Footwear Sensor System for Real-Time Gait Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for analyzing athletic activity often fail to provide real-time, active feedback and forward-looking guidance to users, limiting their effectiveness in improving performance.
Innovation Solution
A system that includes a sensor system with force sensors in an article of footwear, an electronic module for data collection and transmission, and an electronic device for comparing data to a footstrike template, providing real-time feedback on deviations from a desired footstrike pattern.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If real-time feedback and forward-looking guidance are provided to users, then athletic performance improvement is enhanced, but device complexity and data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-stores multiple footstrike templates representing ideal gait patterns before athletic activity begins. During activity, the system compares real-time sensor data against these pre-established templates to provide immediate feedback, eliminating the need for complex real-time template generation and reducing processing complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous feedback by comparing real-time footstrike data against stored templates and providing immediate guidance to users. This feedback loop enables performance improvement by allowing users to adjust their gait based on real-time comparisons, while the use of pre-stored templates keeps the feedback mechanism computationally manageable
2Measurement precision
If detailed footstrike pattern analysis is performed in real-time, then measurement precision is improved, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates simplified digital representations (copies) of ideal footstrike patterns in the form of pre-stored templates. These templates capture the essential characteristics of proper gait technique without requiring complex computational models, enabling fast comparison against real-time sensor data while maintaining measurement precision
Solution Approach 2:
Complex footstrike template generation and analysis parameters are pre-computed and stored before athletic activity begins. During actual use, the system only performs simple comparisons between real-time data and pre-analyzed templates, dramatically reducing processing time while maintaining high measurement precision
Data Source
AI summary
A system for analyzing athletic activity is usable with an article of footwear including a sensor system with a plurality of force sensors configured to sense force exerted by a user's foot, an electronic module contained within the article of footwear, and a plurality of sensor leads connecting the sensors to the electronic module, wherein the electronic module collects data based on force input from the sensors and transmits the data. The system also includes an electronic device in communication with the electronic module. The electronic device includes a processor that receives the data from the electronic module, compares the data to a footstrike template corresponding to a desired footstrike pattern to determine whether a deviation from the footstrike template exists, and generates an indication to the user when the deviation from the desired footstrike pattern is determined to exist, which may also include a degree of such deviation.