Ski power measurement system
AssigneeGarmin Switzerland GmbH
InventorsChristopher J. Kulach, Timothy Vandermeiden, Mason V. N. Hender
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for measuring power generated by a skier is disclosed. The power generated by the skier may be calculated based upon each complete revolution of a ski pole or ski movement. To do so, the system may include various sensors that measure a force exerted on a ski pole or ski, the angle of the ski pole or ski, and the velocity of the skier at various time instants within each ski pole or ski revolution. A processing unit may calculate power generated by the skier in the skier's direction of travel using the force exerted in the skier's direction of travel during a complete revolution of ski pole (or ski) movement and the velocity of the skier.
Claims20
A system to calculate power generated by a skier, comprising:
- a first sensor unit configured to generate force data indicative of a force exerted by a skier on a ski pole;
- a second sensor unit configured to generate movement data indicative of movement of the skier in a direction of travel;
- a portable computing device in communication with the first sensor unit and the second sensor unit, the portable computing device configured to:
- receive the force data and the movement data,
- determine a speed based on the movement of the skier in the direction of travel,
- track the movement of the ski pole during a complete revolution of ski pole movement, and
- calculate the power generated by the skier based upon the force data measured over the complete revolution of ski pole movement and the determined speed of the skier in the direction of travel during the complete revolution of ski pole movement.
A system to calculate power generated by a skier during a skiing session, comprising:
- a display;
- a sensor module mountable to a ski pole, the sensor module including:
- a first sensor unit configured to generate force data indicative of a force exerted by a skier, and
- a second sensor unit configured to generate ski pole angle data indicative of movement of the ski pole;
- a third sensor unit configured to generate movement data indicative of the movement of the skier in a direction of travel;
- and
- a portable computing device in communication with the display, the sensor module, and the third sensor unit the portable computing device configured to:
- receive the force data, the ski pole angle data, and the movement data,
- identify time periods associated with a complete revolution of ski pole movement based on the force data or the ski pole angle data,
- determine a speed based on the movement of the skier in the direction of travel,
- calculate power generated by the skier during each identified time period based upon the force data and the movement data corresponding to the identified time periods;
- and
- display calculated power generated by the skier on the display.
A system to calculate power generated by a skier through a ski pole during a skiing session, comprising:
- a first sensor unit configured to generate force data indicative of a force exerted by the skier on the ski pole;
- a second sensor unit configured to generate ski pole angle data indicative of movement of the ski pole;
- a third sensor unit configured to generate movement data indicative of the movement of the skier in a direction of travel;
- and
- a portable computing device in communication with the first sensor unit, the second sensor unit, and the third sensor unit, the portable computing device configured to:
- receive the force data, the ski pole angle data, and the movement data,
- track force exerted by the skier and movement of the ski pole over a complete revolution of ski pole movement;
- determine a speed based on the movement of the skier in the direction of travel,
- identify, for each of a plurality of time instants throughout the complete revolution of ski pole movement, a vector component of force exerted by the skier in the direction of travel by correlating the force exerted by the skier to the angle of the ski pole at each time instant;
- and
- calculate power generated by the skier based on the vector component of force exerted by the skier and the speed of the skier movement in the direction of travel for each of the plurality of time instants.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.