DEVICES, SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR USING AND MONITORING SPORTS EQUIPMENT AND SPORTS ACTIVITIES
Sports equipment and/or areas of play are provided, comprising a sports equipment or area of play and a sensor.
1 . Sports equipment comprising a sensor module,
a. wherein the sports equipment is a protective gear selected from a mouth guard, shoulder pad, elbow pad, shin pad, and shoulder protector;
b. wherein the sensor module comprises a sensor, where the sensor is selected and configured to sense a physical quantity and the sensor is selected from an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a global positioning system (GPS), mechanical stress and mechanical pressure sensor;
c. wherein the sports equipment further comprises a battery.
2 . The sports equipment of claim 1 , wherein
the sensor module comprises a sensor channel, wherein the sensor channel comprises the sensor and a sensor interface, where the sensor interface is configured to generate a digitized signal that represents a magnitude of the sensed quantity.
3 . The sports equipment of claim 2 , further comprising:
a sensor-module controller coupled to the sensor channel, the sensor-module controller comprising a non-volatile memory and a microcontroller, where the microcontroller is configured to i) generate sensor data from the digitized signal, where the sensor data comprises a data stamp and a time stamp that are both associated with the digitized sensor signal, and ii) provide the sensor data to the non-volatile memory for storage.
4 . The sports equipment of claim 3 , further comprising:
an implantable housing, wherein the sensor channel and the sensor-module controller are disposed within the implantable housing,
5 . The sports equipment of claim 2 , further comprising;
a communication interface comprising a wireless interface and an antenna, where the wireless interface is i) coupled to the sensor-module controller and the antenna, and ii) is configured to modulate one or more carrier signals with the sensor data from the sensor module-controller in order to generate a transmission signal that is transmitted to a remote receiver.
6 . The sports equipment of claim 5 , further comprising:
an implantable housing, wherein the sensor channel and the wireless interface are disposed within the implantable housing,
7 . The sports equipment of claim 1 , further comprising:
a sensor channel, wherein the sensor channel comprises the sensor and a sensor interface, where the sensor interface is configured to generate a digitized signal that represents a magnitude of the sensed quantity;
a sensor-module controller coupled to the sensor channel, the sensor-module controller comprising a non-volatile memory and a microcontroller, where the microcontroller is configured to i) generate sensor data from the digitized signal, where the sensor data comprises a data stamp and a time stamp that are both associated with the digitized sensor signal, and ii) provide the sensor data to the non-volatile memory for storage; and
a communication interface comprising a wireless interface and an antenna, where the wireless interface is i) coupled to the sensor-module controller and the antenna, and ii) is configured to modulate one or more carrier signals with the sensor data from the sensor module-controller in order to generate a transmission signal that is transmitted to a remote receiver.
8 . The sports equipment of claim 7 , further comprising:
an implantable housing, wherein the battery, the sensor channel, the sensor-module controller and the wireless interface are disposed within the implantable housing,
9 . The sports equipment of claim 1 which is a mouth guard.
10 . The sports equipment of claim 2 which is a mouth guard.
11 . The sports equipment of claim 7 which is a mouth guard.
12 . The sports equipment of claim 8 which is a mouth guard.