U.S. patent application number 15/309585 was filed with the patent office on 2017-06-08 for wearable device comprising one or more impact sensors.
This patent application is currently assigned to ITALIAN FIGHT WEAR SRL. The applicant listed for this patent is ITALIAN FIGHT WEAR SRL. Invention is credited to Francesco Castelli-Dezza, Samuele Grillo, Marco Migliorati.
Application Number | 20170157488 15/309585 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51179003 |
Filed Date | 2017-06-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170157488 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Migliorati; Marco ; et
al. |
June 8, 2017 |
Wearable device comprising one or more impact sensors
Abstract
Wearable device having one or more impact sensors and at least
one unit transmitting a detected signals to a remote station, the
device being composed of an inner glove wearable under a martial
art glove.
Inventors: |
Migliorati; Marco; (Rapallo
(GE), IT) ; Grillo; Samuele; (Milano, IT) ;
Castelli-Dezza; Francesco; (San Donato Milanese (MI),
IT) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
ITALIAN FIGHT WEAR SRL |
Rapallo (GE) |
|
IT |
|
|
Assignee: |
ITALIAN FIGHT WEAR SRL
Rapallo (GE)
IT
|
Family ID: |
51179003 |
Appl. No.: |
15/309585 |
Filed: |
May 15, 2015 |
PCT Filed: |
May 15, 2015 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/IB2015/053586 |
371 Date: |
November 8, 2016 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 71/0605 20130101;
A63B 2225/20 20130101; A63B 69/004 20130101; A63B 71/14 20130101;
A63B 2220/833 20130101; A63B 71/08 20130101 |
International
Class: |
A63B 71/06 20060101
A63B071/06; A63B 71/08 20060101 A63B071/08; A63B 69/00 20060101
A63B069/00; A63B 71/14 20060101 A63B071/14 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 15, 2014 |
IT |
GE2014A000046 |
Claims
1. A wearable device comprising: an inner glove (1) wearable under
a martial art glove; one or more impact sensors (2) provided on the
inner glove (1); and at least one unit (51) transmitting signals
detected by the one or more impact sensors (2) to a remote
station.
2. The device according to claim 1, further comprising one or more
inertial sensors (3) coupled to the inner glove.
3. The device according to claim 1, further comprising one or more
biometric sensors (4) coupled to the inner glove.
4. The device according to claim 1, wherein one or more fingers of
the inner glove (1) are truncated, such that the inner glove (1),
in a worn condition, covers only a first phalange of one or more of
corresponding fingers of a user.
5. The device according to claim 1, wherein said impact sensors (2)
are piezoelectric sensors.
6. The device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of said
impact sensors (2) is provided, the impact sensors being arranged
to form an array.
7. The device according to claim 6, wherein the plurality of impact
sensors (2) are provided at a forefinger, middle finger, ring
finger and little finger respectively.
8. The device according to claim 7, wherein there are provided
three impact sensors (2) for each one of the forefinger, middle
finger, ring finger and little finger.
9. The device according to claim 7, wherein the unit transmitting
the signals transmits the signals to the remote station in
real-time.
10. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device is powered
by a rechargeable battery, there being provided a recharging
circuit comprising an inductive charging system.
11. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a central
processing unit (5), to which said sensors (2, 3, 4) are connected,
the processing unit (5) being composed of a flexible electronic
card.
12. The device according to claim 4, wherein said one or more
inertial sensors comprise an accelerometer,. and wherein the device
is switched to stand-by consequently to an inactivity period as
detected by the accelerometer, and the device is switched on again
once a movement is detected.
13. A wearable device comprising: a plurality of impact sensors
(2); and at least one unit (51) transmitting signals detected by
the plurality of impact sensors (2) to a remote station, wherein
the plurality of impact sensors are arranged to form an array.
14. The wearable device according to claim 13, wherein the device
is composed of a glove or an inner glove (1).
15. The wearable device according to claim 13, wherein the device
is composed of a shin guard, a vest, a knee-pad, an elbow guard, a
helmet, or a shoe.
16. The wearable device according to claim 13, further comprising
one or more biometric sensors coupled thereto.
17. A method of measuring power of an impact of a wearable device
comprising one or more impact sensors (2) and at least one
accelerometer, wherein the method comprises the following steps:
(a) acquiring signals of acceleration from the accelerometer; (b)
obtaining a velocity vector along a predetermined direction by
integrating the acceleration signals; (c) obtaining a force vector
of the impact from the impact sensors, said impact sensors being
positioned in such a way that the force vector is along the
predetermined direction of the velocity vector; and (d) calculating
the power of the impact as a dot product of the force vector and
the velocity vector.
18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the velocity vector
is taken into account for calculation of the power of the impact
only in a time period when velocity is decreasing during the
impact.
19. The method according to claim 17, wherein a low-pass filter is
applied to the acceleration signals before step (b).
20. (canceled)
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to a wearable device
comprising one or more impact sensors and at least one unit
transmitting the detected signals to a remote station.
[0002] This type of devices are known and used for measuring
performances of athletes, above all in the martial art field.
[0003] The U.S. Pat. No. 5,723,786 describes a boxing glove wherein
an impact measuring device is incorporated which comprises a fluid
bag in the impact area of the glove, which bag is connected by a
tube to a pressure sensor provided in the cuff.
[0004] The U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,005 describes a device for
generating an analog output signal indicative of an impact to a
transducer.
[0005] The transducer may be mounted on protective equipment used
in various martial art fields, such as boxing gloves, shin guards,
vests and it is of the piezoelectric type and it is indicative of
the amount of deformation.
[0006] The transducer is composed of a piezoelectric film coupled
to a deformable material, or it is inserted between two layers of
deformable material, and the output signal is generated on the
basis of the impacts on the deformable material.
[0007] The transducer may be connected to a remote receiver and
transmitter for providing an indication of the impact to a remote
station.
[0008] Therefore the known devices are part of the protective
equipment of the athlete, for example they are composed of boxing
gloves.
[0009] This condition has some drawbacks.
[0010] Firstly the boxing glove by its nature is subjected to many
and repetitive stresses even of considerable level and therefore it
is subjected to wear above all in the external part which can be
subjected to tearing or other similar damages.
[0011] Therefore, over time, the boxing glove has to be replaced,
and all the sensor part incorporated therein has to be necessarily
replaced with it. This causes the use of such type of devices to be
expensive, which currently are not widely spread and do not have a
suitable success in the market.
[0012] Secondly, it is not rare for an athlete to perform more than
one martial art, and for each martial art a different type of
boxing glove is necessary.
[0013] In this case, in order to use the same type of sensors in
the different martial arts, the athlete must necessarily have a
plurality of specific gloves, each pair of gloves comprising the
same type of sensors and components, with a substantial increase in
costs and a useless redundancy in the components themselves.
[0014] Moreover the known devices have a single impact sensor and
therefore they do not allow the type of impact to be finely
detected, providing more detailed information above all as regards
the geometry of the impact.
[0015] The fact of providing a single sensor, moreover, can lead to
inaccuracies in the measurement, for example a wrong calibration or
due to too much high tolerances in the detection.
[0016] Therefore there is the unsatisfied need in the prior art for
a device allowing costs to be considerably reduced, which is usable
in different martial arts and that contemporaneously guarantees a
good accuracy and reliability of the impact measurement.
[0017] The document US 2006/047447 A1 describes a gauze bandage
provided with monitoring components, that wraps the hand of the
athlete. This arrangement does not allow for a correct positioning
of the sensors, because the gauze bandage needs to be wrapped
around the hand of the athlete and a different tensioning of the
bandage during the wrapping can lead to completely different
positions of the sensors. The athlete must take an excessive cure
on positioning the bandage, because an incorrect positioning of the
sensor can lead to results that are distorted, even to a great
extent.
[0018] The present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the known
devices by providing a device such as described hereinbefore, which
is composed of an inner glove wearable under a martial art
glove.
[0019] Thus the inner glove or glove liner can be used with
different types of gloves or boxing gloves.
[0020] This allows the same inner glove to be reusable even when
the glove has to be replaced, and it allows only one inner glove to
be used with different specific gloves for different martial
arts.
[0021] The inner glove allows for a univocal and precise
positioning of the sensors, when the athlete wears it.
[0022] The term inner glove means a glove with a thickness lower
than 4 mm, composed of stretch or non-stretch fabric, made of any
material, such as cotton or synthetic fibers.
[0023] It is possible to use at least partly engineered fibers,
which incorporate several types of sensors therein.
[0024] According to one embodiment one or more inertial sensors are
provided.
[0025] The inertial sensors can comprise accelerometers and
gyroscopes in combination or as an alternative with each other.
[0026] This allows speeds and linear and angular accelerations to
be measured without the need of an external reference.
[0027] According to a further embodiment there are provided one or
more biometric sensors.
[0028] Biometric sensors can be of any type, for example heart beat
sensors, body temperature sensors, blood pressure sensors, oxygen
saturation sensors, perspiration sensors.
[0029] Usually the athlete under the martial art gloves wears, as
an alternative to the inner glove, wraps which are wrapped around
the hand and the wrist.
[0030] Therefore biometric sensors cannot be mounted directly on
the glove, since the inner glove or the wraps prevent them from
directly contacting the athlete skin.
[0031] This would make it necessary to use wires for reaching an
area of the forearm not covered by the wraps or by the inner glove,
such area being clearly disadvantageous with respect to the wrist
for example in the case of detection of the heart beat.
[0032] In the device of the present invention, on the contrary,
biometric sensors are advantageously arranged on the inner glove,
which is in direct contact with the athlete skin, guaranteeing an
accurate detection of the biometric values desired to be
monitored.
[0033] According to one embodiment, one or more of the fingers of
the inner glove are truncated, such that the inner glove, in the
worn condition, covers only the first phalange of one or more of
the corresponding fingers of the user.
[0034] This strengthens the flexibility concept characterizing the
device of the present invention, since thus the inner glove can be
worn with the glove of any martial art, also those martial arts
that provide an open-fingered glove, such as for example MMA (Mixed
Martial Arts).
[0035] According to a further embodiment said impact sensors are of
the piezoelectric type.
[0036] As an alternative or in combination impact sensors can be of
the capacitive type or of another type, for example strain
gauges.
[0037] According to a further embodiment there is provided a
plurality of said impact sensors, which impact sensors are arranged
in such a manner to form an array.
[0038] Thus information about the impact are detected from
different positions such to perform more accurate evaluations on
the impact and such to have a more accurate estimation of the
detected values and of their correctness.
[0039] According to an improvement there are provided one or more
impact sensors at the forefinger, middle finger, ring finger and
little finger respectively.
[0040] Thus it is possible to cover with the sensors a detection
area that is distributed on all the impact area of the fist.
[0041] It is further possible to make an evaluation of the impact
for each individual finger, allowing the geometrical
characteristics of the impact to be reconstructed.
[0042] In a further improvement there are provided three sensors
for each one of said fingers.
[0043] Thus the array of sensors is composed of 12 sensors,
although more or fewer sensors are possible, also distributed in a
non-homogeneous manner on the fingers.
[0044] It has been found that an array of 12 sensors has good
dimensions to be mounted on the inner glove and to guarantee a
sufficiently detailed detection of the impact.
[0045] In an advantageous embodiment only two impact sensors are
provided for each finger.
[0046] Advantageously there are provided four sensors on the
knuckles, that is on the area more involved in the impact.
[0047] In one variant embodiment there are provided 8 sensors, two
sensors being provided for each finger.
[0048] In a further embodiment, at least one sensor is placed on
the glove portion corresponding to the back of the hand.
[0049] This allows hits on the back of the hand to be detected and
measured.
[0050] According to a further embodiment the unit transmitting the
detected signals is set such to transmit the signals to the remote
station in real-time.
[0051] This has the great advantage of allowing the detected
signals to be used for supplementing television shooting of the
matches with real-time data of the athlete performances.
[0052] The present invention further relates to a wearable device
comprising one or more impact sensors and at least one unit
transmitting the detected signals to a remote station, which device
comprises a plurality of said impact sensors, which impact sensors
are arranged such to form an array.
[0053] The device advantageously is a part of the protective
equipment of an athlete, such as for example boxing gloves, shin
guards, vests, knee-pads, elbow guards, helmets, shoes.
[0054] According to one embodiment the device is composed of a
glove or an inner glove and it comprises one or more of the
characteristics listed above. Even if the characteristics listed
above are described with reference to an inner glove, they can be
considered valid for a glove or a boxing glove.
[0055] The signals generated by the accelerometer can be used to
obtain an estimation of velocity in the three directions.
Theoretically it is possible to obtain the velocity from the
acceleration, by performing the following integration:
v ( T ) = .intg. - .infin. T a ( t ) t ##EQU00001##
[0056] However, the measures of the acceleration generated by the
accelerometer have some offsets that are not constant in time and
that would lead the integral to diverge. In order to obviate to
this problem, the integral is approximated with a low-pass filter,
so to diminish the drift problems. Furthermore, in order to
diminish these effects at low frequencies, also a high-pass filter
is applied.
[0057] Anyway, this estimation is not sufficiently reliable for the
hand's movement during a hit. Without an estimation of the
trajectory in the three dimensions, in fact, it is not possible to
remove from the acceleration the components due to the centrifugal
forces and the change of gravity given by changes of orientation of
the device.
[0058] An accurate estimation of the trajectory would be possible
only with an IMU with nine degrees of freedom, which would increase
exaggeratedly the cost, weight and complexity of the device.
[0059] In order to obviate to these problems, the present invention
relate also to a method for estimating the velocity starting from
the velocity lost during the hit. Thanks to this approach, it is
possible to ignore the velocity variations before the impact and,
therefore, also the problems related to them.
[0060] This method of measuring the power of an impact of a
wearable device comprising one or more impact sensors and at least
one accelerometer, comprises the following steps: [0061] a)
acquiring signals of acceleration from the accelerometer; [0062] b)
obtaining the velocity vector along a predetermined direction by
integrating the acceleration signals; [0063] c) obtaining the force
vector of the impact from the impact sensors, said sensors being
positioned in such a way that the force vector is along the said
predetermined direction of the velocity vector; [0064] d) calculate
the power of the impact as the dot product of the force vector and
the velocity vector.
[0065] The energy of each impact is also calculated from the
power.
[0066] According to an advantageous embodiment the velocity vector
is taken into account for the calculation of the power of the
impact only in the time period when said velocity is decreasing
during the impact.
[0067] This allows to overlook the velocity before the impact, and
to obtain a more precise calculation.
[0068] According to an embodiment, a low-pass filter is applied to
the acceleration signal before step b).
[0069] According to a further embodiment, wherein a high-pass
filter is applied to the acceleration signal before step b).
[0070] These and other characteristics and advantages of the
present invention will be more clear from the following description
of some non limitative embodiments shown in the annexed drawings
wherein:
[0071] FIGS. 1 to 3 are different views of the device;
[0072] FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the device;
[0073] FIG. 5 shows the measured velocity;
[0074] FIGS. 6 to 8 show the velocity, force and power of an
impact;
[0075] FIG. 9 shows the calculated energy.
[0076] FIG. 1 shows the wearable device of the present invention,
which is composed of an inner glove 1 wearable under a martial art
glove.
[0077] The inner glove 1 is shown in the worn condition and with
the user hand closed in a fist.
[0078] The fingers of the inner glove 1 are truncated, such that in
the worn condition the inner glove 1 covers only the first phalange
of the user's fingers.
[0079] As an alternative it is possible to provide an inner glove
with non-truncated fingers, or with the fingers truncated such to
cover also the second phalange of the user's fingers.
[0080] The inner glove 1 is composed of stretch or non-stretch
fabric, made of any material, such as cotton or synthetic
fibers.
[0081] On the inner glove 12 impact sensors 2 are fastened arranged
such to form an array.
[0082] There are provided three impact sensors 2 at the forefinger,
middle finger, ring finger and little finger respectively, such to
define a detection area that is distributed all over the impact
area of the fist, one sensor of which being placed on the
knuckle.
[0083] According to one embodiment the impact sensors 2 are of the
piezoelectric type, but they can be, as an alternative or in
combination, force sensing resistors (FSR) or of the capacitive
type or of other type.
[0084] FIG. 2 shows a view of the back of the hand with the inner
glove 1 in the worn condition, wherein the array of impact sensors
2 is visible placed on the truncated fingers of the forefinger,
middle finger, ring finger and little finger.
[0085] The device comprises an inertial sensor 3 or inertial
measurement unit, which can comprise one or more accelerometers
and/or gyroscopes in combination or as an alternative to one
another.
[0086] For example it is possible to provide three accelerometers
and three gyroscopes in order to produce a three-dimensional
measurement of the linear and angular accelerations.
[0087] FIG. 3 shows a view of the hand palm with the inner glove 1
in the worn condition, wherein a biometric sensor 4 is visible,
advantageously placed in the wrist area.
[0088] It is possible to provide only one or more biometric
sensors, which can be of any type, for example heart beat sensors,
body temperature sensors, blood pressure sensors, oxygen saturation
sensors, perspiration sensors.
[0089] Sensors 2, 3 and 4 are connected to a central processing
unit 5 which comprises a unit transmitting the detected signals to
a remote station.
[0090] The processing unit 5 preferably is composed of a flexible
electronic card, in order to be better secured to the inner glove
1, which acts as a support, which electronic card comprises a
microprocessor and a plurality of electronic components
conditioning the input signals. However, in a different embodiment
the electronic card is non-flexible.
[0091] All this can be covered by a layer of resin or the like such
to prevent components from being unwelded during the use.
[0092] As an alternative or in combination a curing process can be
used for insulating the components.
[0093] The connection is guaranteed by electric wires, preferably
housed into coulisses formed on the inner glove 1.
[0094] Advantageously, the wires have a zigzag pattern such to have
a length enough for guaranteeing a connection without tearing or
damages for any type of deformation and elongation to which the
inner glove 1 or a part thereof is subjected during the use.
[0095] The processing unit 5 is powered by an electric energy
source, preferably a battery.
[0096] The battery can be housed in a pocket formed in the inner
glove 1 which can be accessed from the outside to allow the battery
to be replaced once it is depleted.
[0097] As an alternative the battery is rechargeable, for example
it is composed of a lithium-ion battery or a lithium-ion polymer
battery or a nickel-metal hydride battery (NiMH) or another type,
there being provided a recharging circuit comprising a connector to
an external power supply, such recharging circuit being outside of
or integrated with respect to the processing unit 5.
[0098] As an alternative, the recharging circuit can comprise an
inductive charging system, which comprises a receiver coupled to
the battery and which is arranged to communicate with a transmitter
coupled with an external electric source. Both the transmitter and
the receiver are provided with one or more coils, in order to
perform inductively this wireless energy transfer, by simply bring
near the transmitter and the receiver. Preferably the standard Qi
is used. However, other standards or protocols can be used.
[0099] The device can be switched on or off by means of a switch.
The switch can comprise a very thin button, a tactile button, which
is sensitive to pressure like the pressure sensors, or a magnetic
switch, which can be activated or deactivated by means of a small
magnet.
[0100] In another embodiment, the device is switched in stand-by
consequently to an inactivity period as detected by the
accelerometer, and can be switched on again once a movement is
detected.
[0101] FIG. 4 shows a functional block diagram of the device,
wherein impact sensors 2, inertial sensors 3 and biometric sensors
4 are visible, connected to the central processing unit 5.
[0102] The data detected by the different sensors are sent to the
central processing unit 5, which comprises a unit 51 transmitting
the detected signals to a remote station.
[0103] The unit 51 transmitting the detected signals is configured
such to transmit the signals to the remote station in real-time,
such that the data can be displayed during television live
broadcasts of the matches.
[0104] The communication between the unit 51 transmitting the
detected signals and the remote station can occur according to any
protocol, preferably according to the ZigBee protocol or Bluetooth
protocol.
[0105] The central processing unit 5 comprises an average unit 50,
which averages two or more of the signals detected by the impact
sensors 2 and it sends the calculated values as an alternative or
in combination with the signals detected by the impact sensors
2.
[0106] In one embodiment all the signals detected by the impact
sensors 2 are averaged for obtaining a single calculated signal
indicative of all the impact sensors 2.
[0107] According to a variant embodiment the signals about each
finger are averaged, therefore 4 signals are obtained indicative of
each finger.
[0108] The central processing unit 5 further comprises a unit
measuring the residual charge of the battery 54, which generates an
alarm signal when the residual charge goes below a predetermined
threshold.
[0109] The signal can be sent to the remote station from the unit
51 transmitting the detected signals or it is possible to provide
signalling means for the user, such as a buzzer or a LED.
[0110] The central processing unit 5 comprises a patient health
alarm unit 55, which compares the signals received from the
biometric sensors 4 with threshold values, which can be
predetermined or set by the user, and it generates an alarm signal
if the detected values exceed the threshold values.
[0111] The central processing unit 5 further comprises a unit 56
recognizing the given punch, which processes the signals generated
by the inertial sensors 3 for defining known patterns referable to
particular moves of the athlete.
[0112] The data are further compared with the signals coming from
the impact sensors 2 in order to estimate the punch given by the
athlete.
[0113] All the received or generated signals can be stored by the
central processing unit in a local storage unit 52, which is
accessible by means of an input/output unit 53, such as a USB port
or a slot for a flash card or similar non volatile storage
devices.
[0114] The signals generated by the accelerometer can be used to
obtain an estimation of velocity in the three directions. The
velocity is obtained from the acceleration, by performing the
following integration:
v ( T ) = .intg. - .infin. T a ( t ) t ##EQU00002##
[0115] and applying a low-pass filter and a high-pass filter.
[0116] Furthermore, the velocity is estimated starting from the
velocity lost during the hit. Thanks to this approach, it is
possible to ignore the velocity variations before the impact and,
therefore, also the problems related to them.
[0117] FIG. 5 shows the velocity measured for two impacts. As can
be seen, the velocity is always ignored except for during the
impacts.
[0118] Once the velocity is calculated from the acceleration, as
explained above, it is possible to calculate and plot the power of
an impact, using the following formula:
P(t)={right arrow over (F)}(t).times.{right arrow over (v)}(t)
where X is the dot product of the force vector and the velocity
vector.
[0119] FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 show respectively the velocity, force and
power of the same impact, as measured and calculated above.
[0120] The direction of interest is obviously that with versor
coming out from the fingers. The force measured by the sensors,
thanks to their positioning, is already the component in that
direction, and it will be sufficient to multiply it with the direct
velocity in the same way to obtain an estimation of the power.
[0121] The energy is linked to the power by the following
integration:
E.intg..sub.t1.sup.t2P(t)dt
[0122] where t1 and t2 are the start and end instants of the
hit.
[0123] In this way the energy of every single hit is calculated
from the power, as can be seen in FIG. 9.
* * * * *