WO2010094819A1

WO2010094819A1 - Portable system for assessing ability to high jump

Info

Publication number: WO2010094819A1
Application number: PCT/ES2010/000059
Authority: WO
Inventors: José Luis GONZÁLEZ MONSTESINOS; Pablo Ruiz Gallardo
Original assignee: Universidad De Cádiz
Priority date: 2009-02-13
Filing date: 2010-02-11
Publication date: 2010-08-26
Also published as: ES2344980B1; ES2344980A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a portable system for assessing ability to high jump. Said system comprises a logical software component consisting of a set of instructions stored in the ROM memory of a microcontroller controlling the components of a device. The system also comprises a detection element comprising a clip to be placed on the shoe to be worn by the subject to be studied, and which has various electrical contacts causing the electrical circuit to close when the foot is placed on a conductive strip. The system further comprises a strip consisting of a conductive material and a main hardware module that is connected to the clip by means of a cable or wirelessly and comprises a battery, one or two microprocessors for treating the pulses generated by the subject at the moment of the jump, and a temporary memory. The system according to the invention can be used in sport and in schools for assessing physical condition.

Description

PORTABLE SYSTEM OF VALUATION OF THE CAPACITY OF THE VERTICAL JUMP.

SECTOR OF THE TECHNIQUE.

This invention relates to an instrument for measuring and detecting the ability to jump vertically, being applicable in the sports and school fields for the assessment of physical condition.

STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE.

Some of the methods used to date for studies that require the measurement and detection of jump capacity require high technology and complex instrumentation, while others use simple methods with little instrumental material.

The following are some of the most commonly used methods:

Contact platforms: They consist of platforms of variable length, which contain multiple sheets, that come into contact when the subject under study steps on them. These platforms usually extend over the running track or inside laboratories, and must be connected to a computer, which detects the signal generated by the contact of the sheets of the track, thus determining the flight and ground times performed by the Athlete during the race. Its main drawback lies in its low accuracy and the rapid deterioration suffered by the aforementioned sheets.

Infrared platforms: The principle of operation is similar to the previous system, but instrumentally they consist of the use of two infrared sensor barriers, separated at a certain distance, between which the subject of the study runs. This method allows quantifying the duration of the subject's supports by interfering or not interfering with the infrared lines created by the barrier. Its main problem continues to be precision, which will depend on the number of sensors used, and their location that forces the subject to run through a given space.

Laser platforms: The principle is very similar to the previous one, with the difference of having laser emitters and receivers instead of infrared. Its main problem is the high cost of the product, which determines a high final sale price. Support detection system via radio: It consists of a support detection system carried out during the march, the run and the jumps that is also based on the ability of electrical conductivity to quantify the contact and non-contact times. The main differences between a support detection system via radio and the proposed Jumping Capacity Measurement System are that:

- The proposed Jumping Capacity Measurement System only measures jumps and does not run and march so that its instrumental development is much simpler and, therefore, economical.

- The proposed Jumping Capacity Measurement System has as its main difference, the use of a clamp with contact system that is placed in the shoe of the subject will be responsible for detecting and assessing the flight time and ground of the vertical jump .

Therefore, it is clear the need to devise an alternative method, which uses a technology that eliminates the deficiencies presented by the methods used today and that allows to know in real time the jump and height capacity which is the object of the present invention.

EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION

The fields of application of the Vertical Jump Height Assessment System range from the educational perspective, for its application in the evaluation of schoolchildren to its applicability in sports centers, federations, clubs, etc., for the evaluation of sports performance.

From the point of view of sport, the Vertical Jump Height Assessment System allows knowledge of the jumping capacity and frequency of the supports made and will enable a new level of assessment and study of the physical condition of the subject. Knowing the support times and flight times of the feet on the ground it is possible to determine such important indexes in training as they are:

The duration of the propulsion phase of the supports during the jump.

The height of the jumps: By knowing the flight time of a vertical jump it is possible to know the height reached.

Repeated jump test: The power obtained by performing a vertical jump test at the maximum intensity and height for a given time.

Pulse test Perform repeated pulsations and at maximum speed with the hand or with the feet and thus be able to assess its frequency of striking with the extremities.

The power generated and the force applied: deducted from the weight of the subject. The knowledge of these data will allow the elaboration of more effective and adjusted training programs for athletes and schoolchildren. It will therefore be possible to increase the performance more quickly and accurately, having at all times and in real time information that will allow immediate and decisive knowledge with the subject.

Vertical Jump Height Assessment System will allow the creation of new physical fitness tests, more adjusted to the real needs of assessment and that measure the parameters under study with total precision.

Among the advantages of the system, the fact that it is a system can be manufactured as a wireless system in which the subject under study does not have to load cables that connect to the computer or as a wired system, in such a way that the manufacture and sale of the system stands out Product is more economical allowing access to more users.

In addition, by obtaining the data in real time, the examiner can observe the evolution of the subject throughout the test. Finally, it is interesting to mention that the system has high precision, since it has a sampling frequency of more than 10,000 samples per second.

Vertical Jump Height Assessment System includes instrumentation components (hardware), logical programming components (software), a set of detection elements and a conductive platform (Figure 1).

1.- Software component.

The software module consists of a program supplied in the ROM of a microcontroller that controls the components of the device (oscillator, display, test selection buttons, etc.) and shows the results on the display after applying the algorithms dedicated to each test.

In the case of using the wireless system through the software, the user can define the type of test - jump with counter movement, without counter movement, plyometric jump or pulse test - and the protocol that you want to perform, duration of the test, sounds to mark start and end of test, electric noise filter, cancel certain events, etc. Once the test has started, it is possible to visualize statistics in real time, as well as graphs of the support and non-support times of the contact sensor located at the foot of the subject.

2.- Hardware components

Vertical Jump Height Assessment System has a hardware module, which are described below.

The main hardware module is a physical unit that is connected by cable or wirelessly to a clamp placed on the foot of the subject. The main module contains a battery that will provide electrical independence in the tests. For the treatment of the pulses generated by the subject when jumping, one or two microprocessors are used (depending on the number of sensors attached to the system). One of them manages access to the data buffer and another provides the management of the internal clock and the control of the interruptions of the digital inputs and outputs, which have TTL characteristics filtered with an optocoupler to protect them from electrical noise. The microprocessor reviews these inputs at a frequency greater than 10 MHz and in case of detecting a change in value in that last interval, it sends the information of the input port, the packet number, the time elapsed since the start of the test and a value CRC to check the perfect reception of the data. These values are sent to the temporary memory and subsequently forwarded to the computer. This buffer for temporarily storing data is very useful in case a data flow greater than the transmission and process capacity is received.

The main hardware module has a series of buttons on the front panel, whose mission is to provide the evaluator with the ability to choose the test he wants to apply and turn on the system. It also has LED diodes that provide information on the status of the power supply by batteries.

For the wireless system, the radio receiver module is directly connected to the main module through a cable that allows us to separate this module so that there is no interference with the computer. This receiver module is calibrated at the same frequency as the remote module that the subject has to study (homologated and license-free channel, specially designed for telemetry and control). It has an antenna that improves the reception of the signal. The received signal is directly redirected to the main module after applying verification algorithms, noise elimination and / or error correction. On the other hand, the remote module is the element that carries the individual to analyze. This module consists of a battery, a microprocessor and a radio transmitter that It must be calibrated at the same frequency as the radio receiver module connected to the main module. The microprocessor provides a series of digital inputs and is programmed to analyze these inputs with a frequency greater than 10 MHz; If any of these inputs varies, a packet is sent via radio to the receiving module that will in turn transmit it to the buffer of the main module. The information provided by the remote module is the packet number, port status, previous packet status, time since test start, and cyclic redundancy code (CRC) for data verification.

The digital inputs can be connected to any sensor that functions as a button and that opens and closes the ground circuit. The module consists of extendable inputs in more units if necessary. The data is transmitted using a communications protocol at a speed greater than 2400 bits / second.

3.- Sole detector.

The measuring device would be connected by means of a cable to a clamp (Figure 2) that would be placed on the athlete's foot, which has two contact points at the height of the metatarsals that would be responsible for detecting when the subject is in The ground or in the air. These contacts cause that when resting the foot on a conductive surface, the electrical circuit is closed and this event is transmitted to the microprocessor.

4.- Conductive iron.

It consists of a plate made of conductive material, which will have the necessary measures for the subject to perform the selected test. To perform tests of vertical jumps, it is sufficient that the corridor has an area of 1 square meter.

In the case of performing a pulse test with your finger or installing a plantar button on your shoe, it is not necessary to use the conductive plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES.

Figure 1.- Vertical Jump Height Assessment System

Figure 2.- Detail clamp and contacts for its grip on the sports shoe WAY IN WHICH THE INVENTION IS SUSCEPTIBLE OF INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION.

It is not considered necessary to make this description more extensive so that any expert in the field understands the scope of the invention and the advantages derived therefrom.

The materials, shape, size and arrangement of the elements will be susceptible to variation, as long as this does not imply an alteration to the essentiality of the invention.

The terms in which this report has been described must always be taken broadly and not limitatively.

Claims

CLAIMS.

1.- Portable System for the Evaluation of Vertical Jump Height, for the measurement and detection of jump capacity, characterized by comprising: a) a logical component (software), consisting of a set of instructions stored in the ROM memory of a microcontroller, which controls the components of the device. b) a detection element composed of a clamp must be placed in the shoe that will fit the subject to be studied, and that has several electrical contacts, which cause the electric circuit to close the foot on the conductive plate. c) a main module (hardware), which is connected to the clamp by means of a cable, or wirelessly and comprising: or a battery that will provide electrical independence in the tests or one or two microprocessors (depending on the number of sensors coupled to the system), for the treatment of the pulses generated by the subject when jumping or a temporary memory to store data temporarily. d) an iron constructed of conductive material.

2.- Portable System for the Evaluation of Vertical Jump Height, for measuring and detecting the jump capacity, according to claim 1, characterized in that for the connection with the clamp wirelessly, the main module is complemented with a receiver module radio and a remote module.

3.- Portable System for the Evaluation of Vertical Jump Height for the measurement and detection of jump capacity, according to claim 1, characterized in that the main hardware module consists of a physical unit, can be connected to a computer through one of its communications ports, to which it transfers the data received via radio, from the remote sensors located in the clamp that is placed in the shoe of the individual to study.

4.- Portable System for the Evaluation of the Vertical Jump Height for the measurement and detection of the jump capacity, according to claim 1, characterized in that for the treatment of the data generated by the subject to be studied when jumping, the main hardware module contains two microprocessors, one that functions as a data buffer and the other for handling the interruptions generated by the input and output signals which have TTL characteristics filtered with an optocoupler to protect them from electrical noise.

5.- Portable System for the Evaluation of Vertical Jump Height for the measurement and detection of jump capacity, according to claims 1 and 4, characterized in that the hardware module has a series of push buttons on the front panel, which provides the rest of the System elements electrical signals start, end and test marks.

6.- Portable System for the Evaluation of the Vertical Jump Height for the measurement and detection of the jump capacity, according to claims 1, 4 and 5, characterized in that the hardware module has a series of diodes that, by means of checking electrical signals of operation, they provide information on the status of the power supply, of the communication with the computer and of the radio connection with the remote module.

7.- Vertical Jump Height Assessment System for measuring and detecting the jump capacity, according to claim 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6, characterized in that, for the wireless configuration, the radio receiver module is connected to the main hardware module by means of a cable that allows us to separate this module so that there is no interference with our computer, through said cable the signal received from the remote module is transferred.

8.- Vertical Jump Height Assessment System for measuring and detecting the jump capacity, according to claim 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7, characterized in that, for the wireless configuration, the radio receiver module It is calibrated to 433.92 MHz, it has an antenna that improves the reception of the signal, which once received is directly redirected to the main module.

9.- Vertical Jump Height Assessment System according to claim 1, characterized in that the contacts of the sole detector are in the form of pushpins and are located in the rear area of the foot clamp, the same being closed by a velro or similar system in the upper part of the shoe.

10.- Vertical Jump Height Assessment System according to claim 1 and 9, characterized in that the sole detector contacts are connected by thin conductive cables, welded inside the clamp.

11.- Vertical Jump Height Assessment System according to claim 1, characterized in that the conductive plate is constructed of conductive material and will have the necessary measures for the subject to perform the selected test.

12.- Vertical Jump Height Assessment System, according to claim 1, characterized by comprising a logical module (software), consisting of a computer program, which through its structured logic and using a graphic πterface, allows to the user to program the tests to be carried out - jumps, or pulse tests - by means of the activation of certain program options, which forces the computer program to check the signals sent by one or other detection elements and making use of them. on the screen of the module or of a computer real-time statistics, as well as graphs of the active and inactive times of the sensor located in the foot clamp.