Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02305633 2000-04-25
TITLE of invention: Outdoor Competitor GPS-Based Data Logger
Description:
1. Field of invention
The invention relates to the application of Global Positioning System (GPS)
and physical sensor
technologies for capturing and storing specific data of a competitor during an
outdoor competition such as
adventure racing, cross-country running, skiing and mountain biking, sailboat
racing, snowmobile racing
and so forth. After the competition, the captured data is transferred to a
computer and the Internet for
competition analysis.
2. Background of the invention
Outdoor competition for professional and amateur such as adventure racing,
cross-country running, skiing
and mountain biking, sailboat racing, snowmobile racing are becoming
increasingly popular as information
about these competitions is now available worldwide with the Internet.
However, once the competition is over, there is no valuable information
available about what happen to
each competitor during the race. Usually, only total race time and ranking
information are available. Post-
race analysis (individual and comparative) for future improvement and
appreciation is not possible since
relevant data was not collected during the competition.
GPS receiver and GPS antenna are now highly sensitive and accurate. With the
newer versions, it is not
necessary to wear a cumbersome GPS antenna on top of your body to capture the
GPS satellite signals. The
device (including GPS receiver and antenna) can be carried on the back of a
competitor and the device will
still continue to receive enough signal from different satellites to clearly
establish the geographical position
of the device.
Thus, there exists a need for a portable device that is small, rugged and
waterproof which incorporate a
GPS receiver, an atmospheric pressure sensor and a temperature sensor. Data
from the GPS receiver and
sensors is captured at selectable interval and stored into the device memory.
The device does not display
any information that could help the competitor. Only vital informations are
available (like On/Off status).
After the race, the data from each device used during the competition is
downloaded into a computer. The
computer (with appropriate software) provides competition analysis. The
results of the analysis are then
posted and made available on the Internet web site of the competition.
The unit can also be used for training in preparation for a competition. The
competitor carries or wears the
unit during training session. After the training session, data is downloaded
into a personal computer for
analysis using the appropriate software.
3. Summary of the invention
Objects of the present invention are:
1- To provide a device which is portable, rugged and waterproof.
2- To provide a device which displays only vital information about the device
operational status.
3- To provide a device which captures and stores into memory at selectable
interval the date, the time, the
geographical position, the temperature and the altitude (with pressure
sensor).
4- To provide a device which can communicate with an external computer using
infra-red communication
or serial communication
5- To provide a device which is capable of downloading previously captured
data using an encryption
scheme into a computer.
6- To provide a system by which post-competition analysis is possible using
downloaded data from
multiple data loggers.
Brief description of the drawings:
Figure lb is the front view of the Outdoor Competitor GPS-Based Data Logger
Figure lc is the side view of the Outdoor Competitor GPS-Based Data Logger
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CA 02305633 2000-04-25
Figure 2 is a schematic of electronic components for the Outdoor Competitor
GPS-Based Data Logger
device
Figure 3a shows a competitor carrying the Outdoor Competitor GPS-Based Data
Logger
Figure 3b shows an example of how the Outdoor Competitor GPS-Based Data Logger
can be carried on a
backpack.
Detailed description of the drawings:
Figure 1B and 1C:
The Outdoor Competitor GPS-Based Data Logger device (100) is a compact,
waterproof device. The
device is equipped with LEDs (104) to provide the competitor information about
the operational state of the
device like ONIOFF, initialization completed, acquired-download state. There
are basic buttons on the unit
to activate it (101) and select (102) the operational mode. The GPS antenna
(105) is integrated in the unit
but it is also possible to attach an external antenna with the antenna
connector (103).
Data download to an external computer is possible with the serial interface
connector (106) or the infra-red
(108) interface. External power can be supplied to the unit (109). A multi
purpose clip (107)is attached to
the device for multiple carrying configurations.
The electrical schematic (fig 2) shows the CPU (202) which processes incoming
data from the temperature
sensors (208), the atmospheric pressure sensor (209) and the GPS receiver
(207). Data can be stored into
memory (203) or transferred from the memory to an external computer (211)
through the serial interface
(106) or the infra-red interface (108). The device is powered from a battery
unit (201) but can optionally be
powered from an external source with the power connector (109). An optional
external antenna (205) can
be connected to the device with the ext. antenna connector.
Figure 3 shows examples of two possible ways for carrying the Outdoor
Competitor GPS-Based Data
Logger (100). It can be carried on the back of a competitor (300) using a
simple belt or attached to a
backpack (302) if one is used.
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