Microprocessor-Controlled Exercise Machine with Dynamic Resistance
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional exercise equipment fails to provide dynamic resistance matching a user's maximal force output, especially during the eccentric phase, and often requires additional support due to safety concerns, limiting the effectiveness and safety of muscle loading across the full range of motion.
Innovation Solution
The development of exercise machines that incorporate a microprocessor-controlled system with a motor, torque sensor, and position sensor, allowing for selective control of resistance through a network of cables and pulleys, enabling isokinetic, isometric, isotonic, and isoinertial modes, with hybrid modes, to dynamically adjust resistance based on user input and muscle activity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If conventional exercise equipment uses constant weight resistance, then the equipment structure is simple, but the resistance does not match the user's maximal force output during eccentric phase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by transitioning from constant weight resistance to a dynamic resistance system using a motor controlled by a microprocessor. The motor's torque output is dynamically adjusted based on real-time feedback from torque and position sensors, enabling the resistance to vary throughout the range of motion to match the user's force capabilities during both concentric and eccentric phases.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback through torque sensors and position sensors that continuously monitor the user's applied force and joint angle. This feedback is processed by a microprocessor that adjusts the motor's resistance in real-time, creating a closed-loop control system that adapts the resistance to the user's instantaneous force output.
2Force
If isoinertial training with weighted flywheel is used to provide dynamic resistance, then the force curve matches user output, but mechanical shocks create safety issues
Solution Approach 1:
The feedback mechanism continuously monitors the user's force application and adjusts the motor's resistance smoothly, preventing the abrupt mechanical shocks characteristic of flywheel systems. The microprocessor processes sensor data to modulate the motor output, ensuring continuous and controlled resistance delivery without impact loads.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the purely mechanical flywheel system with an electromechanical system where an electric motor provides resistance. This substitution eliminates the inertial effects and mechanical shocks of the flywheel while maintaining the ability to deliver dynamic force curves through electronic control of the motor's torque output.
3Reliability
If a second person or spotter is required for safety during exercise, then user safety is improved, but the ease of operation and independence of use deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The exercise equipment performs self-service by automatically monitoring the user's performance through sensors and adjusting resistance through the microprocessor-controlled motor. The system independently detects when the user reaches the limits of their safe force output and modulates resistance accordingly, eliminating the need for external supervision while maintaining safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The real-time feedback from torque and position sensors enables the system to autonomously monitor user safety by detecting excessive force or improper form. The microprocessor processes this feedback and automatically adjusts the motor's resistance to prevent unsafe conditions, providing safety through intelligent control rather than human oversight.
4Manufacturing precision
If the exercise equipment is designed for specific exercises only, then the manufacturing precision and reliability are improved, but the adaptability to different exercises and users deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves universality by designing a generic exercise system with a motor, microprocessor, and sensor suite that can be applied to various exercise modalities. The system's adaptability comes from its ability to measure torque and position across different ranges of motion and adjust resistance dynamically, allowing the same basic design to serve multiple exercises and user needs without sacrificing manufacturing precision.
Data Source
AI summary
Exercise machines and methods are provided for purposes of increasing a person's physical fitness. The systems are computer-controlled and are devoid of any stacks of weights associated with conventional exercise equipment. The systems feature isotonic modes, isokinetic modes, isometric modes and hybrid exercise modes. The systems are programmed to be suited to a particular individual user, based on their range of motion for a particular selected exercise and body part, which is determined during an initialization process. Force experienced by users is not dampened, and forces experienced by a user are responsive by the system to the force input by the user. In some embodiments the position of a user's limb is employed as an input for determining the torque output of a resistance unit which supplies resistive force for undertaking a selected exercise.