System and methods of power-driven shoe device control

Abstract

A power-driven shoe with a decentralized control system configured to maintain synchronization between a paired power-driven shoe is disclosed. The power-driven shoe comprises a shoe sole with a sole portion and a toe portion, a plurality of rotatable wheels disposed below the shoe sole, a motor disposed below the shoe sole and in driving connection with at least one of the plurality of rotatable wheels, a control circuit interfaced to the motor, and a network adapter interfaced to the control circuit and configured to communicate to the paired power-driven shoe using one-way communication.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A power-driven shoe comprising:
 a shoe sole comprising a sole portion and a toe portion;   a plurality of rotatable wheels disposed below the shoe sole;   a motor disposed below the shoe sole, wherein the motor is in driving connection with at least one of the plurality of rotatable wheels;
 a control circuit interfaced to the motor; and 
 a network adapter interfaced to the control circuit, 
   wherein the network adapter is configured to communicate to a second power-driven shoe using one-way communication.   
     
     
         2 . The power-driven shoe of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of rotatable wheels comprise:
 a toe grouping of rotatable wheels disposed under the toe portion;   a middle grouping of rotatable wheels disposed under a front portion of the heel portion; and   a heel grouping of rotatable wheels disposed under a rear portion of the heel portion.   
     
     
         3 . The power-driven shoe of  claim 2 , wherein the motor is interfaced to at least one rotatable wheel of the middle grouping and at least one rotatable wheel of the rear grouping. 
     
     
         4 . The power-driven shoe of  claim 1 , further comprising a gearbox housing comprising a geared drivetrain system. 
     
     
         5 . The power-driven shoe of  claim 4 , further comprising a strap, configured to attach the power-driven shoe to a user's shoe or foot, interfaced directly to the gearbox housing. 
     
     
         6 . The power-driven shoe of  claim 4 , wherein the control circuit is within the gearbox housing. 
     
     
         7 . The power-driven shoe of  claim 4 , further comprising a power module within the gearbox housing. 
     
     
         8 . The power-driven shoe of  claim 7 , wherein the power module is interfaced to the control circuit via one or more electromechanical connectors. 
     
     
         9 . The power-driven shoe of  claim 1 , wherein the motor is a brushless direct current motor. 
     
     
         10 . The power-driven shoe of  claim 9 , further comprising a hall effect sensor integrated into the motor and interfaced with the control circuit. 
     
     
         11 . The power-driven shoe of  claim 10 , wherein a magnet of the motor is extended beyond the length of a coil of the motor. 
     
     
         12 . The power-driven shoe of  claim 1 , further comprising an inertial measurement unit interfaced to the control circuit. 
     
     
         13 . The power-driven shoe of  claim 1 , further comprising a remote control device configured to interface to the network adapter. 
     
     
         14 . A method of controlling a velocity of a power-driven shoe comprising:
 calculating a first velocity of the power-driven shoe based on the input of an inertial measurement unit and a motor sensor;   transmitting the first velocity to a paired power-driven shoe;   receiving a second velocity from the paired power-driven shoe;   determining whether the first velocity and second velocity match;   in response to the first velocity and the second velocity not matching:   determining a safer velocity between the first velocity and the second velocity; and   operating the motor at the safer velocity; and   
       in response to the first velocity and the second velocity matching, operating the motor at the first velocity. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein calculating the first velocity further comprises:
 detecting a motor torque from the motor sensor;   determining a gait state of the power-driven shoe based on the motor torque;   transforming the motor torque into a force tangential to a wheel of the power-driven shoe; and   in response to detecting a pre-determined gait state:   capturing a wheel force;   normalizing the wheel force based on a baseline wheel force;   determining an acceleration based on the normalized wheel force; and   determining the first velocity based on the acceleration.