System and method for analyzing bowling ball motion
First Claim
1. A method for analyzing and predicting a path of a bowling ball, the method comprising:
- determining a plurality of physical characteristics of a first bowling ball, the plurality of physical characteristics including a ball surface roughness, lane coefficient of friction, an oil absorption rate, and a radius of gyration;
determining a plurality of dynamic attributes of the first bowling ball byrepeatedly throwing the first bowling ball down a bowling lane, andmonitoring the motion of the first bowling ball during each throw using a plurality of sensors, the monitoring includingmonitoring a skid phase, a hook phase, and a back-end phase of the first bowling ball, anddetermining a path of motion, spin rate, and velocity of the first bowling ball as it travels down the bowling lane;
determining a relationship between the plurality of physical characteristics of the first bowling ball and the plurality of dynamic attributes of the first bowling ball using a multivariable regression;
determining a plurality of physical characteristics of a second bowing ball; and
accepting, by a computer the plurality of physical characteristics of the second bowling ball and executing, with a computer a program based on the relationship and to generate a predicted path of the second bowling ball based on the plurality of physical characteristics of the second bowling ball.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for graphically and statistically analyzing and predicting the motion of a bowling ball. In one embodiment, the system includes an automatic precision ball thrower, a computer aided tracking system (“C.A.T.S.”), and a computing device. Certain static properties of the bowling ball are recorded as independent variables. The automatic precision ball thrower is used to throw the bowling ball down the lane a number of times and the C.A.T.S. records various dynamic characteristics of its path. This data is received by the computing device which uses it to calculate a plurality of dependent variables associated with the path of the bowling ball. The computing device relates the independent variables to the dependent variables using multivariable regression analysis, yielding a set of equations which can be used to predict the dependent variables (or dynamic characteristics) of a second bowling ball given a set of independent variables (or static characteristics of the second bowling ball).
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method for analyzing and predicting a path of a bowling ball, the method comprising:
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determining a plurality of physical characteristics of a first bowling ball, the plurality of physical characteristics including a ball surface roughness, lane coefficient of friction, an oil absorption rate, and a radius of gyration; determining a plurality of dynamic attributes of the first bowling ball by repeatedly throwing the first bowling ball down a bowling lane, and monitoring the motion of the first bowling ball during each throw using a plurality of sensors, the monitoring including monitoring a skid phase, a hook phase, and a back-end phase of the first bowling ball, and determining a path of motion, spin rate, and velocity of the first bowling ball as it travels down the bowling lane; determining a relationship between the plurality of physical characteristics of the first bowling ball and the plurality of dynamic attributes of the first bowling ball using a multivariable regression; determining a plurality of physical characteristics of a second bowing ball; and accepting, by a computer the plurality of physical characteristics of the second bowling ball and executing, with a computer a program based on the relationship and to generate a predicted path of the second bowling ball based on the plurality of physical characteristics of the second bowling ball. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for predicting a path of a first bowling ball, the system comprising:
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a computer that accepts a plurality of physical characteristics of the first bowling ball and executes a program based on a predetermined relationship and generates a predicted path of the first bowling ball based on the plurality of physical characteristics of the first bowling ball; wherein the predetermined relationship is based on a regression analysis of a plurality of physical characteristics of a second bowling ball and a plurality of dynamic attributes of the second bowling ball, the plurality of physical characteristics of the second bowling ball including a ball surface roughness, lane coefficient of friction, an oil absorption rate, and a radius of gyration; the plurality of dynamic attributes of the second bowling ball determined by repeatedly throwing the second bowling ball down a bowling lane using an automatic ball thrower, and monitoring the motion of the second bowling ball during each throw using a plurality of sensors, the monitoring including monitoring a skid phase, a hook phase, and a back-end phase of the second bowling ball and determining a path of motion, spin rate, and velocity of the second bowling ball as it travels down the bowling lane. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for analyzing and predicting the path of a bowling ball that is thrown down a bowling lane, the method comprising:
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determining physical characteristics of a bowling ball, the physical characteristics including an oil absorption rate, a surface roughness, and a finger/thumb weight; generating a first set of data comprised of the physical characteristics of the bowling ball; throwing the bowling ball down the bowling lane a number of times; determining dynamic attributes of the bowling ball as it travels down the lane using a number of sensors; generating a second set of data based upon the characteristics of the bowling ball'"'"'s path; determining a relationship between the first set of data and the second set of data; and using the relationship to predict a path of a second bowling ball. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A computer system for predicting motion of a test bowling ball, the system comprising:
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a programmed processor configured to receive input data regarding physical characteristics of the test bowling ball, the physical characteristics including surface roughness, lane coefficient of friction, an oil absorption rate, and a radius of gyration, the programmed processor including a path predicting module configured to generate a predicted path of the test bowling ball based on a relationship between; a predetermined plurality of dynamic attributes of one or more second bowling balls which are not the test bowling ball, and a predetermined plurality of physical characteristics of the one or more second bowling balls which are not the test bowling ball, the predetermined plurality of physical characteristics including an oil absorption rate, a surface roughness, and a finger/thumb weight; and
;wherein the relationship is a based on a regression analysis and is stored in a memory accessible by the programmed processor. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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Specification