Flooring system
The present invention relates to a flooring system for generating electricity from users as they walk. A flooring system ( 1 ) for characterizing a footstep ( 2 ), comprising: a plurality of tiles ( 200 ) for supporting one or more people; and a plurality of sensors ( 100 x, 100 y, 100 z ), each sensor ( 100 x, 100 y, 100 z ) arranged to generate a signal representing a force applied thereto, wherein each tile ( 200 ) is supported by at least three sensors ( 100 x, 100 y, 100 z ), the flooring system ( 1 ) further comprising a data processing system ( 1001 ) in communication with each sensor ( 100 x, 100 y, 100 z ) for receiving the signal generated thereby, wherein for each tile ( 200 ): the data processing system ( 1001 ) is arranged to produce output data by comparing the signals received from the sensors ( 100 x, 100 y, 100 z ) supporting that tile ( 200 ) to estimate the location of a footstep ( 2 ).
1. A system for monitoring footsteps, comprising:
one or more mobile communications device(s); and
a plurality of tiles for supporting one or more people, each tile coupled to at least one force sensor for sensing a force applied to the tile, and each force sensor associated with at least one transmitter for transmitting a signal for reception by the mobile communications device(s);
wherein: each force sensor comprises a generator powered by a pedestrian stepping on a tile, the generator generating an electric signal to activate the transmitter associated therewith; and,
in response to a force applied to a tile the force sensor(s) are arranged to activate the transmitter(s) associated therewith;
and each mobile communications device is arranged to receive one or more transmission(s) from the transmitter(s).
2. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein:
each mobile communications device comprises a mobile sensor for sensing movement of the device or is in communication with a motion sensor worn by a user for sensing movement of the user; each motion sensor of or in communication with each mobile telecommunications device enables identification of a step of the user; and
each mobile communications device matches one or more received transmission(s) from the transmitter(s) with motion sensed by the motion sensor thereof or in communications therewith for confirming that a footstep has been taken by the user.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein each mobile communications device is arranged to match a received transmission with the sensed motion by confirming that the time between the received transmission and the sensed motion is less than a threshold.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mobile communications device is arranged to:
distinguish between multiple received transmissions by selecting the transmission with the greatest signal strength; and
match the selected transmission with the sensed motion by confirming that the time between the received transmission and the sensed motion is less than a threshold.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transmitters transmit to the mobile communications device a data item representing at least one of:
the time of the footstep;
the identity of that tile;
the location of that tile;
the location of the footstep; and/or
the power generated by the footstep.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mobile communications device is arranged to count the footsteps made on the tiles.
7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a remote server in communication with the mobile communications device, wherein the mobile communications device is arranged to transmit to the remote server output data representing one or more of:
a count of footsteps made upon the tiles;
the timing of each footstep;
the identity of the tile sensing each footstep;
the location of that tile for each footstep;
the location of each footstep; and/or
the energy and/or power generated by each footstep.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transmitter is located: below or within the corresponding tile.
9. A method for monitoring footsteps, comprising the steps of:
sensing a force applied to a tile using a force sensor and in response thereto transmitting a signal from a transmitter associated with that tile; and
receiving the transmitted signal with a mobile communications device held by the user; wherein
the force sensor comprises a generator and the force applied to the tile is used by the generator to generate power which is then used to power the transmitter.
10. A method as claimed in claim 9 comprising additionally:
sensing a predetermined motion of a user using a motion sensor that is attached to or carried by the user and in communication with the mobile communications device; and
matching the received transmission with the sensed motion using the mobile communications device for confirming that a footstep has taken place.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the matching step comprises:
matching a received transmission with the sensed motion by confirming that the time between the received transmission and the sensed motion is less than a threshold.
12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
distinguishing between multiple received transmissions by selecting the transmission with the greatest signal strength using the mobile communications device; and
matching the selected transmission with the sensed motion by confirming that the time between the received transmission and the sensed motion is less than a threshold.
13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the step of transmitting a signal from a transmitter associated with that tile comprises transmitting a data item representing at least one of:
the time of the footstep;
the identity of that tile;
the location of that tile;
the location of the footstep; and/or
the power generated by the footstep.
14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising counting the footsteps made on the tiles using the mobile communications device.
15. The method of claim 9 , further comprising transmitting from the mobile communications device to the remote server output data representing one or more of:
a count of footsteps made upon the tiles;
the timing of each footstep;
the identity of the tile sensing each footstep;
the location of that tile for each footstep;
the location of each footstep; and/or
the energy and/or power generated by each footstep.