METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING AT LEAST ONE CHARACTERISTIC VALUE OF MOVEMENT OF A BODY

Abstract: With the apparatus any acceleration/deceleration in the direction of movement is sensed by a pendulum. Electrical signals derived therefrom are used for solving the differential equation of oscillation of the pendulum for determining the acceleration, velocity and/or the distance covered by the moved body within a desired time period.

Description: Specification Title of the Invention: METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING AT LEAST ONE CHARACTERISTIC VALUE OF MOVEMENT OF A BODY Field of the Invention The invention relates to a method and apparatus for determining the acceleration, the velocity and/or distance covered of a moved or moving body, for instance of a running or jogging person. The apparatus of the invention may also be used for determining a change of an angle of inclination of a sensor applied to a moved body for instance to an automobile. State of the art a) In, the field of inertia navigation systems have become known which calculate by integration,of determined acceleration values the distance covered. These systems use cardanly (freely movable) suspended platforms main¬ tained stable in their position in respect of a horizontal plane by gyros. Pendulums may be used as acceleration transducers as disclosed in the German Offenlegungsschrif 29 20 44 3, In particular, a pendulum provided with an inertia mass is maintained in its zero position by an electromagnetically generated torque; exciting current necessary to generate this torque serves as a measure for the acceleration acting upon the inertia mass. b) Furthermore, so-called strap down navigation apparatuses have become known which are provided with acceleration transducers secured to a moved body and using the determined acceleration values and displacement information of a gyro to compute in combination with a co-ordinate trans- formation computer the velocity and covered distance values. c) Also, acceleration sensors have become known operating according to the principle of linear displacement of an inertia mass and a coil provided with a resetting spring and arranged within a magnetic field (see German Offen- legungsschrift 23 03 104) . The voltage induced in the coil upon the linear displacement is after integration a measure of the acceleration of the coil. The inertia navigation systems mentioned under a) as well as the navigation systems of b) are of complex and expensive mechanical design and require extensive and complex calculations, regulations and controls. The apparatus explained under c) is subject to relatively large friction forces in view of the mechanical guidance of linearly moved inertia mass. So it- is not adapted for measuring low non-periodic accelerations. Furthermore, such apparatus is susce ptible to considerable errors if the acceleration sensors are not secured to the moved body in exactly horizontal manner. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus to measure and determine the acceleration, the velocity and/or the distance covered of a body moved essentially linearly and to directly display the determined values. It is further object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus which is particularly adapted for moving sportsmen to determine and display the acceleration, the velocity and/or the covered distance. Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for such measurements having a high sensivity at small amounts of acceleration. Still another object of the present invention is to provide such an apparatus having a compact shock-insensitive design and low weight such that the complete apparatus is adapted to be attached to and carried by a sportsman without affecting his movement. It ist another object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus having at least one vector of direction where any influence of a non-horizontal securing at the body of the sportsman is compensated. A still further object of the invention is the cost-effective implementation. These in other objects of the invention are achieved by an apparatus for determining at least one characteristic value of movement (acceleration, velocity, distance covered) of a body comprising: a) a housing attachable to said body; b) a sensor means arranged in said housing and including a pendulum suspended for free deflection in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of said body; c)-a transducer means associated to said sensor means for generating electrical signals in response of said deflection of said pendulum; d) a processing means for receiving said electrical signals and for solving the differential equation of oscillation of that pendulum on the basis of said electrical signals and for calculating said at least one characteristic value of movement ; and e) a display means for displaying said at least one characteristic value of movement calculated by said processing means. With the apparatus according to the invention the complex control circuit is eliminated which is necessary with known acceleration transducers for generating the restoring torque. Only an integration of the determined values is necessary which may be done by digital integration computer provided anywa . The apparatus according to the invention is preferably de¬ termined for use in connection with the human or animal body. By attaching the apparatus at the body at a height corresponding to that of the centre of gravity of the body on the average a stable vector of direction in respect of the vertical axis through the centre of gravity is accomplished in view of the sense of equilibrium of the person or animal. This means that the person generates by his sense of equilibrium a reference of direction which eliminates the complex arrangement using gyros and control networks . The transducer or sensor of the apparatus according to the invention uses an inductance coil fixed to a pendulum and pivotally mounted such that an inertia mass is capable of aligning in the direction of the vertical axis in the absence of any acceleration/deceleration. Thus the direction of the vector of acceleration being perpendicular to said vertical axis will always be predetermined independent of the angle of attachment of the transducer at 'the body. It should be noted that with no movement of the body the transducer and sensor means are adapted to determine the angle of inclination by which the sensor is turned out of its rest position upon inclination of the body. The " in homogeneous linear differential equation for the oscillation of the pendulum is known as: Wherein: C = angle of deflection c = first derivative of the angle of deflection < = second derivative of the angle of deflection ξ,< * J,l>si l l<ι = constants of the physical design of the , pendulum a , a = x- and y-components of acceleration determined by the physical design of the pendulum.- For small anglesc^the y-component may be neglected since cos ' C^. ^1 and This results in the simplified differential equation: From equation (II) the acceleration in the direction of movement a may be calculated provided that oi and/or ^ is determined by appropriate sensor and transducer means . In view of its very low bearing friction the transducer or sensor of the instant invention achieves a high sensivity at very low errors even with small amounts of acceleration. Since with the apparatus of the present invention any movement as well as any changes in the angle of inclination may be recognized the sensor system according to the invention is exellently adapted for alarm systems for instance for auto¬ mobiles. Furthermore, monitoring changes in angle of inclination may be useful in connection with buildings, as ./. bridges, towers or the like. By employing a moving coil system commercially available and employed in moving coil galvanometers the manufacture of the apparatus according to the invention is extremely cost-effective This is particularly easy to provide the known moving coil system with an inertia mass. Brief description of the drawings Fig. la and lb: Are a side view and a plan view of the sensor used with the apparatus according to the invention; Fig. 2: Shows a block diagram of the electronic portion of the apparatus of the present invention; Fig. 3 : Is a schematic diagram showing the movement of the 'pendulum upon acceleration; Fig. 4: Is a schematic diagram for explaining the use of the apparatus according to the invention for indicating a change of inclination of a body having an apparatus fixed thereto; Fig. 5a and 5b: Are a side view and a plan view similar to those of Figures la and lb of another embodiment of the apparatus of the invention; Fig. 6a and 6b: Are a side view and a plan view of a dampening device used in connection with the apparatus according to the invention; Fig. 7: Is a schematic diagram for illustrating the position of the centre of gravity of a human body; Fig. 8: Is a schematic diagram illustrating how the apparatus according to the invention is attached to a human body; Fig. 9a to 9d: Are views of the overall apparatus of the present invention and Fig. 10: Is a schematic block diagram showing the main units of the apparatus according to the invention. ./. Description of preferred embodiments of the invention The method and apparatus according to the invention will now be explained in an examplary way in reference to the drawings which show two embodiments of the present invention. Referring first to Figure 10, the apparatus according to the invention, in principle, comprises a mechanical acceleration sensor unit 20 including a pendulum, a transducer unit 30 for converting a movement of the pendulum into electrical signals, a processing unit 40 such as a microprocessor for instance of the type 80 51 of Intel Corporation, for receiving the electrical signals from the transducers 30 and processing them according to the differential equation of oscillation, and an input and display unit 50 for controlling the processing unit 40 by actuating any of various keys and for displaying results and other values processed or stored in the processing unit. In implementing the principles of the present invention in a preferred embodiment the acceleration sensor unit and the transducer unit are combined to a sensor and transducer unit 100 shown in Figures la and lb. It should be noted, that all of the units illustrated in Fig. 10 are arranged in a housing 60 as to be described later in connection with Figures 9a to 9d. For sake of simplicity the housing is omitted in Tigures la and lb nd figures 5a and 5b and the various elements of the apparatus according to the invention are shown in a more schematic manner. Referring now to Figures la and lb the sensor for sensing an acceleration of a moved body or a change of inclination includes a pendulum 4 provided with an inertia mass 5 and pivotally secured to a shaft 3 extending horizontally within the housing ./. 60 (Fig. 9) . The reference numeral 11 indicates a human body to which the apparatus according to the invention is attached. A permanent magnet 6 generates a magnetic field 1 between pole shoes 7 and 8 and armature 9 of cylindrical shape witt the shaft 3 as a central axis thereof. The armature 9 is fixed to the housing as is the magnet 6. Between the inner circular surfaces of the pole shoes 7 and 8 and the armature 9 an essentially circular air gap 10 is formed having a generally constant width. Thus there exists a homogeneous magnetic field 1 along the most part of the air gap 10. An inductance coil 2 is rotatably mounted about the axis 3 of shaft 3 and secured to the pendulum 4 such that the coil 2 is moved within the magnetic field 1 existung in the air gap 10 whenever the pendulum 4 is deflected upon movement of the body. The operation of the sensor and transducer unit 100 is as follow (Fig. 3 and 4) : It is assumed that the apparatus according to the invention is' fixed to the body of a jogger and that it is .desired to determine the velocity and the distance covered by the jogger. As soon as the body 11 resumes movement, it is accelerated according to the direction vector 13; the same acceleration acts upon the inertia mass" 5 in the direction of the direction vector 12 opposite to the vector 13. Thus, the pendulum 4 is deflected by an angle C< from its rest position indicated by a vertical axis 16 in clockwise direction in Fig. la. This results in a rotation of the inductance coil 2 by the angle c< . When rotating the coil 2 its windings cut the field lines of the magnetic field 1 inducing a voltage 14 across its terminals. The relationship between the angle and the induced voltage is : fr) ~ o( ■ (I ' ll) . / As may be gathered from Fig. 3 the angle o< is related to the acceleration as follows: Where g is the acceleration of gravity For small angles o approximately is: For larger angle deflections the increase of the angle c is smaller than the corresponding increase in acceleration a. This ensures large overall measuringjrange with a high sensivity in the lower range. The deviation from linearity is determined by the equation (IV) . Such a deviation may be compensated by the processing unit 50 as to be described below. By a proper design of the air gap 10 the induced voltage 14 can be made highly linearly as follows: In the lower range of the angleoC the air gap width may be larger and is reduced with increasing ©^ in inverse proportion in relation to equation (IV) . The deviation of linearity is such compensated by the magnetic induction increasing with increasing angle Considering equations (III) and (V) the amount of the induced voltage 14 is in proportion to the change in acceleration _a, i.e. in a change of the lengths of the direction vectors 12 and 13, respectively. Accordingly By integrating the induced voltage 14 once results in acceleration a. according to the acceleration vectors 12 and 13, respectively. This means that the acceleration a is in pro¬ portion to the pendulum deflection angle ζ . In order to attenuate any initial transient oscillation of the pendulum 4 a dampening means may be provided. Such a dampening means may consist of a frame of electrically- conductive material onto which the inductance coil 2 is wound. This frame attenuates the movement of the pendulum 4 due to the current induced in the frame upon movement of the pendulum. An alternative dampening means is shown in Figs . 6a and 6b comprising a chamber 17 in which a plate 18 is moved upon deflection of the pendulum by being fixed to the shaft 3. The attenuation is achieved by the pressure difference between the left and right portions(Fig. 6a) of the chamber 17 when the plate 18 is pivoted in clockwise direction. This pressure difference is equalized slowly by a narrow gap 19 between the lower edge of the plate 18 and the inner surface of the chamber 17. The extent of attenuation may be determined by properly selecting the width of gap 19. As indicated earlier appropriate means are necessary to measure either the angle c>( of the deflection of the pendulum or/and its first derivative © . With the preferred embodiment C< is measured by the voltage 14 induced in coil 2 by means of inductivity. Alternatively, may be measured by suitable optical/electrical transducer means operating on an analog or digital principal, as coding discs, CCD devices clock pulse counting means or the like. Furthermore,^ may be measured by using inductively or capacitively operating bridge circuits, Hall-sensors or piezo resistive transducers. It should be noted that the computing ot- the acceleration a is simplified if both O and < is measured. Referring to Fig. 2 the electronic section of the apparatus according to the invention will be described. ./. The induced voltage 14 from the sensing and transducing unit 100 is applied to the processing and operating system 101. Fig. 2 shows a central processing unit CPU 22 in association to a RAM 23, a program memory 24, a display unit 25, an inter¬ face unit 26 and an input unit 27. The induced voltage 14 from the sensor and transducer unit 100 is applied to the CPU 22 through an A/D converter 21. The input unit 27 may be provided with various keys for instructing the CPU 22 to perform various operational pro¬ cedures. Any results and other desired values may be displayed with the display unit 25 or outputted for further evaluation via the interface 26. The induced voltage 14 from the sensor and transducer unit 100 is applied as an analog signal 32 to the A/D converter 21 through an amplifier 20. The CPU 22 determines by a signal transmitted through connection 31 which of the inputs of the A/D converter is to receive the input signals. The A/D converte 21 converts the analog input signal 32 to a digital value 30 which is received by the CPU 22 in definded intervals^ t. instructed by the CPU 22 via control connection 33. At the beginning of a movement of the body CPU stores a first value o in RAM 23. During the next'scan cycle a digital value corresponding to an angle implement Λ^ is received by the CPU 22 and a second digital value ό< -, is stored in RAM 23 and so on. By repeated addition in defined time intervals A t. x the integral of the induced voltage 14 is formed. The constant of integration is the result of the immediate preceding integration. Any result calculated at a certain time is the current acceleration of the moving body. If commanded by the input unit 27 such a result may be supplied to the display unit 26 and displayed there. Also, this result may be ' out¬ putted through interface 26 for further evaluation. As well-known to a person skilled in the art the values for the velocity and the distance covered may be computed through further integrations according to the following formulas : u . Δ t u = 0 , 1 (VII ) 0 Wherein V. = is the velocity at a time t. x J x S. = is the distance covered at a time t. The computing will be -done in well-known manner by a control program stored in program memory 24. A clock signal as well as- the timing signals for determining the time-^- t. will be generated by a clock generator 34. Alternatively, as mentioned before an apparatus according to the invention may be used for determining a change in an inclination angle Λ if a body is turned from a first position into a different position. This situation is illustrated in Fig. 4.The integral of the induced voltage 14 is according to equation (III) proportional to angle V* of rotation and the first integral results in the inclination ^ . Such a device may be used as an alarm device when attached to an automobile. In operation, any change of the position of the car for instance by lifting it at the front or the rear or by pushing or pulling it will result in a deflection of the pendulum, a generation of an induced voltage 14 and an output signal which may be -used for actuating an alarm means. As shown in Fig. 2 further sensing and transducing units 103 having direction vectors arranged at predetermined ./. angles to direction vector 13 may be used. For each further sensing and transducing unit 103 there is provided an amplifier 35 the analog output signal thereof is applied to th A/D-converter through inputs programable by the CPU 22 through connection 31. By means of the input unit 27 the CPU 22 may be controlled such that the signals from all sensing and transducing units may be stored in RAM 23 and displayed by unit 25. Figure 5 shows a further embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention using to sensing and transducing units 100 and 103 combined with each other. There is only one magnet circuit as explained in connection with "Figures la and lb causing a magnetic field 10 in which there are provided two inductance coils 2 and 53 rotatable coils about the common shaft. 3. Inductance coil 2 is secured to the pendulum 4 bearing the inertia mass 50. The pendulum 51 is maintained in a predetermined position by a spring 52 at a predetermined angle (\J> to the rest position 16 of the pendulum 4 as long as there is no acceleration Y acting on to pendulum 51. Any accelerations of the pendulums 4 and 51 result in induced voltages 14 and 54 as explained in connection with the first embodiment. Fig. 7 and 8 illustrate how the apparatus according to the invention is attached to the body of a jogger. Typically the apparatus is attached at a height corresponding to the position of the centre of gravity 40 of the body. In view of li ¬ the sense of equilibrium of the jogger on the average a reference of direction 41 is established parallel to the ground surface 42. Accordingly, axis 43 is the direction of the pendulum 4 in rest position. Fig. 9a to 9d shows the physical arrangement of the various units in the housing 60. Preferably, attaching means 61 may be used to attach housing 60 to the body of the jogger in the height of the centre of gravity for instance by a belt or a clip. Alternatively, the apparatus may be unitary with a piece of cloth. The arrow 62 shows the direction of movement and acceleration.

Claims: ) ? - Claims : 1. An apparatus for determining at least one characteristic value of movement (acceleration, velocity, distance covered) of a body comprising: a) a housing attachable to said body; b) a sensor means arranged in said housing and including ' a pendulum suspended for free deflection in a direction opposite to the direction of movement ' of said body; c) a transducer means associated to said sensor means for generating electrical signals in response of said deflection of said pendulum; d) a processing means for receiving said electrical signals and for solving the differential equation of oscillation of sa.id pendulum on the basis of said electrical signals - and for calculating "said at least one characteristic value of movement; and e) a display means for displaying said at least one characteristic value of movement calculated by said processing means. 2. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said transducer means includes an inductance means secured to said pendulum for rotation in a magnetic field upon any deflection of said pendulum, said magnetic field being generated in an air gap in which said inductance means is moveable and which is formed by a magnetic means circularly arranged about an axis of rotation of said inductance means; 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said processing means comprises: a microprocessor, a program memory for storing a program for solving said differential equation of oscillatio a clock generator for generating a system clock and time ' ./ reference signals, a RAM memory means for storing digital values derived from said electrical signals received from said transducing means , intermediate results and said at least one characteristic value calculated by said micro¬ processor, and input means for conditoning said micro¬ processor to execute portions of said program stored in that program memory. 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said processing means further comprises an output means for outputting data stored in said RAM means for further processing thereof 5. The apparatus claim 2 wherein said pendulum is biased by a restoring spring means for returning said pendulum into a position in which said pendulum is maintained at a definde angle to a vertical axis in the absence of any acceleration/ deceleration of said body. 6. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2 further comprises at least a further sensor means arran g to sense a iiioveιv.en.t in a direction different from that of said first sensor means and arranged at a predetermined angle thereto. 7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said at least further sensor means comprises a further pendulum provided with a further inductance means for rotation with said further pendulum upon a deflection thereof and biased to a rest position at a predetermine angle to the rest position of said first pendulum by a spring means in the absence of any acceleration/deceleration acting upon said further pendulum. 8. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said pendulum is provided with a dampening means . 9. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said air gap has a varying width. 10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said housing has arranged at its top surface said display means for displaying said at least one characteristic value of movement and selectin means for setting said processing means to calculate one of said characteristic values of movement. 11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said transducer means are optical/electrical transducing means. 12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said transducing means are force responsive means. 13. An apparatus for determining a change of angle of inclinat of a moved body, comprising: A sensor means including a pendulum suspended for free . deflection at least in one direction; a transducer means for generating electrical signals in dependence on a deflection of said pendulum; and an evaluation means for receiving said electrical signals and generating an output information. 14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said evaluation means generate an output signal whenever said change in angle of inclination exeeds a predetermined value. 15. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said evaluation means generates an output signal indicative of the amount of change of that angle of inclination. 16. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said transducer means are optical/electrical transducing means. 17. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said transducing means are force responsive means. /. - ) S> - 18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said transducer means generate electrical signals in dependence on an angle X of any deflection of said pendulum. 19. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said transducer means generate electrical signals in dependence on a change of ' an angle O^ of any deflection of said pendulum. 20. A method for determining at least one characteristic value of movement (acceleration, velocity and distance covered) of a body comprising the steps: a) sensing the deflection of a pendulum secured to said body from the beginning of the movement; b) -.generating electrical signals in dependence on said movement of the pendulum; c) solving the differential equation of oscillation on the basis of said electrical signals; d) calculating said at least one characteristic value of movement on the basis of the solution of said different equation of- oscillation; and e) . selectively outputting said at least one characteristic .value of movement.

Inventors: POETSCH EDMUND R, POETSCH, EDMUND, R.
Applicants: POETSCH EDMUND R, POETSCH, EDMUND, R.
Application year: 1985
Main classification: G01P15
IPC codes: G01C9, G01C22, G01P3, G01P15