U.S. patent application number 12/344943 was filed with the patent office on 2010-07-01 for radio frequency identification based exercise behavior management system.
This patent application is currently assigned to TZU CHI UNIVERSITY. Invention is credited to Jen-Liang Cheng.
Application Number | 20100167876 12/344943 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42285654 |
Filed Date | 2010-07-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100167876 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Cheng; Jen-Liang |
July 1, 2010 |
RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION BASED EXERCISE BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM
Abstract
An RFID-based exercise behavior management system is disclosed.
The system comprises an RFID tag, a front-end subsystem and a
back-end subsystem. The RFID tag contains a unique identification
for a participant and is carried by or implanted in the participant
whose exercise behavior can be recorded automatically when he is
engaging exercise in the field where the front-end subsystem is
installed. The backend subsystem enables the recorded exercise
behavior to be accessed ubiquitously and to be delivered to related
personnel. Thus this invention helps any health promoting agent in
realizing and developing trackable exercise programs.
Inventors: |
Cheng; Jen-Liang; (Hualien
City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
KIRTON AND MCCONKIE
60 EAST SOUTH TEMPLE,, SUITE 1800
SALT LAKE CITY
UT
84111
US
|
Assignee: |
TZU CHI UNIVERSITY
Hualien City
TW
|
Family ID: |
42285654 |
Appl. No.: |
12/344943 |
Filed: |
December 29, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
482/9 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 2225/20 20130101;
A63B 2225/15 20130101; A63B 2225/54 20130101; A63B 2230/75
20130101; A63B 24/0062 20130101; A63B 2220/836 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
482/9 |
International
Class: |
A63B 71/00 20060101
A63B071/00 |
Claims
1. An RFID-based exercise behavior management system for managing a
participant's exercise behavior, comprising: an RFID tag which
contains a unique identification for the participant and is carried
by or implanted in the participant who is engaging exercise; a
front-end subsystem including one or more reading units placed on a
route on which the exercise is proceeding for reading the
identification in the RFID tag and generating visiting data; and a
back-end subsystem including a server on which a database software
and an exercise managing software are running, wherein the server
receives and processes the visiting data from the reading unit to
derive the participant's exercise behavior, and the exercise
managing software enables the participant's exercise behavior to be
accessed or delivered ubiquitously via Internet.
2. The RFID-based exercise behavior management system according to
claim 1 wherein the front-end subsystem is connected to the
back-end subsystem through a data communication channel.
3. The RFID-based exercise behavior management system according to
claim 1 wherein the visiting data includes the identification and a
visiting time the identification is read, and are generated when
the RFID tag is in a reading range of the reading unit due to an
engagement of the exercise.
4. The RFID-based exercise behavior management system according to
claim 3 wherein duration and distance of the exercise are derived
by the visiting data and geographic information of the reading
units.
5. The RFID-based exercise behavior management system according to
claim 4 wherein a database stored in the server contains the
identification, the participant's physiological data and contacts,
and the participant's exercise behavior.
6. The RFID-based exercise behavior management system according to
claim 5 wherein intensity and consumed energy of the exercise are
derived by the duration, the distance, a type of the exercise, and
the participant's physiological data.
7. The RFID-based exercise behavior management system according to
claim 1 wherein the exercise managing software comprises a web
serving program, an email serving program, and a short message
serving program to serve a web browsing on Internet, deliver
exercising information, and send a message via a mobile
network.
8. An RFID-based exercise behavior management system for managing a
participant's exercise behavior, comprising: a writable RFID tag
which contains a unique identification for the participant and is
carried by or implanted in the participant who is engaging
exercise; a front-end subsystem including one or more writing units
placed on a route on which the exercise is proceeding for appending
visiting data into the RFID tag; and a back-end subsystem including
a reading unit and a server on which a database software and an
exercise managing software are running, wherein the reading unit
reads the identification and the visiting data in the RFID tag, the
server receives and processes the identification and the visiting
data from the reading unit to derive the participant's exercise
behavior, and the exercise managing software enables the
participant's exercise behavior to be accessed or delivered
ubiquitously via Internet.
9. The RFID-based exercise behavior management system according to
claim 8 wherein the reading unit is connected to the server through
a data communication channel.
10. The RFID-based exercise behavior management system according to
claim 8 wherein the identification and the visiting data in the
RFID tag are read by the reading unit of the back-end subsystem
when the exercise is completed.
11. The RFID-based exercise behavior management system according to
claim 8 wherein the visiting data includes an identification of a
site where the writing unit is placed and a visiting time, and are
appended to the RFID tag when the RFID tag is in a writing range of
the writing unit due to an engagement of the exercise.
12. The RFID-based exercise behavior management system according to
claim 11 wherein duration and distance of the exercise are derived
by the visiting data and geographic information of the writing
units.
13. The RFID-based exercise behavior management system according to
claim 12 wherein a database stored in the server contains the
identification for the participant, the participant's physiological
data and contacts, and the participant's exercise behavior.
14. The RFID-based exercise behavior management system according to
claim 13 wherein intensity and consumed energy of the exercise are
derived by the duration, the distance, a type of the exercise, and
the participant's physiological data.
15. The RFID-based exercise behavior management system according to
claim 8 wherein the exercise managing software comprises a web
serving program, an email serving program, and a short message
serving program to serve a web browsing on Internet, deliver
exercising information, and send a message via a mobile network.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The invention pertains generally to an exercise behavior
management system. More specifically the invention relates to a
radio frequency identification (RFID) based exercise behavior
management system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Various investigations have confirmed that people can gain
many physical and mental benefits from engaging in regular physical
activity (PA). For instance, regular PA may help decrease the risk
of many diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes,
colon and breast cancers and osteoporosis. It also helps to control
weight, contributes to healthy bones, muscles and joints, and
reduces falls among older adults (CDC, 1996). Public recognition of
the importance of PA has urged for the promotion of PA at national
and population levels (WHO, 2007).
[0003] An example of the population level PA promotion is that
schools are requested to teach adequate knowledge, provide enough
facilities, and devise appropriate policy to promote students' PA
behavior. However, exercise behavior is learned and maintained
under fairly complex schedules of reinforcement and anticipated
future rewards. A longer follow-up period is recommended to
determine maintenance effects for future interventions.
[0004] The most common tool for a population-based PA intervention
is the Internet-based information system, which can reach large
number of people at a low cost. However, the effectiveness of the
Internet in health promotion and in retention of users is regarded
pessimistically (Evers, 2006). Fortunately the pessimism is solved
by objectively measuring the PA engaged by users.
[0005] However, deploying a large number of PA measuring devices to
participants is still costly since the measuring device is
vulnerable and needs maintenance. This invention combines PA
measurement and the Internet technology to form "Exercise Behavior
Management System" which is capable of reinforcing, evaluating and
continuously monitoring the exercise behavior of its users at an
acceptable cost and maintenance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] One objective of this invention is to employ the RFID
technology to record exercise behavior automatically and seamlessly
so that defects of the conventional exercise management system such
as reporting or measuring errors, lack of promptness, requirement
of supervising labor, and lack of exercising time flexibility can
be eliminated. Thus this invention does help any health promoting
agent in realizing and developing trackable exercise programs.
[0007] Another objective of this invention is to enable the
recorded exercise behavior can be accessed ubiquitously and
delivered to related personnel.
[0008] Two types of RFID-based exercise behavior management system
are embodied to achieve the above objectives.
[0009] The first type of RFID-based exercise behavior management
system comprises at least one RFID tag which contains a unique
identification and is carried by or implanted in a participant to
be identified, a front-end subsystem which includes one or more
reading units and is used to record the participant's exercise
engagement, and a back-end subsystem which includes at least a
server on which a database software and an exercise managing
software are running. The identification data in the RFID tag can
be read when the tag is in the reading range of the reading unit.
The participant's exercise engagement can then be recorded and sent
to the back-end subsystem for further processing. The database of
the back-end subsystem contains the participant's personal
information including physiological data and contacts. The
individual physiological data are combined with the individual
exercise records to derive the participant's exercise records and
behavior. The exercise records and behavior can be delivered with
the contacts in the database. The exercise managing software is
used to manage and enable the ubiquitous access to the
participant's exercise records and behavior via the Internet.
[0010] A participant engaging recordable exercise is requested to
carry his (her) tag and visit designated site(s) where reading
unit(s) is installed. When the participant's tag is in the reading
range of the reading unit, the reading unit reads out the
identification of the tag, generates a sonic or visual signal to
inform that the tag has been read, and visiting data, which include
the identification and the time the identification is read or
received are formed.
[0011] In case that only one location is used to record the
physical activity, the distance to visit the site from a predefined
point can be derived.
[0012] In case that reading units are installed at two or more
sites, the distance and the duration the participant need to move
from the last visited site to current site is calculated.
[0013] The front-end subsystem is connected to the back-end
subsystem so that identification data, visiting data, or the
exercise records can be transferred between them.
[0014] The second type RFID-based exercise behavior management
system in this invention comprises at least one writable RFID tag
which contains a unique identification and is carried by or
implanted in the participant to be identified, a front-end
subsystem which includes one or more reading/writing units and is
used to append the participant's visiting data into the tag, and a
back-end subsystem which includes a reading unit and a server on
which a database software and an exercise managing software are
running. The identification and other data in the RFID tag can be
read/written when the tag is in the reading/writing range of the
reading/writing unit. The participant's exercise engagement data
can then be appended into the tag by each reading/writing unit in
the front-end subsystem. The reading unit in the back-end subsystem
is used to read out all the exercise engagement data stored in the
tag. The database in the server of the back-end subsystem contains
the participant's personal information including physiological data
and contacts. The individual physiological data are combined with
the individual exercise records to derive the participant's
exercise records and behavior. The exercise records and behavior
can be delivered with the contacts in the database. The exercise
managing software is used to manage and enable the ubiquitous
access to the participant's exercise records and behavior via the
Internet.
[0015] A participant engaging recordable exercise is requested to
carry his (her) tag and visit designated site(s) where
reading/writing unit(s) is installed. When the participant's tag is
in the writing range of the reading/writing unit, visiting data
which include the site's identification and the visiting time are
appended into the tag's data, and meanwhile, the reading/writing
unit generates a sonic or visual signal to inform that the visiting
data have been appended to the tag.
[0016] When the participant completes the exercise engagement, the
visiting data in the tag are readout by the reading unit of the
back-end subsystem.
[0017] In case that only one site is used to append the visiting
data into the tag, the distance to visit the location from a
predefined point can be derived.
[0018] In case that reading/writing units are installed in two or
more sites, the distance and the duration the participant spend for
two site visits are calculated.
[0019] Thus duration and distance of the exercise engagement is
calculated by a series of visiting data.
[0020] The intensity, consumed energy, and information related to
the exercise and physiology can thus be derived by incorporating
the exercise type for the site visits, the personal data in the
database, and the exercise data recorded.
[0021] When these data are stored in database and accumulated for a
period, say weeks or months, the exercise behavior of a participant
or a group, said accumulated and averaged frequency, intensity,
duration, and consumed energy can thus be further computed.
[0022] The exercise managing software is capable of presenting
exercise records and behavior by facilitating applications on the
Internet or mobile network, including web pages, email, SMS, 3G,
and 3.5G etc.
[0023] The above objectives and advantages of the present invention
become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art
after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying
drawings, in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0024] FIG. 1 is the schematic diagram showing a preferred
embodiment of the first type RFID-based exercise behavior
management system according to the present invention;
[0025] FIG. 2 is the schematic diagram of another preferred
embodiment of the first type RFID-based exercise behavior
management system according to the present invention;
[0026] FIG. 3 is the schematic diagram of a further preferred
embodiment of the first type RFID-based exercise behavior
management system according to the present invention; and
[0027] FIG. 4 is the schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of
the second type RFID-based exercise behavior management system
according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0028] The present invention is now described in more detail with
the preferred embodiments. Note that the descriptions of the
embodiments are presented herein for purpose of illustration and
description only; they do not intend to exhaust or limit the
precise form disclosed.
[0029] Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a schematic diagram showing
a preferred embodiment of the first type RFID-based exercise
behavior management system according to the present invention. As
shown in FIG. 1, the exercise behavior management system 1
comprises one or more RFID tags 14a and 14b, a front-end subsystem
including one or more reading units 11 and 12, and a back-end
subsystem including at least a server 13. The front-end subsystem
is connected to the back-end subsystem through a data communication
channel, such as but not limited to a wireless communication
channel and a wired communication channel. For example, the reading
units 11 and 12, which are placed geographically apart and on the
route on which the exercise is proceeding, are connected to an area
network 15 with which the server 13 can access them. In each of the
RFID tags 14a and 14b, a unique identification for each participant
is stored. The identification data in the RFID tags 14a and 14b can
be read when the tag is in the reading range of the reading units
11 and 12. The server 13 on which a database software and an
exercise managing software are running is used to receive,
retrieve, and store the identification which is sent by or
retrieved from the reading units 11 and 12 along with the time
point the tag was read. The server 13 can also be used to process
and/or record the information of exercising duration, intensity,
and frequency of any participant. The database stored in the server
13 contains the participant's personal information including
physiological data and contacts. The individual physiological data
are combined with the individual exercise records to derive the
participant's exercise records and behavior. The exercise records
and behavior can be delivered with the contacts in the database.
The exercise managing software is used to manage and enable the
ubiquitous access to the participant's exercise records and
behavior via the Internet.
[0030] In this embodiment, the server 13 is located in the network
15 to which the first reading unit 11 and the second reading unit
12 are connected via a wireless base station 16 so that data can be
transmitted between the server 13 and the reading units 11 and 12.
The protocol used by the wireless base station 16 can be but not
limited to IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11i or 802.11n.
[0031] Please refer to FIG. 1 in more detail. The first reading
unit 11 includes a first antenna 111, a first reading module 112,
and a first communication module 113. In this embodiment, the first
antenna 111 is placed or buried underground superficially at a
first site 171 of a running field or running track 17, and is
connected to the reading module 112. The first reading module 112
can communicate with the server 13 wirelessly through the first
communication module 113. Similarly, the second reading unit 12
includes a second antenna 121, a second reading module 122, and a
second communication module 123. In this embodiment, the second
antenna 121 is placed or buried underground superficially at a
second site 172 of the running field or running track 17 and is
connected to the second reading module 122. The reading module 122
can communicate with the server 13 wirelessly through the second
communication module 123. Alternatively, the first communication
module 113 of the first reading unit 11 can be integrated into the
first reading module 112. Similarly, the second communication
module 123 of the second reading unit 12 can be integrated into the
second reading module 122.
[0032] In another embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2, the server 13 is
located in the network 15 to which the first reading unit 11 and
the second reading unit 12 are directly connected so they can
communicate with the server 13. In some other embodiments, as shown
in FIG. 3, the first reading unit 11 and the second reading unit 12
are directly connected to the server 13 so they can communicate
with the server 13 for further processing and recording.
[0033] Please refer to FIG. 1 again. A participant who is carrying
or implanted with the RFID tag 14a is engaging exercise on the
running field 17. When the participant passes the first site 171
where the first antenna 111 of the first reading unit 11 is placed,
the RFID tag 14a is in the reading range of the reading unit 11 and
receives the magnetic wave emitted by the first reading module 112
via the first antenna 111. Then the modulated identification data
stored in the RFID tag 14a is reflected back and received by the
first reading module 112 via the first antenna 111, so that the
first reading unit 11 reads out the identification data of the RFID
tag 14a, and meanwhile, the first reading unit 11 generates a sonic
or visual signal to inform that the RFID tag 14a has been read. The
identification data are then transmitted to the server 13 through
the first communication module 113 immediately. Thus visiting data
including the identification, the site no., and the time point the
identification was received are stored for further processing. When
the participant keeps exercising on the running field 17 and passes
the second site 172 where the second antenna 121 of the second
reading unit 12 is placed, the identification data stored in the
RFID tag 14a are read by the second reading module 122 via the
second antenna 121. The identification data are transmitted to the
server 13 through the second communication module 123 immediately.
Similarly, the visiting data, including identification, site no.,
and the time point the identification was received are then stored
for further processing.
[0034] In any embodiments, the RFID tags 14a and 14b can be formed
as strips to be carried by the participants, or disposed on, for
example, shoes, clothes or belts.
[0035] When the participant keeps exercising on the running field
17, the visiting data are recorded in sequence continuously.
Because that the geographic information such as the distances
between any two sites are predefined and that the duration of each
journey between the two sites for each participant can be
calculated from the visiting data, the exercising intensity,
duration, and accomplished distance of the exercise can be
obtained. In case that only one site is used to record the physical
activity, the distance to visit the site from a predefined point
can be derived. Along with the personal data such as weight,
height, gender, and age, the energy consumed by the exercise
engaged by the participant can thus be calculated by incorporating
the exercise type for the site visits, the personal data in the
database, and the exercise data recorded. When the exercise
information is accumulated for a period, say weeks or months, the
exercising frequency, average intensity, and active level can be
obtained. In this way, the exercise behavior management system 1 of
the present invention can measure, process and record the exercise
behavior automatically. Besides, the database of the server 13 can
include a table for storing the participant's identification,
physiological data, contacts and exercise behavior.
[0036] Please refer to FIG. 4, which is a schematic diagram showing
a second type RFID-based exercise behavior management system
according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In
this embodiment, the exercise behavior management system 1 includes
at least a first reading/writing unit 21, a second reading/writing
unit 22, a third reading/writing unit 19, a server 13, and at least
one writable RFID tag 14a, which is also readable. The first
reading/writing unit 21, the second reading/writing unit 22, and
the third reading/writing unit 19 can read data from and write data
into the RFID tag 14a. In this embodiment, the first
reading/writing unit 21 and the second reading/writing unit 22 are
placed at different sites. Any connections between the first
reading/writing unit 21, the second reading/writing unit 22, and
the server 13 are not necessary. The third reading/writing unit 19
is connected to the server 13 with wired or wireless communication
channel. The first reading/writing unit 21 includes a first antenna
211 and a first reading/writing module 212 while the second
reading/writing unit 22 includes a second antenna 221 and a second
reading/writing module 222. Similarly, the third reading/writing
unit 19 includes a third antenna 191 and a third reading/writing
module 192.
[0037] Please refer to FIG. 4 again. The RFID tag 14a contains
identification data for a participant who is carrying or whom is
implanted with the RFID tag 14a. When the participant passes the
first site 171 due to the exercise engagement so that the RFID tag
14a is in the reading/writing range of the first reading/writing
unit 21, information which contains the visiting data, i.e. site
no. and visiting time, at the first site 171 is appended to the
data in the RFID tag 14a, and meanwhile, the first reading/writing
unit 21 generates a sonic or visual signal to inform that the
visiting data have been appended to the RFID tag 14a. Next, when
the participant passes the second site 172 due to the exercise
engagement so that the RFID tag 14a is in the reading/writing range
of the second reading/writing unit 22, information which contains
the visiting data at the second site 172 is appended to the data in
the RFID tag 14a again. When the exercise engagement is finished
and the RFID tag 14a is put in the reading/writing range of the
third reading/writing unit 19, the third reading/writing unit 19
can read out all the information in the RFID tag 14a and transmit
the information to the server 13. Please be noted that the data
written by the first and the second reading/writing units 21 and 22
can be, but not limited to distance and elapsed time for journeys
of two sites during the exercise engagement or any other
information with which accumulated distance and elapsed time for
that exercise engagement can be computed. Depending on the capacity
of the RFID tag 14a, the information in the RFID tag 14a can or
need not be deleted.
[0038] In the above embodiment of the second type RFID-based
exercise behavior management system, the first and the second
reading/writing units 21 and 22 belong to the front-end subsystem,
and the third reading/writing unit 19 and the server 13 belong to
the back-end subsystem, wherein the front-end subsystem writes data
into the RFID tag 14a and the back-end subsystem reads data from
the RFID tag 14a. Alternatively, the units 21 and 22 included in
the front-end subsystem can also be two writing units to write data
into the RFID tag 14a when the RFID tag 14a is in the writing range
of the writing unit, and the unit 19 included in the back-end
subsystem can be a reading unit to read data from the RFID tag 14a
when the RFID tag 14a is in the reading range of the reading
unit.
[0039] The exercise behavior management system 1 enables a program
participant or instructing personnel to remotely acquire various
information about the exercise behavior such as exercising
frequency, intensity, accomplished progress, and consumed energy of
participants. Please refer to FIGS. 1-4 again. The server 13
further includes a web page software, so that the participant or
the instructing personnel can ubiquitously use a first personal
computer PC1 that is connected to the network 15 or a second
personal computer PC2 which is connected to the Internet 18 to
browse the recorded exercise behavior. In the first type RFID-based
exercise behavior management system, neither manipulation of the
exercise records nor a third person for exercise supervisory is
required for the records to be compiled statistically as the
exercise behavior. Neither manual recording of the exercise records
nor a third person for exercise supervisory is required for the
second type RFID-based exercise behavior management system, except
that a step of reading the information in the RFID tag by the third
reading/writing unit 19 is required. Because exercise data can be
produced only by actual movement of the participant's body on/in
which the RFID tag is carried or implanted, counterfeit of exercise
record is eliminated. In this embodiment, the web page software
provided by the server 13 is effective to manage the exercise
behavior of the participant whose RFID tag, name, gender, age,
weight, and height are stored in the database of the server 13.
[0040] In the exercise behavior management system 1 of the present
invention, the placements of reading units 11, 12 and
reading/writing units 21, 22 are not limited to the running field
17. The swimming pool, the biking route, or any other fields in
which the exercise performance is measured in distance, speed, and
an arrival at a specific site are all can be recorded by the system
in this invention. In addition, to increase the accuracy and
reliability of the measurement and recording, the number of the
reading (and writing) units or the number of the antennas arranged
in a site is not limited to one. Furthermore, the number of the
sites in which one or more reading units are placed is not limited
to two. In some embodiments, the exercise behavior management
system 1 can be applied to the measurement and recording for the
exercise behavior at plural fields. For example, it can be applied
to the plural fields in the rehabilitation center, so as to measure
and record the exercise behavior and exercise quantity of the
patient which periodically moves among those specific locations.
Furthermore, the exercise managing software is capable of
presenting exercise records and behavior by facilitating
applications on the Internet or mobile network, including web
pages, email, SMS, 3G, and 3.5G etc. In an embodiment, the exercise
managing software of the server 13 comprises a web serving program,
an email serving program, and/or a short message serving program to
serve a web browsing on the Internet, deliver exercising
information, and/or send message via mobile network, so that the
server 13 can send the information about the exercise behavior,
exercise quantity and health index of the participant recorded in
the server 13 to a specific receiving device, such as computer,
mobile phone or personal digital assistant (PDA) by email or text
message.
[0041] In conclusion, the RFID-based exercise behavior management
system of the present invention is labor-saving and time-flexible
since it can automatically record the periodical exercise behavior
of the participant, which solves the inconveniences and defects of
the conventional exercise behavior management system. Moreover, the
exercise behavior management system of the present invention
enables the manager or the participant to easily and conveniently
acquire the information of individual exercise behavior or group
exercise behavior by the web page through internet, and can set an
achievement goal for checking the achieved percentage as a
reference. Furthermore, the information of exercise behavior can be
used to study the influence of the exercise behavior to the
individual health, and the assistant or manager can easily and
conveniently acquire the information of the participant's exercise
behavior in a remote end so as to adequately instruct or assist the
participant to adjust his exercise habit and exercise quantity.
Therefore, the exercise behavior management system of the present
invention is advantageous to the manager for exercise management
and promotes the participant to maintain the exercise habit, and
also, it is beneficial to the promotion of the exercise activity
and enables realization and development of the exercise
program.
[0042] While the invention has been described in terms of what is
presently considered to be the most practical and preferred
embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be
limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is
intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements
included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which
are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to
encompass all such modifications and similar structures.
* * * * *