Device for detecting and assessing vibrations caused by sporting equipment

• US 10,497,278 B2
• Filed: 02/21/2017
• Issued: 12/03/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robosport Technologies, LLC
• Original Assignee: Robosport Technologies, LLC
• Inventors: Loduca, Salvatore
• Primary Examiner(s): Aryanpour, Mitra
• Application Number:
  US15/437,827
• Publication Number:
  US 20180236333A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,015 Days
• Field of Search: 473451, 473422, 473438, 473446, 473458, 473450, 473464, 473457
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2069/0008 for batting
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/0661 arranged on the user
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2208/0204 Standing on the feet
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/64 Frequency, e.g. of vibration oscillation
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0062 Monitoring athletic performances, e.g. for determining the work of a user on an exercise apparatus, the completed jogging or cycling distance
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/0002 for baseball
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 71/0619 Displays, user interfaces and indicating devices, specially adapted for sport equipment, e.g. display mounted on treadmills
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/0038 Sports

Abstract

Disclosed are systems, devices, and methods for providing feedback regarding an impact between a sporting implement and a ball, an example system comprising a ring attachable to the sporting implement, the ring including a sensor for detecting vibrations caused by an impact between the sporting implement and the ball and determining whether a level of the vibrations is within a predetermined range, and a speaker within audible range of the player, the speaker configured to emit an audible tone in response to receiving a signal from the sensor indicating that the level of the vibrations is within the predetermined range.

Claims

1. A method of providing feedback regarding an impact between a sporting implement and a ball, the method comprising:

detecting, by a sensor included in a ring configured to be attached to the sporting implement, vibrations caused by an impact between the sporting implement and the ball;

determining whether the impact between the sporting implement and the ball corresponds to a clean hit in a case where the detected vibrations are within a first predetermined range;

sending a signal to a speaker based on determining that the impact between the sporting implement and the ball corresponds to a clean hit, to cause the speaker to emit an audible tone; and

emitting, by the speaker, the audible tone;

sending, by the sensor, data regarding the detected vibrations, to a computing device;

analyzing, by the computing device, the data received from the sensor to determine a swing path, a swing angle, and a swing velocity, of the sporting implement relative to the ball;

generating, by the computing device, guidance for making adjustments to improve impact between the sporting implement and the ball, based on the analyzed data;

wirelessly sending, to a virtual or augmented reality display device, an indication of the determination that the impact between the sporting implement and the ball corresponds to a clean hit;

wirelessly sending, to a virtual or augmented reality display device, the guidance;

displaying, on the virtual or augmented reality display device, the guidance; and

displaying, on the virtual or augmented reality display device, the indication, wherein, in a case where the detected vibrations are within a second predetermined range different from the first predetermined range, the impact is determined to not correspond to the clean hit,

wherein the sensor in the ring is further configured to selectively recognize vibration patterns generated by the sporting implement.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the audible tone is a first audible tone, and the method further comprises:

determining whether the level of the vibrations is within the second predetermined range;

sending a signal, to the speaker, when the level of the vibrations is determined to be within the second predetermined range, to cause the speaker to emit a second audible tone different from the first audible tone; and

emitting, by the speaker, the second audible tone.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sporting implement is one of a baseball bat, softball bat, a golf club, a tennis racket, or a hockey stick.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

sending, by the sensor, data regarding the detected vibrations, to the computing device;

analyzing, by the computing device, the data received from the sensor to determine analytics and statistics regarding the impact between the sporting implement and the ball; and

displaying, by the computing device, the analytics and statistics.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the analytics and statistics include a score related to the impact between the sporting implement and the ball.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the speaker is included in an earpiece worn by the player.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising calibrating the sensor based on the vibrations detected by the sensor.

8. A system for providing feedback regarding an impact between a sporting implement and a ball, the system comprising:

a ring configured to be attached to the sporting implement, the ring including a sensor configured to detect vibrations caused by an impact between the sporting implement and the ball;

a virtual or augmented reality display device;

a speaker; and

a computing device configured to;

receive data regarding the detected vibrations from the sensor,

determine whether the impact between the sporting implement and the ball corresponds to a clean hit in a case where the detected vibrations are within a first predetermined range, and

based on determining that the impact between the sporting implement and the ball corresponds to a clean hit, send a signal to the speaker to cause the speaker to emit an audible tone;

analyze the data received from the sensor to determine a swing path, a swing angle, and a swing velocity, of the sporting implement relative to the ball;

generate guidance for making adjustments to improve impact between the sporting implement and the ball, based on the analyzed data;

wirelessly send, to the virtual or augmented reality display device, an indication of the determination that the impact between the sporting implement and the ball corresponds to a clean hit;

wirelessly send, to the virtual or augmented reality display device, the guidance;

display, on the virtual or augmented reality display device, the guidance; and

display, on the virtual or augmented reality display device, the indication,

wherein, in a case where the detected vibrations are within a second predetermined range different from the first predetermined range, the impact is determined not to correspond to the clean hit.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein and the audible tone is a first audible tone, and the computing device is further configured to:

determine whether the level of vibrations is within a second predetermined range; and

in a case where the level of vibrations is determined to be within the second predetermined range, send a signal to the speaker to cause the speaker to emit a second audible tone.

10. The system according to claim 8, wherein the sporting implement is one of a baseball bat, softball bat, a golf club, a tennis racket, or a hockey stick.

11. The system according to claim 8, wherein the computing device is further configured to:

analyze the data regarding the detected vibrations received from the sensor to determine analytics and statistics regarding the impact between the sporting implement and the ball; and

display the analytics and statistics.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the analytics and statistics include a score related to the impact between the sporting implement and the ball.

13. The system according to claim 8, wherein the speaker is included in an earpiece worn by the player.

14. The system according to claim 8, wherein the sensor is calibrated based on the detected vibrations.