Concept Development: The concept of the AutoSpot system originated as an idea to help individuals weight-lift alone without the threat of dropping the weight on themselves. We hoped to address this problem by developing a system which could catch or at least temporarily support a weight, allowing the lifter to not be crushed if he or she can not longer hold up the weight.
Market: The primary market for the AutoSpot system is home lifters who would like a way to weight train in their home gyms without a partner to help in case of an emergency. The system would also be useful to larger gyms, as people frequently weight train independently or in scarcely populated settings.
Competition:
The Smith machine, seen here, provides our most direct competition. This system provides tracks in which the bar is constrained. If a lifter feels he/she is unable to complete a repetition, twisting the bar allows it to latch onto hooks in the frame. However, the Smith machine constrains motion along the track, reducing the quality of exercise. Also, the mechanism removes some of the weight, and force is required to twist the bar onto the latches.
Another common safety technique is the use of safety bars. Most standard squat racks allow the user to place safety bars inside the cage. But when placed properly, these bars sit just beneath the lowest height of the lifting motion, meaning that the bars can only catch the weight at the very bottom of a repetition.