Smart fitness and exercise equipment

Abstract

Described herein is an electronic device mounted in a relation to an exercise apparatus for capturing exercise data for a user of the exercise apparatus. Specifically, the electronic device comprises one or more sensors configured to detect a linear motion, a rotation, or a combination of both linear motion and rotation performed by the exercise apparatus. The electronic device may determine whether the motions correspond to a designated exercise pattern of the exercise apparatus. In response to determining exercise pattern, the electronic device collects a series of motion data from the exercise apparatus and process the series of motion data to generate exercise data. The electronic device may also transmit the exercise data to other client devices of the user or cloud servers.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A device mounted in a relation to an exercise apparatus, comprising:
 one or more sensors configured to detect a linear motion, a rotation, or a combination of both performed by one or more parts of the exercise apparatus;   a machine-readable medium encoded with instructions; and   one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to perform a process comprising:
 determining whether the motions correspond to a designated exercise pattern of the exercise apparatus; and 
 in response to determining the designated exercise pattern, collecting a series of motion data from the exercise apparatus; and 
 a networking interface configured to transmit the series of motion data to another device in communication with the device. 
   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the device is embedded in or attached to the one or more parts of the exercise apparatus. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors include an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a pressure sensor, a photo-electrical sensor, a magnetic-electrical sensor, a mechanical trigger, and a general-purpose input/output circuit. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the designated exercise pattern of the exercise apparatus comprises a plurality of repetitive exercise cycles, each exercise cycle including at least one direction change in linear or angular motion, and durations of each of the plurality of repetitive exercise cycles being regular. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the series of motion data comprises one or more of: time stamps of the motions, a direction of the motions, a number of direction changes in the motions, duration of motions in each direction, applied force, acceleration, and a distance and angle of the motions. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 5 , wherein the process further comprises:
 processing the collected series of motion data to generate exercise data, the exercise data comprising a number of exercise cycles and aggregated exercise metrics based on the series of motion data including applied force, acceleration, and the distance and angle of the motions in each exercise cycles; and   transmitting the generated exercise data to the other device in communication with the exercise apparatus. The device of  claim 1 , further comprising:   an energy harvest mechanism configured to convert the motions of the exercise apparatus to electrical power for charging the device.   
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the other device in communication with the exercise apparatus comprises a computing device associated with a user of the exercise apparatus or a server remote from the exercise apparatus. 
     
     
         9 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 detecting motions of an exercise apparatus;   determining whether the motions correspond to a designated exercise pattern of the exercise apparatus;   in response to determining the designated exercise pattern, collecting a series of motion data from the exercise apparatus;   processing the collected series of motion data to generate exercise data; and   transmitting the generated exercise data to another device in communication with the exercise apparatus.   
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 9 , wherein the motions include linear motion, rotation, or a combination of both performed by one or more parts of the of the exercise apparatus. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 9 , wherein the motions are detected by at least one of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a pressure sensor, a photo-electrical sensor, a magnetic-electrical sensor, a mechanical trigger, and a general-purpose input/output circuit. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 9 , wherein the designated exercise pattern of the exercise apparatus comprises a plurality of repetitive exercise cycles, each exercise cycle including at least one direction change in linear or angular motion, and durations of each of the plurality of repetitive exercise cycles being regular. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 9 , wherein the series of motion data comprises one or more of: time stamps of the motions, a direction of the motions, a number of direction changes in the motions, duration of motions in each direction, applied force, acceleration, and a distance and angle of the motions. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 13 , wherein the generated exercise data comprises: a number of exercise cycles and aggregated exercise metrics based on the series of motion data including applied force, acceleration, and the distance and angle of the motions in each exercise cycles. 
     
     
         15 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 converting the motions of the exercise apparatus to electrical power for charging the exercise apparatus.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 9 , wherein the other device in communication with the exercise apparatus comprises a computing device associated with a user of the exercise apparatus or a server remote from the exercise apparatus. 
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform a process comprising:
 detecting linear motion, rotation, or a combination of both performed by one or more parts of the of an exercise apparatus;   determining whether the motions correspond to a designated exercise pattern of the exercise apparatus;   in response to determining the designated exercise pattern, collecting a series of motion data from the exercise apparatus;   processing the collected series of motion data to generate exercise data; and   transmitting the generated exercise data to another device in communication with the exercise apparatus, the other device including a computing device associated with a user of the exercise apparatus or a server remote from the exercise apparatus.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the motions are detected by at least one of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a pressure sensor, a photo-electrical sensor, a magnetic-electrical sensor, a mechanical trigger, and a general-purpose input/output circuit, and wherein the designated exercise pattern of the exercise apparatus comprises a plurality of repetitive exercise cycles, each exercise cycle including at least one direction change in linear or angular motion, and durations of each of the plurality of repetitive exercise cycles being regular. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 17 ,
 wherein the series of motion data comprises one or more of: time stamps of the motions, a direction of the motions, a number of direction changes in the motions, duration of motions in each direction, applied force, acceleration, and a distance and angle of the motions, and   wherein the generated exercise data comprises: a number of exercise cycles and aggregated exercise metrics based on the series of motion data including applied force, acceleration, and the distance and angle of the motions in each exercise cycles.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the process further comprises:
 converting the motions of the exercise apparatus to electrical power for charging the exercise apparatus.