GB2464550A

GB2464550A - Sensor unit for use in sports training

Info

Publication number: GB2464550A
Application number: GB0819353A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Clive Mockford; Geoffrey Wilkins
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-10-22
Filing date: 2008-10-22
Publication date: 2010-04-28
Also published as: GB0819353D0

Abstract

A sensor unit 10 comprises a housing 12, 14 adapted for removable attachment to a surface, means for detecting engagement 16 of an object with the unit, processing means 18 for generating a signal in response to the engagement, communication means 20 for transmitting and receiving signals, and means for indicating an instruction to a user. The communication means may be wireless. The indicator means may comprise at least one light emitting diode 24, or alternatively may comprise at least one audio device. The engagement detecting means preferably detects a force, more preferably measures the magnitude of the force, and may be adapted to determine the location on an impact surface 12 at which engagement occurs. Also disclosed is a sensor unit system further comprising at least one control unit, remote from the sensor unit and including second processing and communication means. The detected object may be a ball, in particular a football.

Description

INTELLECTUAL

. .... PROPERTY OFFICE Application No. GBO8 19353.4 RTM Date:20 January 2010 The following terms are registered trademarks and should be read as such wherever they occur in this document: Soccer Circus, Dance Dance Revolution, Konami, Playstation, Nintendo, Wii, WiiFit and WiiBalanceBoard Intellectual Property Office is an operating name of the Patent Office www.ipo.gov.uk Sensor Unit for Use in Sports Training The present invention relates to a sensor unit, and relates particularly but not exclusively, to a sensor unit for use in sports training.

Training to play a sport, particularly a sport in which a bali is used e.g. football, is particularly difficult to do alone. In such a situation it is difficult to mentally simulate a game play and mentally visualise situations in which a player will have to respond to a particular situation as a player would during a game.

Cones placed on the floor in a particular formation may enable a player to visualise a particular arrangement of obstacles which may arise during a game play around which a ball must be manoeuvred. The problem with this is that the cones do not interact with the player making it difficult to train and gain ability to adapt to continually changing scenarios which may arise during a game.

A relevant example of prior art includes a device developed by Soccer Circus. Such a device includes a rebound board comprising a plurality of sensors to detect the position at which a football, kicked at the board, impacts the board. The rebound board also has a plurality of lights on it to indicate to a person a position where to hit the ball off the board i.e. a target. By having a series of lights that can be turned on and off in sequence the target can be moved. The board includes sensors able to detect whether a ball hitting the board hits the target.

The moving target of this device provides a player with a continually changing game play situation allowing them to train their ability to react to different situations during a game. In particular this device allows a person to improve the accuracy with which they can hit a football at different target positions.

Problems with such a rebound board include that they may only be used when mounted vertically, and because they are large and heavy, this makes it very difficult for a user alter the position of such a board to change the nature of the game.

Also such rebound boards do not have a means of detecting the degree of load applied by the impact.

Another relevant example uf prior art is known as a dance mat. There are a number of game manufacturers who produce arcade games based on a dance platform on which the game player stands (e.g. Dance Dance Revolution) . This platform consists of nine squares in a 3 x 3 array, with pressure sensors in some or all of the squares to detect when the player stands on a square. Most commonly, there are four sensor squares, (these being the centre square in each of the 4 side rows/columns) but there can be up to nine.

The game consists of playing a piece of music, with indications on a screen as to which square the player should stand on at what time. The game then gives scores for accuracy.

There are also soft' domestic versions (by, for example: Konami) comprising of a mat which can be rolled up. These are used with games consoles such as Piaystation.

Problems with such a dance mat include that the layout of the platform cannot be reconfigured. Also each platform square has only one sensor, giving no indication of the degree of accuracy of the foot which falls within each square. Further there are no means of detecting the degree of load applied.

A further relevant example of prior art includes a Wii balance board. Nintendo produce a balance board for use with the Wii games console which has pressure sensors in each of the four feet to calculate the centre of balance of the user standing on it.

This board is used with games (eg: Wii Fit) to detect the changing centre of balance of a user.

Problems with such a Wii balance board include that they can only be used horizontally on the floor, that such boards are adapted to detect changing centre of balance of a person standing on it, not momentary impact from any piece of equipment, and that although several boards can be used in a game, each user only uses one board.

Preferred emhodiments of the present invention seek to

overcome the above disadvantages of the prior art.

According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a sensor unit comprising: a housing adapted to be removably engaged with a surface; engagement detecting means for detecting the engagement of an object with said sensor unit; first processing means for generating a first signal in response to the detection of said engagement; first communication means for transmitting signals, including said first signal to, and receiving signals from, a control unit remote from said sensor unit; and indicator means for indicating an instruction to a user.

An advantage of such a sensor unit according to the present invention is that it may be removably mounted to a surface which can be either horizontal, vertical or inclined. This allows a person to easily change the arrangement of each of a plurality of sensor units to simulate different game situations. Also the sensor units of the present invention are adapted to be controlled remotely by a control unit, thereby further increasing the ease with which they may be moved into different positions to simulate different gaming situations. The control unit itself provides the advantage of allowing a person to program the sensor units to respond in different ways when engaged by an object. The indicator means provide instructions to a person thereby providing the advantages of allowing a person to train their response to changing gaming situations and/or guiding a user through a specific training program.

In a preferred embodiment said first communication means communicate wirelessly with said control unit.

This provides the advantage that sensor units are self contained and may be moved independently of each other, and a control unit.

In another preferred embodiment, the sensor unit further comprises first power supply means in the form of a battery.

In a further preferred embodiment said indicator means comprises at least one light emitting diode (LED) In a preferred embodiment said indicator means comprises at S least one audio device.

In another preferred embodiment said engagement detecting means comprises at least one force detecting device.

In a further preferred embodiment said force detecting device is adapted to measure the magnitude of a force.

This provides the advantage of allowing a person to measure how hard a sensor unit is impacted, which may be used to determine how hard a bali hitting such a sensor unit is launched by a person.

In a preferred embodiment said engagement detecting means comprises at least one illumination detection device.

In another preferred embodiment said sensor unit is adapted to determine the location on said sensor unit at which it is engaged by said object.

This provides the advantage of allowing a person to determine how accurately such a sensor unit is hit by the object.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a sensor unit system comprising: at least one sensor unit in accordance with any of the embodiments previously described; and at least one control unit remote from said sensor unit comprising: second processing means; and second communication means, for transmitting signals, including a second signal to, and receiving signals from, said sensor unit.

This provides the advantage of controlling the sensor units of the present invention remotely and allows a person to program the sensor units to respond in different ways when engaged by the object.

In a preferred embodiment said control unit further comprises second power supply means in the form of a battery.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-Figure 1 illustrates an exploded view of a first embodiment of a sensor unit of the present invention; Figure 2 illustrates a perspective view of the impact surface of the sensor unit in figure 1; Figure 3 illustrates a perspective view of the mounting plate in figure 1 to which the electrical components of a sensor unit have been mounted; Figure 4 illustrates an expioded view of a second embodiment of a sensor unit of the present invention; Figure 5 illustrates a perspective view of the impact surface of the sensor unit in figure 4; -.7-Figure 6 illustrates a perspective view of the mounting plate in figure 4 to which the electrical components of a sensor unit have been mounted; Figure 7-12 illustrate a plurality of sensor units according to the present invention being used in different football training scenarios; Figures 13-16 illustrate a plurality of sensor units according to the present invention being used in different fitness training scenarios; Figure 17 illustrates a plurality of sensor units according to the present invention being used in tennis training; Figure 10 illustrates a plurality of sensor units according to the present invention being used in baseball training; and Figure 19 illustrates a plurality of sensor units according to the present invention being used in basketball training.

Referring to figures 1-6, a sensor unit (10) includes housing having an impact surface (12) and a mounting plate (14) which when brought into engagement with one another define a first volume within the sensor unit (10) in which the electrical components reside. Such electrical components include sensors (16), processor (18), communication device (20) battery (22) and iight emitting diodes (LEDs) (24) . The sensors (16) are partiouiariy but not exclusively pressure sensors. Each sensor (16) is in electrical connection with a first processor (18) , which generates a first signal in response to the detection, by a pressure sensor (16), of a force being applied to the sensor unit (10) . The processor (18) is also electrically connected to a first communication device (20) for transmitting/receiving an electromagnetic signal. In particular the first communication device (20) is adapted to transmit a signal to a control unit (not shown), remote to the sensor unit (10), on detection by a pressure sensor (16) of a force being applied to the sensor unit (10). The LEDs (24) are adapted to respond to signals from the first processor (18) -A battery (22) is used to supply power to each of the electrical components of the sensor unit (10) The processor (18) may be adapted to turn on and/or off each or some of the LEDs (24) in response to the detection of a force being applied to the sensor unit (10) . Alternatively the processor (18) may be adapted to turn on and/or off each or some of the LED5 (24) on the receipt of a second signal sent by a control unit (not shown) remote to the sensor unit (10) The sensor unit (10) can be removably engaged with a surface e.g. the floor or a wail, and is preferably, but not specifically, intended to be used in conjunction with at least one other sensor unit (10) but may be used individually.

Figure 7 illustrates an exemplary situation in which a plurality of sensor units (210) as previously described, may be used in sports training e.g. football. A person (212) may place a plurality of sensor units (210) on the floor in any arrangement e.g. 4 by 4 grid, and the sensor units (210) are spaced apart from one another. A control unit (not shown) then controls the sensor units (210) such that the LEDs on only one such sensor unit (210) in the grid, selected at random or selected specifically, for use in a particular training program, by the controi unit (not shown), are switched on at a time. Sensor unit (214) in figure 7 has its LEJD5 turned on. The sensor unit (214) having its LEDs turned on is controlled to change after a period of time or when the sensor unit (214) with its LEDs on is touched with a ball (216), such that the LEDs turn off and the LED5 on another sensor unit (210) are turned on.

Such an arrangement of sensor units (210) provides a person (212) with a constantly changing situation in which they must manoeuvre a football (216) around the sensor units having LEDs turned off and bring the bali (216) into contact with the sensor unit (214) with its LEDs turned on, thereby improving the skill with which a person (212) may control a football (216). The fact that the sensor units (210) are removably engaged with the floor allows a person to easily change the sensor units's positions on the floor such that the positions to where a person (212) is required to place the bali (216) are changed.

The control unit (not shown) remote from the sensor units (210), records a person's (212) score e.g. how many times they are able to reach the sensor unit (214) with its LED5 turned on within a preselected time, and this information is displayed on a screen (210) as illustrated in figure 7. The control unit (not shown) also records various other kinds of information and displays it on the screen (218) . The information intended to be displayed on the screen (218) is transmitted to the screen (218) from the control unit either using a wire, or wirelessly. Alternatively, the control unit could be contained within the screen structure.

Referring to Figure 8, in which like reference numerals to figure 7 have been used but increased by 100, this figure illustrates another exemplary use of sensor units (310) according to the present invention. A sensor unit (310) or a S plurality of such sensor units (310) are mounted to a wall, thereby providing a target for a person (312) to hit with a ball (316) Each of a plurality of wall mounted sensor units (310) is controlled in a similar way to that of the preceding exemplary use, except in that the sensor unit (314) having its LED5 turned on is controlled to change after a period of time or when the sensor unit (314) with its bEDs on is hit with a ball (316) . This allows a person (312) to improve the accuracy with which they can hit a bali (316) . The fact that the sensor units (310) are removably mounted to the wall allows a person to easily change the sensor units's positions on the wafl such that the positions of the targets at which a person (312) is required to aim are changed.

Referring to Figure 9, in which like reference numerals to those of figure 8 have been used but increased by 100. This figure illustrates a further exemplary use of sensor units (410) according to the present invention. Sensor units (410) may be used in a similar way to that described in the previous exemplary use illustrated in figure 8, however the 23 sensor units (410) are propped up on the floor using wedges (401).

Referring to figures 10-12, in which like reference numerals to those of figure 7 have been used but increased by 300, these figures illustrate further examples of sensor units (510) according to the present invention being used in football training.

Referring to figures 13-16, in which iike reference numerals to those of figure 7 have been used but increased by 400, these figures illustrate examples of sensor units (610) according to the present invention being used to train a person (612) not using a ball, wherein the sensor units are adapted to respond to being engaged by a person's body.

Referring to figures 17-19, in which like reference numerals to those of figure 7 have been used but increased by 500, these figures illustrate examples of sensor units (710) according to the present invention being used in sports training, in particular tennis, baseball and basket ball in conjunction with a tennis ball (701), baseball (703) and basket ball (705) respectively.

It will be reiterated that the sensor units (10) of the present invention are not restricted to respond to contact with only a ball of any sort, or a persons body, but may be used in conjunction with and made to respond to contact with any object whether it be for use in sport or not.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiments have been described by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. For example a sensor unit may use a loud speaker adapted to emit a sound instead of, or as well as, an array of LEDs to provide instructions to a person. Also the pressure sensors (16) may be adapted to measure the magnitude of a force being applied to a sensor unit (10) . A sensor unit (10) may comprise an array of pressure sensors (16) and be adapted to determine the point on the sensor unit (10) at which a force is exerted on the sensor unit (10) . A sensor unit may comprise an illumination level detector to determine whether an object, in particular a ball e.g. football, or a persons body, is in contact with the sensor unit.

Claims

Claims 1. A sensor unit comprising: a housing adapted to be removably engaged with a S surface; engagement detecting means for detecting the engagement of an object with said sensor unit; first processing means for generating a first signal in response to the detection of said engagement; first communication means for transmitting signals, including said first signal to, and receiving signals from, a control unit remote from said sensor unit; and indicator means for indicating an instruction to a user.
2. A sensor unit according to claim 1, wherein said first communication means communicate wirelessly with said control unit.
3. A sensor unit according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising first power supply means in the form of a battery.
4. A sensor unit according any of claims 1 to 3, wherein said indicator means comprises at teast one light emitting diode (LED)
5. A sensor unit according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein said indicator means comprises at least one audio device.
6. A sensor unit according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said engagement detecting means comprises at least one force detecting device.
7. A sensor unit according to claim 6, wherein said force detecting device is adapted to measure the magnitude of a force.
8. A sensor unit according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein said engagement detecting means comprises at least one illumination detection device.
9. A sensor unit according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said sensor unit is adapted to determine the location on said sensor unit at which it is engaged by said object.
10. A sensor unit substantially as herelnbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
11. A sensor unit system comprising: at least one sensor unit in accordance with any of the preceding claims; and at least one control unit remote from said sensor unit comprising: second processing means; and second communication means, for transmitting signals, including a second signal to, and receiving signals from, said sensor unit.
12. A sensor unit system according to claim 11, wherein said control unit further comprises second power supply means in the form of a battery.
13. A sensor unit system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.