System and method for swing analyses

• US 8,672,779 B1
• Filed: 03/07/2013
• Issued: 03/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Access Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Access Company Limited
• Inventors: Sakyo, Daisuke, Katoh, Junichi
• Primary Examiner(s): LEGESSE, NINI F
• Application Number:
  US13/789,523
• Time in Patent Office: 376 Days
• Field of Search: 473/151, 473/107, 473/212, 473/219, 473/221, 473/223, 473/224, 473/226, 473/453, 473/409
• US Class Current: 473/409
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1122 of movement trajectories
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6895 Sport equipment
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/34 Angular speed
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/40 Acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/803 Motion sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/833 Sensors arranged on the exercise apparatus or sports implement
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/50 Wireless data transmission, e.g. by radio transmitters or telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0006 Computerised comparison for qualitative assessment of motion sequences or the course of a movement
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/3623 for driving A63B69/3608, A63B69/3658, A63B69/3661, A63B69/3667 and A63B69/3691 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 71/06 Indicating or scoring devices for games or players , or for other sports activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2218/12 Classification; Matching
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/23 Recognition of whole body movements, e.g. for sport training

Abstract

A swing analyzer is disclosed. The swing analyzer may be used to analyze the swing an object such as a golf club. The swing analyzer accounts for individual differences between users and/or sensors to improve performance. The swing analyzer includes a motion sensor that is attachable to the object. The motion sensor communicates wirelessly with a terminal device. The terminal device includes a swing analysis unit for performing swing analysis based on sensor data output from the motion sensor. The swing analyzer determines a target line based on position of the motion sensor while a user is at the address posture before a swing. The target line is used as a reference to provide swing analysis.

Claims

1. A computer-enabled method of analyzing a swing of a sporting equipment using a terminal device that is configured to wirelessly receive sensor data from an equipment-mounted motion sensor, the method comprising:

receiving, from the motion sensor over a wireless communication channel, a plurality of sensor data, wherein a sensor datum of the plurality of sensor data comprises information representing acceleration of the equipment-mounted motion sensor;

determining when the sporting equipment is in an address position, based on at least a portion of the received plurality of sensor data, wherein the address position is a starting position of the swing;

determining, from at least a portion of the received plurality of sensor data, a vector indicating a gravitational acceleration direction with respect to a first coordinate system,

wherein the first coordinate system comprises three orthogonal axes,

wherein the three orthogonal axes are an x-axis and a y-axis that define an x-y plane, and a z-axis,

wherein the x-y plane is parallel to the length of the sporting equipment;

determining a target line for the sporting equipment at the address position, by computing the outer product of the vector indicating the gravitational acceleration direction and a vector representing the z-axis,

wherein the target line is an imaginary line connecting the address position and a target; and

characterizing a path of a swing of the sporting equipment based on the target line.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining a transformed target line by transforming the target line in the first coordinate system to a second coordinate system,

wherein the second coordinate system comprises three orthogonal axes,

wherein the three orthogonal axes include an x-axis and a y-axis, and

wherein the length of the sporting equipment, at the address position, is parallel to the x-axis.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein:

the transformed target line is orthogonal to the x-axis and is parallel to the y-axis of the second coordinate system.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining, based on at least a portion of the received plurality of sensor data, when the sporting equipment is in a stationary state, wherein the determining of the stationary state comprises;

determining a mean and a standard deviation of the at least a portion of the received plurality of sensor data;

comparing the standard deviation against a threshold.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein:

the number of sensor data in the portion and the threshold are based on at least one of a sensitivity of the motion sensor, a user'"'"'s age, and the type of the sporting equipment.

6. The method according to claim 4, further comprising:

determining whether the sporting equipment is correctly positioned during the stationary state of the motion sensor.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising:

receiving a user input indicating that the sporting equipment is in a baseline position, the baseline position representing a baseline starting position for the swing;

receiving, from the motion sensor, a baseline plurality of sensor data representing the baseline starting position;

determining a baseline mean of the baseline plurality of sensor data, wherein the baseline mean comprises a value and a sign;

determining, from at least a portion of the received plurality of sensor data, a current mean of the at least a portion of received plurality of sensor data, wherein the current mean comprises another value and another sign; and

determining that the sporting equipment is correctly positioned if;

the sign of the baseline mean and the sign of the current mean are the same, and

the value of the baseline mean and the value of the current mean differ by less than a threshold.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

the sporting equipment is a golf club.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein:

the characterizing characterizes a path of a swing of the sporting equipment as an inside-in, outside-in, or inside-out golf swing.

10. A swing analysis system comprising:

a motion sensor configured to attach to a sporting equipment, wherein the motion sensor;

comprises an accelerometer and an angular velocity sensor, and

is configured to attach to the sporting equipment along a surface plane defined by an x-axis and a y-axis of a first coordinate system,

wherein the x-axis, the y-axis, and a z-axis of the first coordinate system are orthogonal, and

wherein the surface plane defined by the x-axis and the y-axis of the first coordinate system is parallel to the length of the sporting equipment at an address position; and

a terminal device configured to wirelessly receive accelerometer data and angular velocity data from the motion sensor, wherein the terminal device comprises;

a target line setting circuitry configured to;

determine a position of the motion sensor when the motion sensor is in the address position, wherein the address position is a starting position of the swing, and

determine a target line based on the position, wherein;

the target line is an imaginary line connecting the sporting equipment and a target, and

is based on an outer product of;

the vector indicating the gravitational acceleration direction with respect to the first coordinate system, and

a vector representing an z-axis direction of the first coordinate system; and

a swing analysis circuitry configured to characterize a path of a swing of the sporting equipment based on the target line.

11. The swing analysis system according to claim 10,

wherein the target line setting circuitry is configured to determine a transformed target line by transforming the target line in the first coordinate system to a second coordinate system,

wherein the second coordinate system comprises three orthogonal axes,

wherein the three orthogonal axes include an x-axis and a y-axis, and

wherein the length of the sporting equipment, at the address position, is parallel to the x-axis.

12. The swing analysis system according to claim 11, wherein:

the transformed target line is orthogonal to the x-axis and is parallel to the y-axis of the second coordinate system.

13. The swing analysis system according to claim 11, further comprising a stationary state detection circuitry configured to:

determine a mean and a standard deviation of a plurality of sensor data from the motion sensor;

determine that the motion sensor is in a stationary state when the standard deviation is less than a threshold.

14. The swing analysis system according to claim 13, wherein:

the number of sensor data in the plurality of sensor data and the threshold are based on at least one of a sensitivity of the motion sensor, a user'"'"'s age, and the type of the sporting equipment.

15. The swing analysis system according to claim 14, wherein:

the accelerometer is configured to detect acceleration in three axes.

16. The swing analysis system according to claim 13, further comprising:

a posture determination circuitry configured to determine whether the motion sensor is correctly positioned during the stationary state of the motion sensor.

17. The swing analysis system according to claim 16, wherein the posture determination circuitry is configured to:

receive a user input indicating that the motion sensor is in a baseline position, the baseline posture representing that the sporting equipment is in a baseline starting position for the swing;

receive, from the motion sensor, a baseline plurality of sensor data representing the baseline starting position;

determine a baseline mean of the baseline plurality of sensor data, wherein the baseline mean comprises a value and a sign;

determine, from at least a portion of the received plurality of motion sensor, a current mean of the current plurality of sensor data, wherein the current mean comprises another value and another sign; and

determine that the motion sensor is correctly positioned if;

the sign of the baseline mean and the sign of the current mean are the same, and

the value of the baseline mean and the value of the current mean differ by less than a threshold.

18. The swing analysis system according to claim 16,

wherein the sporting equipment is a golf club and

wherein the motion sensor is sized to attach to a shaft of the golf club.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to analyze a swing of a sporting equipment using a terminal device and an equipment-mounted motion sensor, the computer-executable instructions comprising instructions for:

receiving, from the motion sensor over a wireless communication channel, a plurality of sensor data, wherein a sensor datum of the plurality of sensor data comprises information representing acceleration of the equipment-mounted motion sensor;

determining when the sporting equipment is in an address position, based on at least a portion of the received plurality of sensor data, wherein the address position is a starting position of the swing;

determining, from at least a portion of the received plurality of sensor data, a vector indicating a gravitational acceleration direction with respect to a first coordinate system,

wherein the first coordinate system comprises three orthogonal axes,

wherein the three orthogonal axes are an x-axis and a y-axis that define an x-y plane, and a z-axis,

wherein the x-y plane is parallel to the length of the sporting equipment;

determining a target line for the sporting equipment at the address position, by computing the outer product of the vector indicating the gravitational acceleration direction and a vector representing the z-axis,

wherein the target line is an imaginary line connecting the sporting equipment and a target; and

characterizing a path of a swing of the sporting equipment based on the target line.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 19, further comprising computer-executable instructions for:

determining a transformed target line by transforming the target line in the first coordinate system to a second coordinate system,

wherein the second coordinate system comprises three orthogonal axes,

wherein the three orthogonal axes include an x-axis and a y-axis, and

wherein the length of the sporting equipment, at the address position, is parallel to the x-axis.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 20, wherein:

the transformed target line is orthogonal to the x-axis and is parallel to the y-axis of the second coordinate system.

22. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 19, further comprising computer-executable instructions for:

determining, based on at least a portion of the received plurality of sensor data, when the sporting equipment is in a stationary state, wherein the determining of the stationary state comprises;

determining a mean and a standard deviation of the at least a portion of the received plurality of sensor data;

comparing the standard deviation against a threshold.

23. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 22, wherein:

the number of sensor data in the portion and the threshold are based on at least one of a sensitivity of the motion sensor, a user'"'"'s age, and the type of the sporting equipment.

24. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 22, further comprising computer-executable instructions for:

determining whether the sporting equipment is correctly positioned during the stationary state of the motion sensor.

25. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 24, further comprising computer-executable instructions for:

receiving a user input indicating that the sporting equipment is in a baseline position, the baseline position representing a baseline starting position for the swing;

receiving, from the motion sensor, a baseline plurality of sensor data representing the baseline direction position;

determining a baseline mean of the baseline plurality of sensor data, wherein the baseline mean comprises a value and a sign;

determining, from at least a portion of the received plurality of sensor data, a current mean of the at least a portion of received plurality of sensor data, wherein the current mean comprises another value and another sign; and

determining that the sporting equipment is correctly positioned if;

the sign of the baseline mean and the sign of the current mean are the same, and

the value of the baseline mean and the value of the current mean differ by less than a threshold.

26. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 19, wherein:

the sporting equipment is a golf club.

27. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 26, wherein:

the characterizing characterizes a path of a swing of the sporting equipment as an inside-in, outside-in, or inside-out golf swing.