US20090062073A1

US20090062073A1 - Exercise recording system

Info

Publication number: US20090062073A1
Application number: US12/032,066
Authority: US
Inventors: Shang-Yuan Cheng; Fu-Jui Huang
Original assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute ITRI
Current assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute ITRI
Priority date: 2007-08-28
Filing date: 2008-02-15
Publication date: 2009-03-05
Also published as: TW200910212A

Abstract

An exercise recording system suitable for recording the exercise information of a user is provided. The exercise recording system includes an electronic tag, a reading module and a back-end data server. Identification information corresponding to the user is recorded inside the electronic tag, and the user exercises along an exercise path. The reading module is disposed on the exercise path so as to read the identification information recorded inside the electronic tag. The back-end data server receives the identification information transmitted from the reading module to retrieve essential information for calculating exercise information of the user.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a recording system and, more particularly, to an exercise recording system capable of recording exercise information of a user.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In busy modern life, it has been emphasized to stay healthy by exercise. People jog or walk in a nearby park at leisure and sometimes do exercise in a sports center to stay energetic and healthy. Generally, ten thousand steps a day is believed to be the easiest way to stay fit and healthy.
A user only has to wear a step counter on the waist to accumulatively calculate the step count when the user is walking. The user learns whether a pre-set target is reached from the accumulated step count, which is to be converted into consumed calories, after a day is done. Furthermore, the accumulated step count can be recorded on a notebook or uploaded onto the Internet for statistics of exercise during a period of time.
However, it is biased to determine consumed calories only from the accumulated step count because of the great diversity of sports. On the other hand, the user sometimes forgets to bring the step counter so that he cannot be informed of the step count of the day. Moreover, it is inconvenient to record exercise information every day. What is worse, the sensitivity of a step counter needs to be calibrated regularly; otherwise, the step counter counts zero or two steps when only one step is taken, which leads to incorrect step counts and exercise intensity.
Moreover, if the user touches the reset button by mistake, he cannot learn the correct step count for the day. Moreover, it is very likely that the user forgets to record and upload the accumulated step count onto the Internet.
Therefore, there is need in providing an exercise recording system capable of recording exercise information of a user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an exercise recording system, capable of recording the exercise status of a user and converting the exercise status into exercise information such as the consumed calories and the exercise intensity of the user.
In order to achieve the foregoing or other objects, the present invention provides an exercise recording system for recording exercise information of a user, the exercise recording system comprising: an electronic tag, a reading module and a back-end data server. Identification information corresponding to the user is recorded inside the electronic tag disposed on the user doing exercise along an exercise path. The reading module is disposed on the exercise path so as to read the identification information recorded inside the electronic tag. The back-end data server receives the identification information transmitted from the reading module to retrieve essential information for calculating exercise information of the user.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the essential information comprises the weight, age, gender of the user and the time the user passes by the reading module.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the exercise path is a closed path. The reading module comprises a reader. The essential information comprises the distance of the exercise path. The back-end data server stores a conversion table for converting the speed of the user into a metabolic equivalent (MET). The speed of the user is the distance divided by a time interval between two times when the user passes by the reader.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the reading module comprises a plurality of readers disposed along the exercise path. The essential information comprises the distance between two of the readers along the exercise path. The back-end data server stores a conversion table for converting the speed into a metabolic equivalent (MET). The speed of the user is the distance divided by a time interval during which the user passes by two of the readers.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the electronic tag communicates with the reading module wirelessly.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the back-end data server is linked to the Internet so that the user enquires about the exercise information from the back-end data server through the Internet.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the back-end data server transmits the exercise information to the user so that the user learns the exercise information.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the exercise path is one of a walking trail, a jogging trail, a bicycle trail, a swimming lane and a hiking trail. For example, in one embodiment of the present invention, when the user is biking, the electronic tag can be disposed on a bicycle. In the present embodiment, if one or more readers are added along the peripheral path, the readers can be used for security monitoring and as reminders so as to make sure the participants are along the correct programmed exercise path. Moreover, exercise information of respective participants can be automatically recorded. In this case, missing or error recording of the exercise information can be avoided.
Therefore, in the exercise recording system of the present invention, the reader reads the identification information inside the electronic tag and transmits the identification information to the back-end data server when the user gets close to the reader in the reading module. The back-end data server calculates the metabolic equivalent (MET) according to the speed of the user and then calculates the consumed calories according to the metabolic equivalent, the weight and exercise time of the user so that the user is well informed of his exercise intensity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects, spirits and advantages of several embodiments of the present invention will be readily understood by the accompanying drawings and detailed descriptions, wherein:

FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B show a schematic diagram and a functional block diagram of an exercise recording system according to one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an exercise recording system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention can be exemplified by the preferred embodiments as described hereinafter.
Please refer to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, which show a schematic diagram and a functional block diagram of an exercise recording system according to one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, the exercise recording system 100 of the present invention is suitable for recording exercise information of a user 50. The exercise recording system 100 comprises an electronic tag 110, a reading module 130 and a back-end data server 140. The electronic tag 110 records the identification information 52 corresponding to the user 50 doing exercise along an exercise path 120.
It is noted that the present embodiment is described for a single user 50. However, the disclosure of the present invention can also be used for multiple users. Those with ordinary skills in the art can easily make modifications to apply the disclosure of the present invention in the case where there are multiple users.
Moreover, the exercise recording system 100 is disposed in the track-and-field ground for example, wherein the exercise path 120 is the track. For detailed description, the exercise path 120 is represented by a dotted oval. It does not imply that the user 50 can only run, jog or walk along the dotted oval but, instead, that the user 50 can run, jog or walk along any of the tracks, which those with ordinary skills in the art can easily comprehend.
Accordingly, the reading module 130 in the present embodiment only comprises a reader 132 because the exercise path 120 is a closed path. The reader 132 (reading module 130) is disposed along the exercise path 120. Certainly, in the present invention, the number of the readers 132 is not limited. In other words, a plurality of readers can be disposed along the exercise path 120 in the present invention.
Moreover, the reader 132 (reading module 130) reads the identification information 52 inside the electronic tag 110 and then integrate the number of the reader 132 and the user 50 as identification information 52′, which is transmitted to the back-end data server 140. In present embodiment, the electronic tag 110 and the reader 132 (reading module 130) are paired using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) based technology to communicate wirelessly.
The electronic tag 110 can comprise a built-in heartbeat detection module to directly detect the heartbeat value of the user 50 and integrate the heartbeat value in the identification information 52 to be transmitted to the reader 132 (reading module 130). Certainly, the user 50 can also wear a cardiac detector to regularly transmit the detected heartbeat value to the electronic tag 110 using a wireless fashion. The heartbeat value is returned when the user 50 passes by the reader 132.
It is noted that the active distance between the electronic tag 110 and the reader 132 depends on the frequency. The active distance is within the range from tens of centimeters to tens of meters, which is determined by selecting a proper frequency by those with ordinary skills in the art according to actual needs.
After the reader 132 (reading module 130) reads the identification information 52 recorded inside the electronic tag 110, the identification information 52′ is transmitted to the back-end data server 140 through wired or wireless communication. Thereby the back-end data server 140 obtains corresponding essential information 54 according to the identification information 52′. Part of the essential information 54 is pre-stored inside the database of the back-end data server 140. Then the back-end data server 140 calculates the exercise information of the user based on the identification information 52′ and the essential information 54.
In present embodiment, the exercise information 56 of the user 50 comprises consumed calories. We will describe how to determine consumed calories hereinafter. Moreover, the exercise information can be the exercise intensity of the user. However, the present invention is only exemplified by but not limited to the following description. Those with ordinary skills in the art can make modifications within the scope of the present invention.
Referring to FIG. 1B, the back-end data server 140 comprises a processor 142, a receiving unit 144 and a database 146. The processor 142 is lined to the receiving unit 144 and the database 146. For example, the receiving unit 144 comprises a network interface card (NIC) and a wireless access point (AP) for receiving the identification information 52′. Certainly, the receiving unit 144 can also be linked to the reader 132 (reading module 130)to receive identification information 52′ through a wire.
Accordingly, after the receiving unit 144 receives the identification information 52′, the identification information 52′ is transmitted to the processor 142. After the processor 142 identifies the identification information 52′, information concerning the weight of the user 50 can be obtained from the database 146. Moreover, since the processor 142 is capable of identifying the identification information 52 received by a specific reader 132 (reading module 130), the processor 142 can retrieves information concerning the distance of the exercise path 120 from the database 146. In the present embodiment, the distance of the exercise path 120 is the perimeter of a single track in the track-and-field ground. To sum up, the essential information 54 comprises the weight of the user 50, the time for the user 50 to pass by the reader 132 (reading module 130) and the distance of the exercise path 120.
When the user 50 is done with one track in the track-and-field ground and has passed the reader 132 (reading module 130) twice, the back-end data server 140 divides the distance of the exercise path 120 by the time interval between two times when the user 50 passes by the reader 132 (reading module 130) so as to calculate the speed of the user 50. On the other hand, a conversion table 146 a is built in the database 146 of the back-end data server 140 to record the relation between the speed and the metabolic equivalent (MET). Therefore, the processor 142 converts the speed of the user 50 to the metabolic equivalent. Then, the consumed calories of the user 50 can be obtained by multiplying the weight of the user 50 by the exercise time and the metabolic equivalent of the user 50.

	TABLE 1

		metabolic equivalent
	Exercise items and speed	(kcal/Kg/hr)

	walking (below 5 km/hr)	3
	walking (5.5 km/hr)	5.6
	jogging (8 km/hr)	10
	jogging (12 km/hr)	15
	jogging (16 km/hr)	20
	jogging (20 km/hr)	25
	biking (8.8 km/hr)	3
	biking (21 km/hr)	9.7
	hiking upward (5°)	8
	hiking upward (10°)	11
	hiking upward (15°)	15
	hiking downward	3.7
	swimming (free style)	12
	Swimming (butterfly style)	14
	Swimming (backstroke style)	10

Table 1 is an extraction from a conversion table according to one embodiment of the present invention. In Table 1, different speeds correspond to different metabolic equivalents when it comes to walking or jogging. When the user 50 is walking or jogging at different speeds, the back-end data server 140 calculates the actual consumed calories of the user 50 according to different metabolic equivalents. For example, the user 50 is walking or jogging at a speed of 12 km/hr for the initial laps and at a lowered speed of 5.5 km/hr for the final laps. The amount of consumed calories is calculated based on 15 kcal/kg/hr for the initial laps and 5.6 kcal/kg/hr for the final laps.
In other words, the amount of consumed calories depends on the speed. In the present invention, the amount of consumed calories of the user 50 doing exercise at different speeds can be accumulatively calculated. Unlike the conventional step counter that accumulatively calculates the step count to be converted into exercise intensity or consumed calories, the exercise recording system 100 of the present invention is capable of recording the exercise information of the user 50 according to the actual exercise status of the user 50.
Moreover, Table 1 can be further developed into a look-up table that records metabolic equivalent according to gender, age, etc to achieve more precise calculation for consumed calories. The look-up table for metabolic equivalent is based on experiments made by medical experts, and therefore, those with ordinary skills in the art can update the look-up table according to newly published medical magazines or journals.
Moreover, by using the exercise recording system 100 of the present invention, the user 50 only has to wear an electronic tag 110 when doing exercise and the exercise recording system 100 automatically records the exercise status of the user 50 to further calculate and record the exercise information of the user 50. Furthermore, unlike the conventional step counter that is required to be disposed on the waist, the disposed position of the electronic tag 110 of the present invention is not limited. For example, the user 50 can wear the electronic tag 110 on the wrist or the arm so that the electronic tag 110 does not hinder exercise. In the future, the electronic tag 110 may possibly be implanted into the epidermis of the user 50. Therefore, the user 50 is prevented from forgetting bring the electronic tag 110. In this case, the electronic tag 110 will be able to detect and record the heartbeat value regularly.
It is noted that Table 1 is only an extraction from the conversion table 146 a. In practical cases, the difference in speed in the conversion table 146 a is smaller so that the actual speed of the user 50 corresponds to a nearest speed in the conversion table to calculate the corresponding metabolic equivalent. Certainly, the actual speed of the user 50 can be used to calculate the corresponding metabolic equivalent by interpolation, which is well known to those with ordinary skills in the art and description thereof is not repeated.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the exercise information is the exercise intensity of the user 50. Similarly, after the processor 142 identifies the identification information 52′, the processor 142 picks up information concerning age of the user 50 from the database 146 so as to convert the information into an extreme heartbeat value of the user 50. For example, the extreme heartbeat value is 220 subtract by the age of the user 50. In other words, if the age of the user 50 is 30, the extreme heartbeat value of the user 50 is 190.
Accordingly, the exercise intensity of the user 50 is the heartbeat value of the user 50 divided by the extreme heartbeat value. For example, if the heartbeat value of the user 50 doing exercise is 110, the exercise intensity is equal to 57% (110/190). According to investigations made by American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the exercise intensity needs to be within the range from 60˜90% for 20 to 60 minutes if one wants to keep excellent cardiopulmonary exercise. Therefore, the user learns about his cardiopulmonary exercise based on the exercise intensity and the duration.
In the present embodiment, the back-end data server 140 further comprises a network linking unit (not shown) for interconnection with the Internet. When the user 50 has finished doing exercise, the user 50 inquires the exercise information (comprising consumed calories, exercise intensity, etc) of the user 50 from the back-end data server 140 through the Internet. On the other hand, the back-end data server 140 is also capable of transmitting the exercise information (comprising consumed calories, exercise intensity, etc) to the user 50 wirelessly using a mobile message or an e-mail.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an exercise recording system according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the exercise recording system 200 of the present embodiment is similar to the exercise recording system 100 (as shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B) except that the reading module 230 of the exercise recording system 200 comprises a plurality of readers 232 a to 232 f disposed at the intersections (232 a to 232 d) or along the exercise path 220 (232 e to 232 f).
In the present embodiment, the exercise recording system 200 is disposed in the park, for example. The exercise path 220 is a walking trail in the park. When the user 50 passes by the readers 232 a to 232 f, the readers 232 a to 232 f read the identification information (not shown) inside the electronic tag 110 and then transmit the identification information to back-end data server 140.
For example, the user 50 does exercise along the exercise path 220 to pass by the readers 232 a to 232 f. After the readers 232 a and 232 f transmit identification information to the back-end data server 140, the back-end data server 140 picks up the distance of the exercise path 220 between the readers 232 a ad 232 f and obtains the speed of the user 50 by dividing the distance by a time interval during which the user passes by two of the readers 232 a and 232 f. The speed can be used to determine the metabolic equivalent of the user 50 according to the conversion table in Table 1. The amount of consumed calories of the user 50 is calculated based on the weight and the exercise time. Certainly, the exercise intensity is calculated similarly to the foregoing embodiment, and thus description thereof is not repeated.
It is noted that the exercise recording system of the present invention is exemplified by but not limited to the track-and-field ground and the park. For example, the exercise recording system can also be disposed in a swimming pool, on the mountain or on the highway. The exercise path is one of a walking trail, a jogging trail, a bicycle trail, a swimming lane and a hiking trail.
It is explained that, for a hiking trail, the metabolic equivalent depends on the gradient of the trail. Therefore, the back-end data server calculates the corresponding metabolic equivalent according to the disposed locations of the readers. Moreover, for a swimming lane, since the back-end data server does not have the slightest idea of the styles, the amount of consumed calories for respective swimming styles is calculated independently so that the user learns about the amount of consumed calories according to practical needs.
Moreover, for a biking trail, the user 50 does exercise on equipment such as a bicycle. In this case, the electronic tag 110 can be disposed either on the user 50 or on the sports equipment. Those with ordinary skills in the art can easily learn that the electronic tag 110 is only disposed on the user's end (i.e., on the user or any equipment used by the user).
Accordingly, in the exercise recording system of the present invention, the exercise recording system automatically calculate the metabolic equivalent according to the speed of the user when the user passes by the reader and calculate the exercise information comprising the amount of consumed calories based on the metabolic equivalent, the weight and exercise time of the user so that the user learns about the exercise intensity.
The exercise recording system of the present invention can be used in different sports equipments to obtain the exercise information comprising the amount of consumed calories and exercise intensity according to the exercise the user does (such as walking, jogging, hiking, biking and swimming). Furthermore, the user inquires the exercise intensity from the back-end data server through the Internet after he has finished doing exercise. In this case, the user does not have to record the exercise information and hence the user is more willing to do exercise.
Although this invention has been disclosed and illustrated with reference to particular embodiments, the principles involved are susceptible for use in numerous other embodiments that will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. This invention is, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. An exercise recording system for recording exercise information of a user, the exercise recording system comprising:

an electronic tag, capable of recording identification information corresponding to the user doing exercise along an exercise path;

a reading module, disposed on the exercise path so as to read the identification information recorded inside the electronic tag; and

a back-end data server, capable of receiving the identification information transmitted from the reading module to retrieve essential information for calculating exercise information of the user.

2. The exercise recording system as recited in claim 1, wherein the essential information comprises the weight of the user and the time for the user to pass by the reading module.

3. The exercise recording system as recited in claim 2, wherein the exercise path is a closed path, the reading module comprises a reader, the essential information comprises the distance of the exercise path and the back-end data server stores a conversion table for converting the speed of the user into a metabolic equivalent (MET);

wherein, the speed of the user is the distance divided by a time interval between two times when the user passes by the reader.

4. The exercise recording system as recited in claim 3, wherein the exercise information comprises the consumed calories defined by the weight multiplied by the exercise time and the metabolic equivalent.

5. The exercise recording system as recited in claim 2, wherein the reading module comprises a plurality of readers disposed along the exercise path, the essential information comprises the distance between two of the readers along the exercise path, and the back-end data server stores a conversion table for converting the speed into a metabolic equivalent (MET);

wherein, the speed of the user is the distance divided by a time interval during which the user passes by two of the readers.

6. The exercise recording system as recited in claim 5, wherein the exercise information comprises the consumed calories defined by the weight multiplied by the exercise time and the metabolic equivalent.

7. The exercise recording system as recited in claim 1, wherein the electronic tag is capable of detecting a heartbeat value, the essential information comprises an extreme heartbeat value and the exercise information comprises an exercise intensity;

wherein, the exercise intensity is equal to the extreme heartbeat value.

8. The exercise recording system as recited in claim 1, wherein the electronic tag is disposed on the user.

9. The exercise recording system as recited in claim 1, further comprising a sports equipment, whereon the electronic tag is disposed and whereby the user does exercise along the exercise path.

10. The exercise recording system as recited in claim 1, wherein the electronic tag communicates with the reading module wirelessly.

11. The exercise recording system as recited in claim 1, wherein the back-end data server is linked to the Internet so that the user enquires about the exercise information from the back-end data server through the Internet.

12. The exercise recording system as recited in claim 11, wherein the back-end data server transmits the exercise information to the user so that the user learns the exercise information.

13. The exercise recording system as recited in claim 11, wherein the exercise path is one of a walking trail, a jogging trail, a bicycle trail, a swimming lane and a hiking trail.