttransceiver92 to receive and transmit data generated by the RFID sensor tags2. The primary reason for providing range extender dongle module with the 2^ndtransceiver93 is to transmit motion exercise data outside of the environment of the RFID sensor tag picoPan system and functions the same asmaster controller dongle70 as a stand alone dongle. A user who travels widely has the option of exercising with gymnasium equipment not having any RFID sensor tags. The user would follow a predetermined exercise program and merely report daily that the exercises were performed. The website would enter this into the user's profile history using an average of the last five sessions recorded when using a RFID sensor tag system.
• Range extender dongle90 has 6-DOF sensors19 to collect data generated by aerobic and calisthenics exercises in addition to the data generated by thesensor80. This dual transceiver system enables the range extender master control dongle module to operate outside of an “ambient” C-LAN network by wirelessly accessing one of thesmart computer devices20 as the interface with the website program application. The rangeextender dongle module90 is purely passive in operation allowing it to be attached as a belt clip or put in a pocket or carried on a wrist band. It incorporates asingle button94 to initiate operation.Dongle90 has incorporated therein an auto-shutdown circuit95 which is activated automatically if no RF (radio frequency) activity is detected either from the body carriedsensors19 or the fixed place RFID sensor tags2. This auto shut down occurs over a predetermined time period to conserve battery charge. In the situation where the gymnasium server is malfunctioning, the range extendermaster control dongle90 can be used in effect as the server to communicate through a smart computer device with the website8.
• As shown inFIG. 7, major components of the rangeextender dongle module90 include amicroprocessor96 which has integrated therewith aflash memory55, anoperation button94, an auto-shut circuit95, adual transceiver91 having 1^sttransceiver92 for interfacing with an “ambient” C-LAN/picoPan network and a 2^ndtransceiver93 for interfacing with a smart computer device and a long life rechargeable Li-ion battery26. Rangeextender dongle module90 includes Bluetooth® transceiver circuitry6 for thedual transceiver91, Bluetooth® Protocol 4.0circuitry22 having BLE, programmedapps24 including MIST protocol controls, a RFidentifier signal sender79, programmedapps23 specific to thesmart computer device20's platform, a blood pressure/pulse oximeter sensor80 as disclosed in thedongle70 ofFIG. 6,firmware17, and anacoustic transducer25.
• FIG. 8 depicts aperson4 wearing a pocket clip to mount range extender mastercontroller dongle module90 while exercising with free weights and variable weight machines. Free weights come in many forms such as barbells, dumbbells, Olympic barbells, kettle bars, curls and weight balls. Some are fixed in terms of weight load and others, such as Olympic barbells, provide for adding or subtracting weights. Some are designed to use heavier replacement weight plates. Asensor tag2, not shown, is magnetically or adhesively affixed in arecess307 or other protected area of adumbbell weight plate306. The recess protects the sensor tag from abutting weight plates.Sensor tag2 may also be attached to the inside surface of thedumbbell weight plate306 of a fixed weight plate. This position minimizes potential damage to the sensor tag caused by the normal use of the dumbbell.Dongle3 may be used in place ofdongle90.
• Another example of a safe location for thesensor tag2 is arecess308 formed in thehandle bar309. This location allows the handle bar itself to be the free weight being lifted.
• Each dumbbell weight plate has a 6-DOF sensor tag2 with a unique RFID so as to associate the dumbbell weight with the individual weightlifter. The dumbbell sensor tag is activated from its sleep mode once motion is detected. The 6-DOF sensor tag captures motion data which is stored in the flash memory of itsmicroprocessor29 until requested to upload the data either automatically or by user request. The data is then transmitted to rangeextender dongle module90. Although a pocket clip on module is shown, it is to be understood that other body areas such as an arm or wrist may be used to mount the dongle module. Therange extender dongle90 wirelessly transmits the collected and collated free weight motion data from the picoPAN interface to an “ambient” C-LAN network located in the gym. This network may use existing gymnasium servers such as FiWi or, cellular modems servers or hardwire to transmit the data to the fitness website. The end of exercise may be signaled by the donglewearer pushing button94. An automatic shut downcircuit95 activated by a preset timing duration of no activity being sensed may also be used to indicate lack of exercise motion. Once the end of the exercise is detected, the sensor tag powers down and resets for the next user.
• In any of thedongle modules3,70 or90, while not shown, it is preferred or even necessary to integrate a “compiler” with the microprocessor of the dongle used to allow the simpler codes of the 6-DOF MEMS sensors to communicate the data collected to the higher level operating system codes embedded in the smart computer devices described earlier, particularly if motion algorithms have been downloaded to the smart computer device.
• To the left of theperson4 depicted inFIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of one type of a variable weight cable/belt machine300, such as a leg press machine, using two types of plate stack picoPan sensor tags.Plate301 is the bottom plate of the stack being moved. Additional unused plates310-311 remain stationary in the weight carriage bin. In order to determine which plates of the stack are being used in the exercise, each plate of the stack incorporates a battery poweredmotion sensor tag302 mounted on a non load bearing side surface. Only the top plate is shown as having theRFID sensor tag302 affixed thereto. Eachplate sensor tag302 detects when the plate of the stack to which it is affixed is moving to allow the determination of the total weight being lifted. Firmware incorporated in eachsensor tag302 differentiates between real motion and simple vibrations produced by other components of the machine. The battery powering eachsensor tag302 is preferably a primary lithium-ion cell, non-rechargeable, with a useable battery life of one year minimum. In addition to the battery,plate sensor tag302 includes a motion sensor comprising a combination of a vibration sensor plus single axis accelerometer to capture up and down motion, an RF transmitter plus chip antenna, and a microprocessor which includes the firmware.
• The sensor tags302 wirelessly transmit the weight of each plate that is sensed moving to a single 6-DOF sensor tag304 mounted on a leg poweredlink element303 associated with the particularleg press machine300. Pivotal motion of thelink element303 shown bydouble arrow305 is sensed by the sensor tag304. The plate sensor tags302 and sensor tag304 each have a unique identification frequency to prevent cross talk. Once valid motion is detected by the individual plate sensors tags302, this information is transmitted to the 6-DOF sensor tag304. Then the sensor tags302 are shut down to conserve power. Each sensor tag304 transmits the unique identification code over an assigned RF channel to prevent cross-talk and to identify itself to the rangeextender dongle module90. Cross-talk is also prevented from a multi-station weight exercise machine (not shown) having multiple nearby users each with rangeextender dongle modules90 at a different station of the machine doing a different exercise associated with a different plate stack of the multi-stack machine.
• Although the individual plate sensor tags302 are powered down once their motion state is determined, the single sensor tag304 remains active to allow the plate stack motion to be captured by the 6-DOF sensor incorporated into the sensor tag304. The plate stack motion data is wirelessly transmitted to the body mounted rangeextender dongle module90 for collating with the identity of the exerciser which data is then wirelessly sent to the fitness website. The sensor tag304 automatically powers down once the end of exercise has been determined. Alternatively, the dongle wearer may turn the dongle off usingbutton94. The battery associated with sensor tag304 is selected to last at least one year of operation before battery replacement.
• A different embodiment of a variable weight cable/belt machine is schematically shown inFIG. 8A. In place of the sensor tag304, a two degree of freedom (2-DOF)RFID sensor tag403 is placed inside theweight carriage bin400 and is affixed on the top surface of the movingstack weights401. Stack plate sensor tags402,405 affixed to the weights serve the same as sensor tags302 of theFIG. 8 embodiment to identify the total weight being selected. Each of the plate sensor tags402 of thestack401 transmits wirelessly the weight data to the 2-(DOF)sensor tag403. This data along with the motion capture data of the upward movingstack weights401 is wirelessly transmitted to the rangeextender dongle module90.
• In a variation shown schematically inFIG. 8B, the individual weight plate sensors are eliminated. Instead, theexerciser4 lifts a predetermined weight total generated by the profile goal set by the fitness website trainer for the day. Only the actual number of reps is detected by the 2-DOF sensor tag403. TheRFID sensor tag403 is preprogrammed to identify the machine as to type of weight lifting machine. Identification of the type of weight lifting machine is necessary to collate the motion data with the body muscle group being exercised, as for example arm, shoulder or leg muscle groups. In the event an exerciser decides to lift more or less weights, then this weight change is reported by the user to the website so that proper adjustments to the calorie burn data for that day may be made in the history profile of the individual. This simplification allows great cost savings.
• A wrist band shown inFIG. 6B mounts one of thedongle modules3,70 and90 and is preferably an elastic/rubber or silicone wrist band for a tight fit. Other well known types of wrist bands can also be modified to be compatible with incorporating the dongle modules. The dongle modules and any associated sensors housed with the wrist band are protected by a waterproof covering. Optionally the wristband may incorporate an invisible LED watch readout.
• If thesensor80 is used, the heart pulse rate may be displayed on a small format LCD/LED display incorporating a one to threebutton array84 shown inFIG. 6A for real time user feedback.
• In a variation not show only a 6-(DOF) sensor is mounted in the wristband with the dongle module separately carried by a person in a pocket or clip on belt. This would require additional components to achieve wireless communication with the dongle module.
• Another approach is to replace the battery operated mobile master control dongle module with at least one fixed place master controller cell plugged into a power source such as an ac outlet at the gym. A C-LAN network is established using additional spaced controller cells forming a node network. The spaced controller cells are ac powered and are slaved to the control of the master controller cell. Each slaved cell is monitoring a network of RFID sensor tags thus forming a C-LAN picoPAN network. This approach has the drawback that only the MEMS sensors in thesensor tags2 provide exercise data.
• The network slave controller cells may be distributed to achieve overlapping coverage areas to extend the RF range of the network, such as by way of example, a preferred “Centroid Location” network geometry shown inFIG. 9. Several networks of fixed slave C-LAN cells CØ are placed between the fixed master controller cell and the RFID sensor tags2. Such slave cells may be either battery operated or plugged in to ac outlets. Each slave cell has an array of gym equipment mounted RFID sensor tags. The master controller cell coordinates the operation of each slave cell.
• InFIG. 9, at least one C-LAN master controller cell is in two way short range RF communication with multiple slave cells C1-CØ as shown by the double arrows. Each slave cell controls reception of exercise data gathered by a subset of exercise sensor tags2. By arranging the individual slave cells in an overlapping RF coverage scheme, referred to previously as a “Centroid Location” network geometry, an advantageous communication redundancy is achieved by which data from the battery powered RFID sensor tags forming the picoPan portion of the C-Lan/picoPan network are routed from the slave cells to the master control cell in real time. Additionally, a cell, such as C5, although out of RF range with the master control cell may wirelessly communicate with the master cell through the overlapping communication with C3 and/or CØ. In practice, the number of slave cells needed depends on the required coverage within the gym or health club. This Centroid Location network takes into account a number of unknown conditions, such as by way of example only, walls, staircases, other structural materials, the presence of possible RF disturbance equipment, the health club size and layout. A proprietary network assembly algorithm maximizes bandwidth while minimizing latency issues. This simpler embodiment takes advantage of the existing server infrastructure of the gym, such as Ethernet/WiFi connection and/or Cellular Modem connection. A preferred power source for the slave cells is existing ac power with the slave cells having an internal AC-DC converter.
• In a variation shown inFIG. 10, a network having wide area coverage is possible using a “Segmented Cluster” network geometry of plural fixed slaved controller cells all wirelessly interacting with each other with some reporting to those cells closer in RF range to a single fixed master controller cell.
• In some instances, where distance between slave cells is a factor, a string like layout of slave controller cells using the “Segmented Cluster” network geometry depicted inFIG. 10 is possible. Slave dongle cell C2 functions as a communication node for further out of RF range slave cells C8 and C9. Out of range slave cells, such as C5, may also serve as communication nodes for slave cells such as C10 and C11, by being within range of a closer node slave cell such as C1. Algorithms are employed to maximize bandwidth and minimize latency issues.
• Any of the person carrieddongle modules3,70,90 may be used with the centroid and segmented cluster networks ofFIGS. 9-10 where aerobic or calisthenics motion exercise data is desired to be captured using the 6-DOF sensors19 and use of theheart monitor80 is desired. The person wishing to exercise in a fixed place master controller cell scheme carries a coded RF identifier module to wirelessly interact with the fixed place slave controller cell and the RFID sensor tag of the particular equipment being used. The master controller cell pairs the identity of the exerciser reported by the slave controller cell with the identity of the sensor tag along with the raw motion data being captured. In this manner, the remote fitness website is able to collate the identity of the exerciser with the type of equipment used and the raw motion data collected fromMEMS sensors19 and28.
• In one form the slaved controller cell is used as an interface with the RFID sensor tags picoPAN network to form a C-LAN network. The C-LAN network enables bi-directional long range transfer of wireless sensor data to/from the slaved controller cells to/from the remote cloud based server application of the fitness website. C-LAN is a small scale, cellular local area network providing machine to machine (M2M) bi-directional data transfer using the MIST protocol within a limited area of coverage. To use C-LAN for data transfer, each slave controller cell operating within the coverage area of the ambient C-LAN must include a transceiver circuit. The transceiver circuit includes a radio physical layer as well as the MIST protocol to coordinate the data transfer. In the present invention, C-LAN is comprised of the master controller cell and the RFID sensor tags with the optional use of additional cells.
• An advantage of the fixed master controller cell powered through an ac outlet approach is that as little as a single master controller cell can communicate wirelessly with a few prepositioned ac powered slave controller cells positioned in the gym complex to provide overlapping coverage of the individual gym equipment mounted RFID sensor tags. Such an arrangement permits cell to cell RF range which is both bi-directional and synchronous. An added advantage is that a preferred multi-hop centroid scheme of coverage allows multiple paths for data transfer should there be a malfunctioning slave controller cell.
• The user activates aRF signal identifier79 incorporated in thedongles3,70 and90 as a coded identification assigned the user upon joining the fitness website. The identifier generates a unique identification wireless RF signal when activated so as to correlate the exercise data being generated with the particular user profile history received and recorded at the remote fitness website. Range extendermaster controller dongle90 is preferred should the master controller cell or the slave cells malfunction.
• In a home gym format the master controller cell with or without slave controller cells may be used to wirelessly interface with RFID sensor tags mounted on home gym equipment wherein the number of exercise devices having tags may be greatly increased as contrasted with a typical prior art Femtocell system which is limited to serving up to four user devices. The term Femtocell refers to an order in size in physics that is smaller than “pico” or ‘nano” and are cellular base stations for individual homes or offices such as those marketed by Ubiquisys Ltd., a femtocell vendor in Swindon, U.K. Another advantage of the master controller cell over a Femtocell system is a wider operating temperature range of −40° C. to +50° C. as compared to 0° C. to +38° C. This temperature range permits the use of the invention either indoors or outdoors as contrasted with the more limited indoor use of a Femtocell system.
• Although not shown,dongles2,70 and90 also have mini-USB cable ports used to download data in the theirmicroprocessors5,29 and71 to a home computer.
• As used herein, the terms “include”, “including”, “for example”, “e.g.” and variations thereof, are not intended to be terms of limitation, but rather to be followed by the words “without limitation”. Various modifications to the preferred embodiments and the generic terms, principles, features and advantages of the present invention expressed in the written description and figures should not be limited to the exact construction and operation as illustrated and described. Many modifications, changes and equivalents will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and are intended to fall within the scope of the invention which is not intended to be limited to the embodiments disclosed but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.

Claims (20)

What is claimed is:

1. An exercise data collecting system for use by an individual with exercise equipment wherein the system forms a low power C-LAN/picoPan network comprising:

at least one RFID tag for sensing and collecting raw motion data generated by exercise movements;

the RFID tag being mountable on exercise equipment associated therewith;

the RFID tag housing a 6-DOF MEMS sensor for detecting the raw motion data, a microprocessor with memory for storing the data as data packets, first programmed control applications, the first programmed control applications identifying each type of exercise equipment, a transceiver for wirelessly sending the motion data packets using a Bluetooth® 4.0 or higher protocol, firmware for filtering out transient vibrations from exercise movements and a rechargeable or replaceable battery to power the RFID tag;

at least one master control dongle for receiving the wireless data packets;

the dongle housing a microprocessor with flash memory, second programmed control applications, a RF identifier signal sender controlled by the second programmed control applications for identifying the individual using a RF identifier frequency assigned the individual so as to collate the data packets received, a transceiver for wirelessly receiving and sending the data packets and a rechargeable or replaceable battery to power the dongle; and

a smart computer device using a Bluetooth 4.0 or higher protocol to receive and send the data packets.

2. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the RFID tag and the master control dongle operate on a 2.5 GHz/915 MHz frequency range to thereby form the low power C-LAN/picoPAN network.

3. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the master control dongle is mounted on the body of the individual.

4. The system ofclaim 3 wherein the master control dongle has a blood pressure/pulse oximeter sensor incorporated therewith.

5. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the smart computer device is in radio communication with a fitness website to send the data packets thereto.

6. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the master control dongle is a range extender master controller dongle having a dual transceiver circuit.

7. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the master control dongle has a compiler associated therewith compatible with the operating system of the smart computer device.

8. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the first and second control applications are under a MIST protocol control.

9. An exercise monitoring system for an individual assigned a unique identification code upon joining a social website providing interactive fitness training and counseling wherein the exercise monitoring system uses an ambient low power C-Lan/picoPan network comprising:

a range extender master controller dongle having a 6-DOF MEMS sensor for collecting motion data generated by the individual doing specific exercises while wearing the dongle;

the range extender master controller dongle having a microprocessor with flash memory to organize the motion data as packets of data;

the range extender master controller dongle having programmed control applications, the programmed control applications identifying the individual using a RF identifier frequency assigned the individual's unique identification code to collate the data packets with the individual;

the range extender master controller dongle having a dual transceiver circuit to send wirelessly the packets of data using a first transceiver dedicated to the ambient low power C-Lan/picoPan network;

the C-LAN/picoPAN network including an ambient computer;

the ambient computer being in wireless two way communication with the website to send the received packets of data thereto;

the dual transceiver circuit having a second enabled transceiver capable of alternatively wirelessly transferring the packets of data to a smart computer device;

the smart computer device being in wireless two way communication with the website to send the received packets of data thereto.

10. The exercise monitoring system ofclaim 9 wherein the smart computer device uses a Bluetooth 4.0 or higher protocol for the wireless communication.

11. The system ofclaim 9 wherein the range extender master controller dongle further having physiological body sensors for measuring at least one of heart rate and blood level oxygen saturation integrated with the 6-DOF MEMS sensor.

12. The system ofclaim 9 wherein the programmed control applications are under a MIST protocol control.

13. The system ofclaim 9 wherein the website uses motion algorithms to calculate, for each exercise, the number of reps, sets, duration, speed and calories burned based upon the data packets associated with the individual.

14. The system ofclaim 9 wherein the smart computer device displays any of the number of reps, sets, duration, speed and calories burned for each exercise.

15. The system ofclaim 9 further comprising:

plural forms of exercise equipment having RFID motion sensor tags associated therewith;

the RFID motion sensor tags being in two way wireless communication with the range extender master controller dongle to communicate packets of data generated by the use of the plural forms of exercise equipment.

16. An exercise monitoring system for an individual assigned a unique identification code upon joining a social website providing interactive fitness training and counseling wherein the exercise monitoring system uses an ambient low power C-Lan/picoPan network comprising:

a master control cell located in a fixed place for wirelessly communicating between a server and slave control cells;

the slave control cells located in fixed places in wireless radio communication with the master control cell with those slave cells closest to the master control cell being in direct wireless radio communication and those further away being in wireless radio communication with those slave control cells closest to the master control cell;

separate groups of RFID motion detector tags with each RFID motion detector tag associated with specific exercise equipment to detect raw motion data;

each RFID motion detector tag housing a 6-DOF MEMS sensor for detecting the raw motion data, a microprocessor with memory for storing the data as data packets, first programmed control applications under a MIST protocol control, the first programmed control applications identifying each type of exercise equipment, a transceiver for wirelessly sending the motion data packets using a Bluetooth 4.0 or higher protocol to a slave control cell chosen by the master control cell, firmware for filtering out transient vibrations from exercise movements, and a rechargeable or replaceable battery to power the RFID motion detector tag;

a mobile RF identifier signal device carried by the individual for transmitting to each RFID motion sensor tag activated by the user the unique identification code assigned by the website;

each RFID motion detector tag further housing a radio frequency identifier signal detector for capturing the code so as to collate the code with the data packets being sent to the chosen slave control cell.

17. The system ofclaim 16 wherein the mobile RF identifier signal device is one of a body wearable master controller dongle or a range extender master controller dongle.

18. The system ofclaim 17 further including a body wearable heart physiological data gathering sensor in association with at least one of the master controller dongle or the range extender master controller dongle.

19. The system ofclaim 16 wherein the slave control cells are arranged in a centroid clustered overlapping relationship to effect short range wireless communication between each other to provide clustered redundancy in the event of a slave cell malfunction.

20. The system ofclaim 16 wherein the slave control cells are arranged in segmented string like relationships to effect short range wireless communication between each other over a wide area.

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