GOLF SYSTEM USER INTERFACE

• US 20100174480A1
• Filed: 08/12/2009
• Published: 07/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Garmin Limited
• Original Assignee: Garmin Limited
• Inventors: Rausch, Daniel P., Trenkle, Bradley C., Loschen, Thomas I., Cloud, Adam P.
• Granted Patent: US 9,095,761 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/201
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2024/0037 on a target surface or at impact on the ground
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/063 Spoken or verbal instructions
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/0691 Maps, e.g. yardage maps or electronic maps
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2102/32 Golf
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/12 Absolute positions, e.g. by using GPS
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/13 Relative positions
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/14 Geo-tagging, e.g. for correlating route or track location data with specific information related to that specific location
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/20 Distances or displacements
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/50 Wireless data transmission, e.g. by radio transmitters or telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/3605 Golf club selection aids informing player of his average or expected shot distance for each club
• 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: A63B 71/0622 Visual, audio or audio-visual systems for entertaining, instructing or motivating the user
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence

Abstract

Techniques are described to furnish location-based functionality to golf-related electronic devices. In one or more embodiments, the distances associated with features of a hole of a golf course such as sand traps, water hazards and other hazards, trees, tree lines, waste areas, out of bounds areas, man-made hazards, and so on may be selectively labeled based on the relative positions of the device, the features, and a point within the hole of the golf course such as the pin or other point within the green.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining a current position of a device;

accessing vectorized golf course map data to identify a plurality of points associated with a feature of a golf hole represented by the vectorized golf course map data, where the feature is selected from the group consisting of a sand trap and a water hazard;

determining when one or more of the identified points is within a lateral range of a vector extending from the current position of the device; and

causing the distance between the current position of the device and the one or more identified points to be displayed by a display of the device when the one or more identified points is determined to be within the lateral range.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising disregarding an additional feature of the hole when points associated with the additional feature are located beyond the lateral range of the vector extending from the current position of the device.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the current position of the device is determined using a global positioning system receiver.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the hole of the golf course comprises a green and the vector extends over and past the green.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the vector extends over a pin location on the green.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the distance between the current position of the device and the one or more identified points is displayed on a map of the golf hole.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the feature comprises one or more of a sand trap, a water hazard, an out of bounds area, a tree, a tree line, a cart path, a waste area, or a man-made hazard.

8. A method comprising:

determining a current position of a device;

identifying a hole of a golf course corresponding to the current position of the device;

accessing vectorized golf course map data to acquire hole data for the identified hole;

identifying a plurality of points associated with a feature of the identified hole using the acquired hole data, where the feature is selected from the group consisting of a sand trap and a water hazard;

identifying a line segment extending between two of the points;

identifying an intersection of the line segment and a vector extending from the current position of the device;

determining a distance between the current position of the device and the intersection; and

displaying the distance on a map of the identified hole presented by the device.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the current position of the device is determined using a global positioning system receiver.

10. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the hole of the golf course comprises a green and the vector extends over and past the green.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the vector extends over a pin location on the green.

12. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the feature comprises one or more of a sand trap, a water hazard, an out of bounds area, a tree, a tree line, a cart path, a waste area, or a man-made hazard.

13. A device comprising:

a location determining component operable to receive satellite navigation signals and determine a current position of the device using the received satellite navigation signals;

a display operable to display information;

a memory operable to store a module and vectorized golf course map data; and

a computing device operable to execute the module to—

identify a hole of a golf course corresponding to the current position of the device;

access the vectorized golf course map data to acquire hole data for the identified hole;

identify a plurality of points associated with a feature of the identified hole using the acquired hole data, where the feature is selected from the group consisting of a sand trap and a water hazard;

based on the acquired hole data, determine when one or more of the identified points is within a lateral range of a vector extending from the current position of the device; and

cause the distance between the current position of the device and the one or more identified points to be furnished on a layout of the hole displayed by the display when the one or more identified points is determined to be within the lateral range.

14. The device as recited in claim 13, wherein the module is further configured to disregard an additional feature of the hole when points associated with the additional feature are located beyond the lateral range of the vector extending from the current position of the device.

15. The device as recited in claim 13, wherein the hole of the golf course comprises a green and the vector extends over and past the green.

16. The device as recited in claim 15, wherein the vector extends over a pin located on the green.

17. The device as recited in claim 13, wherein the distance between the current position of the device and the one or more identified points is displayed on a map of the golf hole.

18. The device as recited in claim 13, wherein the feature comprises one or more of a sand trap, a water hazard, an out of bounds area, a tree, a tree line, a cart path, a waste area, or a man-made hazard.

19. A device comprising:

a location determining component operable to receive satellite navigation signals and determine a current position of the device using the received satellite navigation signals;

a display operable to display information;

a memory operable to store a module and vectorized golf course map data; and

a computing device operable to execute the module to—

identify a hole of a golf course corresponding to the current position of the device;

access the vectorized golf course map data to acquire hole data for the identified hole;

identify a plurality of points associated with a feature of the identified hole using the acquired hole data, where the feature is selected from the group consisting of a sand trap and a water hazard;

identify a line segment extending between two of the points;

identify an intersection of the line segment and a vector extending from the current position of the device; and

determine a distance between the current position of the device and the intersection, the distance being furnished on a layout of the hole displayed by the display.

20. The device as recited in claim 19, wherein the hole of the golf course comprises a green and the vector extends over and past the green.

21. The device as recited in claim 20, wherein the vector extends over a pin location on the green.

22. The device as recited in claim 19, wherein the distance between the current position of the device and the intersection is displayed on a map of the golf hole.

23. The device as recited in claim 19, wherein the feature comprises one or more of a sand trap, a water hazard, an out of bounds area, a tree, a tree line, a cart path, a waste area, or a man-made hazard.