Force-sensing net
First Claim
1. Apparatus comprising in combination:
- (a) a net;
(b) at least one sensor; and
(c) at least one processor;
wherein;
(i) the net includes one or more components, each of which components comprises a material that has an electrical resistance that varies depending on the extent to which the material is stretched,(ii) the at least one sensor is configured to take measurements of changes in electrical resistance of each of the one or more components, respectively,(iii) the at least one processor is configured(A) to perform a computation to calculate, based at least in part on the measurements, a calculated value indicative of the translational kinetic energy of a ball that strikes or passes through the net, and(B) to output signals to cause an output device to render the calculated value in a human-readable form; and
(iv) the calculated value is in a range, which range is the range of values that may be outputted by the computation, and which range includes more than two values.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In exemplary implementations of this invention, a basketball net or flat net measures the translational kinetic energy of a ball that passes through an aperture in the net or impacts the net. The net includes one or more electrically conductive cords, which have a resistance that varies depending on the degree to which the cord is stretched. From sensor measurements, a processor determines: (a) instantaneous rate of change of resistance, and (b) duration of a time period that begins when resistance exceeds a baseline (with hysteresis). In the case of a basketball net, a processor may calculate the translational kinetic energy of the ball as equal to a sum of two terms. The first term is inversely proportional to the square of the duration; the second is proportional to the square of the integral of the instantaneous rate of change of resistance over the time period.
17 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. Apparatus comprising in combination:
-
(a) a net; (b) at least one sensor; and (c) at least one processor; wherein; (i) the net includes one or more components, each of which components comprises a material that has an electrical resistance that varies depending on the extent to which the material is stretched, (ii) the at least one sensor is configured to take measurements of changes in electrical resistance of each of the one or more components, respectively, (iii) the at least one processor is configured (A) to perform a computation to calculate, based at least in part on the measurements, a calculated value indicative of the translational kinetic energy of a ball that strikes or passes through the net, and (B) to output signals to cause an output device to render the calculated value in a human-readable form; and (iv) the calculated value is in a range, which range is the range of values that may be outputted by the computation, and which range includes more than two values. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. A method comprising in combination:
-
(a) using at least one sensor to take measurements of changes in electrical resistance of each of the one or more components, which components are part of a net and each comprise a material that has an electrical resistance that varies depending on the extent to which the material is stretched; and (b) using at least one processor (i) to perform a computation to calculate, based at least in part on the measurements, a calculated value indicative of the translational kinetic energy of a ball that strikes or passes through the net, and (ii) to output signals to cause an output device to render the calculated value in a human-readable form; wherein the calculated value is in a range, which range is the range of values that may be outputted by the computation, and which range includes more than two values. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
-
Specification