Electronic measurement of the motion of a moving body of sports equipment

• US 20060162451A1
• Filed: 03/27/2006
• Published: 07/27/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Board of Regents of the University of Michigan (University of Michigan)
• Original Assignee: Noel C. Perkins
• Inventors: Perkins, Noel C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,234,351 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 73/511
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 87/00 Fishing rods
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 97/00 Accessories for angling fish stringers A01K65/00; landing-nets or landing-spoons for fishing A01K77/00
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2069/0008 for batting
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/0625 Emitting sound, noise or music
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/16 Angular positions
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/40 Acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/803 Motion sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/833 Sensors arranged on the exercise apparatus or sports implement
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/50 Wireless data transmission, e.g. by radio transmitters or telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/36 for golf
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/38 for tennis A63B61/006, A63B69/0073 and A63B69/0097 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 71/0622 Visual, audio or audio-visual systems for entertaining, instructing or motivating the user
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 19/005 Measuring angular rate using gyroscopic effects
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 13/00 Indicating or recording presence, absence, or direction, of movement electric switches H01H; counting moving objects G06M7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 15/00 Measuring acceleration; Measuring deceleration; Measuring shock, i.e. sudden change of acceleration

Abstract

An application of rate gyros and accelerometers allows electronic measurement of the motion of a rigid or semi-rigid body, such as a body associated with sporting equipment including a fly rod during casting, a baseball bat, a tennis racquet or a golf club during swinging. For instance, data can be collected by one gyro according to the present invention is extremely useful in analyzing the motion of a fly rod during fly casting instruction, and can also be used during the research, development and design phases of fly casting equipment including fly rods and fly lines. Similarly, data collected by three gyros and three accelerometers is extremely useful in analyzing the three dimensional motion of other sporting equipment such as baseball bats, tennis racquets and golf clubs. This data can be used to support instruction as well as design of the sporting equipment.

Claims

1. An apparatus for analyzing movement of an elongate body of sporting equipment comprising:

an electronic circuit to be associated with the elongate body of sporting equipment and operable to measure six rigid body degrees of freedom corresponding to motion of the body, the electronic circuit including a plurality of angular rate gyros and a plurality of accelerometers.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of gyros further comprises three single-axis angular rate gyros, each angular rate gyro positioned with a sensing axis perpendicular with respect to sensing axes of the other angular rate gyros, and wherein the plurality of accelerometers further comprises three accelerometers, each accelerometer positioned with a sensing axis perpendicular to sensing axes of the other accelerometers.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a power source powering the electronic circuit.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

the electronic circuit monitoring the motion of the body continuously for generating a signal corresponding to movement of the body over time; and

a central processing unit for processing the signal corresponding to movement of the body over time in accordance with a program stored in memory.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 further comprising:

a transmitter for transmitting a data signal from the electronic circuit to the central processing unit.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the transmitter further comprises an electrical signal transferred through at least a portion of the path along wires connecting the electronic circuit to the central processing unit.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the transmitter further comprises a wireless signal transferred through at least a portion of the path from the electronic circuit to a receiver for delivery to the central processing unit.

8. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the central processing unit generates at least one output signal selected from a group consisting of an audio signal corresponding to a variance between a comparison of the signal from the electronic circuit with a predetermined signal, a visual signal corresponding to a graphic display of the signal from the electronic circuit, and any combination thereof.

9. A method for analyzing movement of an elongate body of sporting equipment comprising:

providing an electronic circuit to be associated with the elongate body of sporting equipment, the electronic circuit including a plurality of angular rate gryos and a plurality of accelerometers; and

measuring six rigid body degrees of freedom corresponding to motion of the elongate body with the electronic circuit.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the plurality of gyros provided further comprises three single-axis angular rate gyros, and wherein the plurality of accelerometers provided further comprises three accelerometers, wherein the method further comprises positioning each single-axis angular rate gyro with a sensing axis perpendicular with respect to sensing axes of the other angular rate gyros, and positioning each accelerometer with a sensing axis perpendicular to sensing axes of the other accelerometers.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

powering the electronic circuit with a power source.

12. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

generating a signal corresponding to movement of the body over time with the electronic circuit; and

processing the signal corresponding to movement of the body over time in accordance with a program stored in memory with a central processing unit.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

transmitting a data signal from the electronic circuit to the central processing unit.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein transmitting a data signal further comprises transferring an electrical signal through at least a portion of the path along wires connecting the electronic circuit to the central processing unit.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein transmitting a data signal further comprises transferring a wireless signal through at least a portion of the path from the electronic circuit to a receiver for delivery to the central processing unit.

16. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

generating at least one output signal with the central processing unit, the at least one output signal selected from a group consisting of an audio signal corresponding to a variance between a comparison of the signal from the electronic circuit with a predetermined signal, a visual signal corresponding to a graphic display of the signal from the electronic circuit, and any combination thereof.

17. An apparatus for analyzing movement of an elongate body of sporting equipment comprising:

an electronic circuit to be associated with the elongate body of sporting equipment and operable to measure six rigid body degrees of freedom corresponding to motion of the body, the electronic circuit including three single-axis angular rate gyros and three accelerometers, each angular rate gyro positioned with a sensing axis perpendicular with respect to sensing axes of the other angular rate gyros, and each accelerometer positioned with a sensing axis perpendicular to sensing axes of the other accelerometers; and

an analyzer for comparing at least one signal from the three angular rate gyros and the three accelerometers corresponding to movement of the body over time to at least one predetermined signal.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the analyzer further comprises:

a central processing unit for processing the at least one signal corresponding to movement of the body over time in accordance with a program stored in memory.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 further comprising:

a transmitter for transmitting at least one data signal from the electronic circuit to the central processing unit, the at least one data signal selected from a group consisting of an electrical signal transferred through at least a portion of the path along wires connecting the electronic circuit to the central processing unit, a wireless signal transferred through at least a portion of the path from the electronic circuit to a receiver for delivery to the central processing unit, and any combination thereof.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the central processing unit generates at least one output signal selected from a group consisting of an audio signal corresponding to a variance between a comparison of the signal from the electronic circuit with a predetermined signal, a visual signal corresponding to a graphic display of the signal from the electronic circuit, and any combination thereof.