GOLF CLUB APPARATUSES AND METHODS
First Claim
1. An apparatus for determining whether a golf club has been removed from a golf bag, the apparatus comprising:
- a housing configured to be coupled to a golf club;
a microcontroller disposed in the housing;
a first light sensor configured to activate the microcontroller from a sleep state, the first light sensor being coupled to the microcontroller and being coupled to the housing;
a memory in the housing and coupled to the microcontroller, the memory configured to store a bright average and a dark average;
a second light sensor coupled to the microcontroller and coupled to the housing;
an RF transmitter coupled to the microcontroller and located in the housing; and
wherein the microcontroller is configured to be in a state in which signals from the second light sensor are processed after the microcontroller is activated from a sleep state; and
wherein the microcontroller is configured to calculate a floating threshold as a value between the bright average and the dark average; and
wherein the microcontroller is configured to receive a current light meter value from the second light sensor and to determine, by comparing the current light meter value to the floating threshold, whether to add the current light meter value to the bright average or to the dark average, and wherein the bright average and the dark average are running averages and wherein the floating threshold is adjusted over time to be between the bright average and the dark average; and
wherein the microcontroller is configured to add the current light meter value to the bright average when the current light meter value is greater than the floating threshold, and the microcontroller is configured to add the current light meter value to the dark average when the current light meter value is less than the floating threshold.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods, apparatuses, machine readable non-transitory storage media, and systems which process measured light values in order to determine the status of a golf club relative to a golf club bag are described. In one embodiment, a system uses a floating threshold, which is between a running bright average and a running dark average, to determine whether to add a current light meter value to one or the other of these running averages. In another embodiment, a system resets or re-seeds the running averages so that re-seeded averages are used after exiting from a sleep state such as a dark sleep state. In another embodiment, a system uses light sensor information or other sensor information to determine when a club is in use. In another embodiment, an active golf ball tag includes a sensor (e.g. one or more impact sensors) to detect when a golf ball is hit and to cause an RF transmitter to transmit an RF signal to an RFID reader.
29 Citations
44 Claims
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1. An apparatus for determining whether a golf club has been removed from a golf bag, the apparatus comprising:
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a housing configured to be coupled to a golf club; a microcontroller disposed in the housing; a first light sensor configured to activate the microcontroller from a sleep state, the first light sensor being coupled to the microcontroller and being coupled to the housing; a memory in the housing and coupled to the microcontroller, the memory configured to store a bright average and a dark average; a second light sensor coupled to the microcontroller and coupled to the housing; an RF transmitter coupled to the microcontroller and located in the housing; and wherein the microcontroller is configured to be in a state in which signals from the second light sensor are processed after the microcontroller is activated from a sleep state; and wherein the microcontroller is configured to calculate a floating threshold as a value between the bright average and the dark average; and wherein the microcontroller is configured to receive a current light meter value from the second light sensor and to determine, by comparing the current light meter value to the floating threshold, whether to add the current light meter value to the bright average or to the dark average, and wherein the bright average and the dark average are running averages and wherein the floating threshold is adjusted over time to be between the bright average and the dark average; and wherein the microcontroller is configured to add the current light meter value to the bright average when the current light meter value is greater than the floating threshold, and the microcontroller is configured to add the current light meter value to the dark average when the current light meter value is less than the floating threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An apparatus for determining whether a golf club has been removed from a golf bag, the apparatus comprising:
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a housing configured to be coupled to a golf club; a processing system coupled to the housing; at least one light sensor coupled to the processing system, the at least one light sensor being configured to activate the processing system from a sleep state and being configured to provide a current light meter value; a memory coupled to the processing system, the memory configured to store a bright average and a dark average; an RF transmitter coupled to the processing system, the RF transmitter being configured to transmit an identifier of the golf club and an indicator of a status of the golf club relative to a golf club bag, wherein the status is one of;
(a) in-bag or (b) out-of-bag; andwherein the processing system is configured to calculate a floating threshold as a value between the bright average and the dark average; and wherein the processing system is configured to receive the current light meter value and to determine, by comparing the current light meter value to the floating threshold, whether to add the current light meter value to the bright average or to the dark average, and wherein the bright average and the dark average are running averages and wherein the floating threshold is adjusted over time to be between the bright average and the dark average; and wherein the processing system is configured to add the current light meter value to the bright average when the current light meter value is greater than the floating threshold, and the processing system is configured to add the current light meter value to the dark average when the current light meter value is less than the floating threshold. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A machine readable, non-transitory, tangible storage medium storing executable instructions, which when executed cause a system to perform a method comprising:
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storing a bright average based on a first set of prior light meter values received from at least one light sensor coupled to a housing that is configured to be coupled to a golf club, wherein the bright average is a running average; storing a dark average based on a second set of prior light meter values received from the at least one light sensor coupled to the housing, wherein the dark average is a running average; determining a floating threshold as a value between the bright average and the dark average; receiving a current light meter value from the at least one light sensor and determining, by comparing the current light meter value to the floating threshold, whether to add the current light meter value to the bright average or to the dark average; adding the current light meter value to the bright average when the current light meter value is greater than the floating threshold; adding the current light meter value to the dark average when the current light meter value is less than the floating threshold; determining from the current light meter value whether to transmit, from an RF transmitter coupled to the housing, an identifier of the golf club and an indicator of a status of the golf club relative to a golf club bag. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A machine readable, non-transitory, tangible storage medium storing executable instructions, which when executed cause a system to perform a method comprising:
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exiting, at a first time, a sleep state of a golf club tag; calculating and storing a first bright average after exiting the sleep state at the first time, the first bright average being seeded by a bright initial value; calculating and storing a first dark average after exiting the sleep state at the first time, the first dark average being seeded by a dark initial value; entering the sleep state at a second time which is after the first time, the sleep state being entered in response to determining that a golf club, that is coupled to the golf club tag, has been returned to a golf club bag; exiting, at a third time which is after the second time, the sleep state; calculating and storing a second bright average after exiting the sleep state at the third time, the second bright average being re-seeded by the bright initial value; calculating and storing a second dark average after exiting the sleep state at the third time, the second dark average being re-seeded by the dark initial value. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An apparatus for determining whether a golf club has been removed from a golf bag, the apparatus comprising:
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a housing configured to be coupled to a golf club; a processing system coupled to the housing; at least one light sensor coupled to the processing system, the at least one light sensor being configured to activate the processing system from a sleep state and being configured to provide a current light meter value; an RF transmitter coupled to the processing system, the RF transmitter being configured to transmit an identifier of the golf club and an indicator of a status of the golf club relative to a golf club bag, wherein the status is one of;
(a) in-bag or (b) out-of-bag; andwherein the processing system is configured to use re-seeded running averages after exiting from the sleep state. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method of determining that a golf club is in use, the method comprising:
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determining a motion of a golf club by collecting a set of measurements which are at least one of (a) a series of light sensor measurements taken over time by a light sensor in the golf club or (b) a series of vibration or tilt or motion measurements taken over time by a sensor in the golf club; transmitting, from an RF transmitter in the golf club to a mobile device for use in the mobile device in determining that a golf club is in use, at least one of (a) a motion status of the golf club, the motion status determined from the set of measurements or (b) the set of measurements. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
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28. A golf club tag comprising:
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a processing logic; at least one sensor for determining a motion of a golf club by collecting a set of measurements which are at least one of (a) a series of light sensor measurements taken over time by a light sensor in the golf club tag or (b) a series of vibration or tilt or motion measurements taken over time by a sensor in the golf club tag, wherein the at least one sensor is coupled to the processing logic; an RF transmitter coupled to the processing logic, the RF transmitter being configured to transmit, from the golf club tag to a mobile device for use in the mobile device in determining that a golf club is in use, at least one of (a) a motion status of the golf club, the motion status determined from the set of measurements or (b) the set of measurements. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31)
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32. A method performed by a mobile device for golf data collection, the method comprising:
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receiving, at an RF receiver of the mobile device, one or more out-of-bag status indicators with corresponding golf club identifiers from a corresponding one or more golf club tags on a golfer'"'"'s set of golf clubs, each of the golf club identifiers identifying a particular golf club in the golfer'"'"'s set of golf clubs; receiving, at the RF receiver of the mobile device, from each of the corresponding one or more golf club tags at least one of (a) a motion status of the corresponding golf club or (b) a set of measurements from which the motion status is determined; determining a golf club, in the set of golf clubs, that is in use from at least one of the received motion status and the set of measurements; recording a stroke, wherein the recording indicates, using the golf club identifier for the golf club determined to be in use, that the stroke was made with the golf club determined to be in use. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34)
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35. A mobile golf device comprising:
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a satellite positioning system (SPS) receiver; a processing logic coupled to the SPS; an RF receiver coupled to the processing logic, the RF receiver configured to receive a plurality of out-of-bag status indicators, with a corresponding plurality of golf club identifiers, from a corresponding plurality of golf club tags on a golfer'"'"'s set of golf clubs, each of the golf club identifiers identifying a particular golf club in the golfer'"'"'s set of golf clubs; and wherein the RF receiver is configured to receive, from each of the plurality of golf club tags, at least one of (a) a motion status of the corresponding golf club or (b) a set of measurements from which the motion status is determined; and wherein the processing logic is configured to determine a golf club, in the set of golf clubs, that is in use based on the receiving, from each of the plurality of golf club tags, of the at least one of (a) the motion status or (b) the set of measurements; and wherein the processing logic is configured to record a stroke taken with the golf club determined to be in use. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38)
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39. A method for golf data collection, the method comprising:
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sensing, by a sensor in a golf club tag, that a golf club has been removed from a golf club container, wherein the sensor includes at least one light sensor and optionally a vibration sensor, and wherein the golf club tag includes an RF transmitter and a processing logic that is coupled to the RF transmitter and to the sensor; transmitting, by the transmitter in the golf club tag, an RF signal to cause an RFID reader in a mobile device to be activated to read a passive RFID tag in a golf ball, wherein the transmitter transmits the RF signal in response to the sensor sensing that the golf club has been removed from the golf club container. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41)
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42. A golf club tag comprising:
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a first sensor for sensing light; an RF transmitter; a processing logic coupled to the first sensor and to the RF transmitter, the processing logic configured to determine, from measurements taken from the first sensor, when a golf club, to which the golf club tag is attached, has been removed from a golf club container, and the processing logic is configured to cause the RF transmitter to transmit an RF signal to cause an RFID reader in a mobile device to be activated to read a passive RFID tag in a golf ball, wherein the processing logic causes the RF signal to be transmitted in response to determining that the golf club has been removed from the golf club container. - View Dependent Claims (43)
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44. A mobile device for golf data collection, the mobile device comprising:
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an RF receiver; a processing logic coupled to the RF receiver; an RF transmitter coupled to the processing logic, wherein the RF receiver is configured to receive an RF signal from a golf club tag that causes the RF transmitter to transmit RF query signals to a passive RFID tag in a golf ball, and wherein the mobile device receives a response, from the passive RFID tag and records a stroke.
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Specification