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US-12623109-B2 - Drop set mode for digital exercise device

US12623109B2US 12623109 B2US12623109 B2US 12623109B2US-12623109-B2

Abstract

A velocity of a user when performing repetitions of an exercise movement on an actuator is monitored. Based at least in part on an evaluation of the monitored velocity, it is determined that the user is within a range of proximity away from failure. In response to determining that the user is within the range of proximity away from failure: torque requested of a motor is dynamically adjusted to drop resistance to maintain the user within the range of proximity away from failure. In one embodiment, the motor provides resistance to the actuator. In one embodiment, the actuator is coupled to the motor.

Inventors

  • Colin Russell Parker
  • Troy Taylor
  • Alberto Izquierdo

Assignees

  • TONAL SYSTEMS, INC.

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20241220

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A system, comprising: a motor that provides exercise resistance to an actuator coupled to the motor; and one or more processors for facilitating a drop set, configured to: monitor a velocity of a user when performing repetitions of an exercise movement based at least in part on a detected position and/or velocity of a motor and/or actuator sensor; determine an RIR (repetition in reserve) number based at least in part on a detected velocity waveform, wherein the detected velocity waveform is based at least in part on the monitored velocity as compared to previous repetitions and/or historical data across a plurality of exercise machines and users, and wherein the RIR number is a number of repetitions a user may perform before failure; based at least in part on the determined RIR number being a threshold number or less, determine that the user is within a range of proximity away from failure; in response to determining that the user is within the range of proximity away from failure: dynamically adjust torque requested of the motor to drop exercise resistance to maintain the user within the range of proximity away from failure such that for a next repetition a next RIR number is within a proximity range.
  2. 2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the range of proximity away from failure comprises a number of repetitions away from failure.
  3. 3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the determination that the user is within the range of proximity away from failure is based on determining a decrease in velocity as compared to one or more previous repetitions.
  4. 4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the determination that the user is within the range of proximity away from failure is based on determining a decay in mean concentric phase velocity.
  5. 5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein dropping of exercise resistance is performed between a current repetition of the exercise movement and a next repetition of the exercise movement.
  6. 6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the dropping of exercise resistance is performed at an end range of motion of the current repetition.
  7. 7 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the dropping of exercise resistance is performed between a concentric phase of the current repetition and an eccentric phase of a next repetition.
  8. 8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the exercise resistance is dropped by a percentage amount.
  9. 9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein multiple drops in exercise resistance are progressively performed throughout the drop set.
  10. 10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein an amount of reduction of exercise resistance is dynamically adjustable for each drop.
  11. 11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein a permitted number of drops is capped.
  12. 12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to terminate the drop set in response to identifying momentary failure.
  13. 13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the momentary failure is identified from the monitored velocity.
  14. 14 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the motor provides an initial exercise resistance comprising a suggested maximum exercise resistance for a number of repetitions.
  15. 15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the amount of exercise resistance that is dropped is based on the initial exercise resistance.
  16. 16 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising an interface that provides information to the user pertaining to the drop set.
  17. 17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the information provided to the user comprises information pertaining to one or more of: the monitored velocity; a dropping of exercise resistance; a cue to indicate occurrence of a exercise resistance drop; a cue to indicate an amount of exercise resistance drop; a termination of the drop set; or an indication that no further drops in exercise resistance will be performed.
  18. 18 . A method, comprising: facilitating a drop set at least in part by: monitoring a velocity of a user when performing repetitions of an exercise movement on an actuator based at least in part on a detected position and/or velocity of a motor and/or actuator sensor; determining an RIR (repetition in reserve) number based at least in part on a detected velocity waveform, wherein the detected velocity waveform is based at least in part on the monitored velocity as compared to previous repetitions and/or historical data across a plurality of exercise machines and users, and wherein the RIR number is a number of repetitions a user may perform before failure; based at least in part on the determined RIR number being a threshold number or less, determining that the user is within a range of proximity away from failure; and in response to determining that the user is within the range of proximity away from failure: dynamically adjusting torque requested of a motor to drop resistance to maintain the user within the range of proximity away from failure such that for a next repetition a next RIR number is within a proximity range; wherein the motor provides exercise resistance to the actuator; and wherein the actuator is coupled to the motor.
  19. 19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein dropping of exercise resistance is performed between a current repetition of the exercise movement and a next repetition of the exercise movement.
  20. 20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein multiple drops in exercise resistance are progressively performed throughout the drop set.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/645,047 entitled FLYWHEEL MODE AND DROP SET MODE filed May 9, 2024 which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Strength training, also referred to as resistance training or weight lifting, is an important part of any exercise routine. It promotes the building of muscle, the burning of fat, and improvement of a number of metabolic factors including insulin sensitivity and lipid levels. Aerobic training is also important as it promotes endurance and cardiovascular/respiratory health. As referred to herein, exercise training is strength training, aerobic training, or any combination that uses an exercise device. A digital exercise device is an improvement over a traditional exercise device as it provides a more safe, effective, and engaging experience. Improving a digital exercise device experience to be more efficient and/or provide greater diversity of motion experiences is useful. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an exercise machine capable of digital exercise training. FIG. 1B illustrates a front view of one embodiment of an exercise machine. FIG. 2 includes front perspective views of an embodiment of a weight training machine. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a low speed and high weight mode for the differential. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a power sharing mode example. FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating a concentric phase drivetrain energy flow. FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating an eccentric phase drivetrain energy flow. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example concentric boost mode for a digital exercise machine. FIGS. 7A, 7B(1), and 7B(2) are diagrams illustrating an example of two different exercise devices with different drivetrain designs. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the traditional four modes of a motor. FIG. 9 is a graphical illustration of a control loop for inwards slack control. FIG. 10 is an illustration of an example of a flywheel mode. FIG. 11A is a graphical illustration of a control loop for flywheel mode slack control. FIG. 11B is a graphical illustration of a control loop for flywheel mode slack control using the chains approach. FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a process for flywheel mode. FIG. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a process for drop set mode. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as a process; an apparatus; a system; a composition of matter; a computer program product embodied on a computer readable storage medium; and/or a processor, such as a processor configured to execute instructions stored on and/or provided by a memory coupled to the processor. In this specification, these implementations, or any other form that the invention may take, may be referred to as techniques. In general, the order of the steps of disclosed processes may be altered within the scope of the invention. Unless stated otherwise, a component such as a processor or a memory described as being configured to perform a task may be implemented as a general component that is temporarily configured to perform the task at a given time or a specific component that is manufactured to perform the task. As used herein, the term ‘processor’ refers to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores configured to process data, such as computer program instructions. A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the invention is provided below along with accompanying figures that illustrate the principles of the invention. The invention is described in connection with such embodiments, but the invention is not limited to any embodiment. The scope of the invention is limited only by the claims and the invention encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications and equivalents. Numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. These details are provided for the purpose of example and the invention may be practiced according to the claims without some or all of these specific details. For the purpose of clarity, technical material that is known in the technical fields related to the invention has not been described in detail so that the invention is not unnecessarily obscured. Adjusting inertia that a user experiences via dynamic torque control for a digital exercise device is disclosed. A digital exercise device as referred to herein is an exercise device wherein electricity is used to generate tension/resistance, for example using an electromagnetic field. In one embodiment, the electromagnetic field is provided via an electronic motor, such as a three-phase permanent magnet synch