Monitoring system for measuring kinematic data of golf balls
First Claim
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1. A system for monitoring a moving sports object comprising:
- (a) at least one electro optical sensor;
(b) at least one passive spot of retroreflective material affixed to said sports object covering substantially less than half the projected area of said sports object;
(c) a first light source having its illumination axis no more than 10 degrees from the line of sight of said electro optical sensor to said retroreflective material;
(d) a second light source having its illumination axis no more than 10 degrees from the line of sight of said at least one electro optical sensor to said retroreflective material;
(e) said retroreflective material and each of said first and second light sources enhancing the contrast of said at least one passive spot with the surface of said sports object by a factor of at least 2 to 1;
(f) means for triggering each said light source into operation at least once while said at least one spot is moving and within the field of view of said electro optical sensor;
(g) said first light source being triggered into operation by said means for triggering at a first time during the initial flight of said sports object;
(h) said second light source being triggered into operation by said means for triggering at a second time during the initial flight of said sports object, the time between said first and second times being known; and
(i) electronic means for generating first and second digital numbers representative of the relative position of said at least one spot along first and second axes respectively within the field of view of said at least one electro optical sensor at each of the times said first and second light sources are triggered into operation.
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Abstract
A video data acquisition system takes at least two snapshot views of selected points on a golf ball in the immediate post-launch time period. Analog video data are converted to digital data for analysis in an external system.
A trigger generator, of a type well known in the art, senses the existence of a certain set of conditions associated with the launch of the golf ball and thereupon generates a set of precisely timed impulses which trigger the following sequence of events:
(a) prepare TV camera to receive data
(b) trigger first flash
(c) trigger second flash
(d) read out data from TV camera.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A system for monitoring a moving sports object comprising:
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(a) at least one electro optical sensor; (b) at least one passive spot of retroreflective material affixed to said sports object covering substantially less than half the projected area of said sports object; (c) a first light source having its illumination axis no more than 10 degrees from the line of sight of said electro optical sensor to said retroreflective material; (d) a second light source having its illumination axis no more than 10 degrees from the line of sight of said at least one electro optical sensor to said retroreflective material; (e) said retroreflective material and each of said first and second light sources enhancing the contrast of said at least one passive spot with the surface of said sports object by a factor of at least 2 to 1; (f) means for triggering each said light source into operation at least once while said at least one spot is moving and within the field of view of said electro optical sensor; (g) said first light source being triggered into operation by said means for triggering at a first time during the initial flight of said sports object; (h) said second light source being triggered into operation by said means for triggering at a second time during the initial flight of said sports object, the time between said first and second times being known; and (i) electronic means for generating first and second digital numbers representative of the relative position of said at least one spot along first and second axes respectively within the field of view of said at least one electro optical sensor at each of the times said first and second light sources are triggered into operation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system for monitoring the early flight of a golf ball comprising:
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(a) at least one television camera; (b) the field of view of said at least one television camera encompassing all positions normally occupied by the golf ball in at least a portion of its first 2.5 milliseconds of flight; (c) at least one spot of retroreflective material affixed to said golf ball; (d) each spot of said retroreflective material having an area less than 50 percent of the projected area of said golf ball; (e) at least one flash lamp; (f) means for triggering at least two separate flash lamp flashes of light within the first 2.5 milliseconds of flight; (g) the illumination field of view of said at least one flash lamp being at least large enough to encompass the positions occupied by said at least one retroreflective spot affixed to said golf ball during each of said two flashes; (h) the incidence angle between said television camera line of sight and said flash lamp line of sight to said retroreflective spot being at most small enough at the time of each flash to obtain a brightness enhancement at said at least one television camera of at least two to one as compared to a perfect Lambertian reflector; and (i) electronic means for generating first and second digital numbers representative of the positions of said retroreflective spot along first and second axes respectively in the field of view of said at least one television camera at each of the times of said two flashes. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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Specification