Basketball shot-tracking system

• US 9,129,153 B2
• Filed: 06/10/2014
• Issued: 09/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DD Sports, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Shottracker, Inc.
• Inventors: Ianni, Bruce C., Ross, Davyeon D., Kahler, Clint A., Danknick, Daniel A.
• Primary Examiner(s): YOO, JASSON H
• Application Number:
  US14/301,288
• Publication Number:
  US 20140371885A1
• Time in Patent Office: 455 Days
• Field of Search: 473/205, 473/250, 700/91
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2208/02 posture
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2208/0204 Standing on the feet
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/17 Counting, e.g. counting periodical movements, revolutions or cycles, or including further data processing to determine distances or speed
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/833 Sensors arranged on the exercise apparatus or sports implement
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/836 Sensors arranged on the body of the user
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0062 Monitoring athletic performances, e.g. for determining the work of a user on an exercise apparatus, the completed jogging or cycling distance
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/0071 for basketball
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 71/0669 Score-keepers or score display devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2218/00 Aspects of pattern recognition specially adapted for signal processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0639 Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/23 Recognition of whole body movements, e.g. for sport training
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/0038 Sports
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/725 Cordless telephones user interfaces specially adapted therefor H04M1/724

Abstract

A basketball shot-tracking system comprising a wrist tracker, a net tracker, and a shot-tracking mobile application. The wrist tracker is worn on the wrist or arm of a basketball player and the net tracker is attached to the net of the basketball hoop. The wrist tracker and net tracker automatically detect shot-attempt and made-shot events, respectively, and asynchronously transmit messages to the shot-tracking mobile application reporting these events. The shot-tracking mobile application, which runs on a mobile device, such as a smart phone or tablet computer, includes program instructions that, when executed by the CPU of the wireless mobile device, causes the wireless mobile device to automatically receive and process the asynchronous event data sent by the wrist tracker and net tracker, and to automatically tabulate, store and/or display the basketball player'"'"'s shooting statistics (such as total shots taken, total shots made, shooting percentage, shot locations, and the like).

Claims

1. An arm-worn tracking device configured to identify and report, to a co-operating shot-tracking application executing on a separate computing device, basketball shot-attempts taken by a player, the tracking device comprising:

a motion sensor;

a microprocessor which receives motion data generated by the motion sensor;

a computer memory; and

a transmitter;

wherein the computer memory stores a motion-processing application having program instructions that, when executed by the microprocessor, cause the microprocessor to implement the following steps;

analyze and then store in the computer memory a qualified portion of the motion data that is generated by the motion sensor;

compare the qualified portion of the motion data to one or more player shot data profiles that have been previously stored in the computer memory, with each of the player shot data profiles comprising data representative of how the player'"'"'s shooting arm moves when the player makes a shot-attempt for one of a plurality of different types of basketball shots;

determine from the compare step whether the player has made a shot-attempt of any of said different types of basketball shots; and

if the player has made a basketball shot-attempt, cause the transmitter to transmit a shot-attempt event message.

2. The tracking device of claim 1, wherein the motion data generated by the motion sensor comprises acceleration values Ax, Ay, and Az of the motion sensor along three mutually orthogonal axes and rotational orientation of the motion sensor.

3. The tracking device of claim 2, wherein the motion-processing application causes the microprocessor to determine, for the qualified portion of the motion data, gravitational acceleration components Gx, Gy, and Gz of the acceleration values Ax, Ay, and Az, respectively.

4. The tracking device of claim 3, wherein the motion sensor outputs rotational orientation of the motion sensor in terms of quaternion values and the microprocessor uses the quaternion values to determine the gravitational acceleration components Gx, Gy, and Gz of the acceleration values Ax, Ay, and Az, respectively.

5. The tracking device of claim 1, wherein the qualified portion of motion data that is stored in the computer memory is motion data that has been smoothed by a multiple-point-in-time, moving-averages process.

6. The tracking device of claim 1, wherein the player shot data profiles each comprise data over a predetermined PSD window of time that is representative of how the player'"'"'s shooting arm moves when the player makes a shot-attempt of the type to which the particular player shot data profile corresponds.

7. The tracking device of claim 6, wherein the predetermined PSD window of time for each of the player shot data profiles is centered around a point of maximum jerk within the predetermined window of time, with jerk being equal to the square root of the sum of the squares of Ax, Ay, and Az acceleration values of the motion sensor along three mutually orthogonal axes.

8. The tracking device of claim 6, wherein the qualified portion of motion data comprises motion data that has been generated by the motion sensor over a continuous period of time that lasts for more than a predetermined minimum length of time.

9. The tracking device of claim 8, wherein the qualified portion of motion data comprises motion data that has been generated by the motion sensor while the player'"'"'s arm is in a potential shooting position, with a minimum angle of inclination of the player'"'"'s arm relative to horizontal.

10. The tracking device of claim 8,

wherein the predetermined minimum length of time of the qualified portion of motion data is greater than the length of the predetermined PSD window of time;

and

wherein data within the selected one of the player shot data profiles is compared to data within a plurality of sub-portions of the qualified portion of motion data, with each of the sub-portions extending for a length of time that is equal to the predetermined PSD window of time and with each of the sub-portions beginning at a different starting point in time within the qualified portion of motion data.

11. The tracking device of claim 10,

wherein the player shot data profiles comprise gravitational acceleration components Gx, Gy, and Gz of acceleration values Ax, Ay, and Az, respectively, of the motion sensor;

wherein the qualified portion of motion data includes gravitational acceleration components Gx, Gy, and Gz of acceleration values Ax, Ay, and Az, respectively, of the motion sensor; and

wherein, for each of the plurality of sub-portions of the qualified portion of motion data, comparing data within the selected one of the player shot data profiles to data within the particular sub-portion comprises

     1) comparing Gx, Gy, and Gz values within the selected one of the player shot data profiles to corresponding values of Gx, Gy, and Gz within the particular sub-portion, and

     2) tabulating the number of times each of the Gx, Gy, and Gz values within the selected one of the player shot data profiles matches the corresponding value of Gx, Gy, and Gz within the particular sub-portion to within a pre-determined threshold value.

12. The tracking device of claim 11, wherein the different starting points in time within the qualified portion of motion data are identified, before the data within the selected one of the player shot data profiles is compared to the data within the plurality of sub-portions, by first comparing a sub-portion of the data within the selected one of the player shot data profiles to a plurality of time-incrementally successive sub-portions of the data within the qualified portion.

13. The tracking device of claim 11, wherein the motion-processing application causes the microprocessor to calculate a degree of confidence of a shot-attempt match having been made based on the tabulated number of times Gx, Gy, and Gz values within the selected one of the player shot data profiles match corresponding values of Gx, Gy, and Gz within the particular sub-portion.

14. The tracking device of claim 13, wherein the motion-processing application causes the microprocessor to compare the qualified portion of the motion data to all of the player shot data profiles;

calculate a degree of confidence of a shot-attempt match having been made based on the data-comparison for each of the player shot data profiles;

identify a maximum degree of confidence for the comparison across all of the player shot data profiles; and

determine whether a shot-attempt event has occurred based on whether the maximum degree of confidence exceeds a predetermined threshold.

15. The tracking device of claim 13, wherein the degree of confidence is calculated based on the number of times the Gx, Gy, and Gz values within the entirety of the selected one of the player shot data profiles match the corresponding Gx, Gy, and Gz values within the entirety of the particular sub-portion of the qualified portion of motion data.

16. The tracking device of claim 13, wherein the degree of confidence is calculated based on the number of times the Gx, Gy, and Gz values within a maximum-jerk sub-window of the selected one of the player shot data profiles, centered around a time of maximum jerk within the selected one of the player shot data profiles and having a maximum-jerk sub-window length of time that is less than the predetermined PSD window of time, match the corresponding Gx, Gy, and Gz values within a sub-window of the particular sub-portion of the qualified portion of motion data that is centered around a time of maximum jerk within the particular sub-portion of the qualified portion of motion data and that has a length of time that is the same as the maximum jerk sub-window length of time.

17. The tracking device of claim 13, wherein

a first degree of confidence is calculated based on the number of times the Gx, Gy, and Gz values within the entirety of the selected one of the player shot data profiles match the corresponding Gx, Gy, and Gz values within the entirety of the particular sub-portion of the qualified portion of motion data;

a second degree of confidence is calculated based on the number of times the Gx, Gy, and Gz values within a maximum-jerk sub-window of the selected one of the player shot data profiles, centered around a time of maximum jerk within the selected one of the player shot data profiles and having a maximum-jerk sub-window length of time that is less than the predetermined PSD window of time, match the corresponding Gx, Gy, and Gz values within a sub-window of the particular sub-portion of the qualified portion of motion data that is centered around a time of maximum jerk within the particular sub-portion of the qualified portion of motion data and that has a length of time that is the same as the maximum-jerk sub-window length of time; and

a total degree of confidence is calculated as an average of the first and second degrees of confidence.

18. The tracking device of claim 1, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit data using a Bluetooth wireless protocol.

19. The tracking device of claim 18, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit data using a BLE protocol.

20. The tracking device of claim 1, wherein the transmitter is a WiFi transmitter.

21. The tracking device of claim 1, wherein the shot-attempt message includes data identifying the player.

22. The tracking device of claim 1, wherein the shot-attempt message includes data identifying the type of shot-attempt the player has made.

23. An arm-worn tracking device configured to identify basketball shot-attempts taken by a player by comparing motion of the player'"'"'s shooting arm to one or more pre-established player shot data profiles, the tracking device comprising:

a motion sensor;

a microprocessor which receives motion data generated by the motion sensor; and

a computer memory that stores a motion-processing application which executes on the microprocessor to cause the microprocessor to establish and store the one or more player shot data profiles in the computer memory;

wherein the motion-processing application further causes the microprocessor to implement the following steps;

for each of a series of training shots of a given shot-type,

analyze, and then store in the computer memory a qualified portion of, the motion data that is generated by the motion sensor;

identify, within the qualified portion of motion data, motion data indicative of a basketball shot having been taken and a point in time at which the basketball shot was taken; and

store in the computer memory a window'"'"'s worth of shot-taken data, the shot-taken data being determined from the data in the qualified portion of motion data within a time window of predetermined duration and centered around the point in time at which the basketball shot was taken; and

average together the shot-taken data from all of the test shots within the series, on a time-increment-by-time-increment and parameter-by-parameter basis, and then store in the computer memory the averaged data values to yield a player shot data profile for the player for basketball shots of the given shot-type.

24. The tracking device of claim 23, wherein the motion data generated by the motion sensor comprises acceleration values Ax, Ay, and Az of the motion sensor along three mutually orthogonal axes and rotational orientation of the motion sensor.

25. The tracking device of claim 24, wherein the motion-processing application causes the microprocessor to determine and, for the qualified portion of the motion data, store in the computer memory gravitational acceleration components Gx, Gy, and Gz of the acceleration values Ax, Ay, and Az, respectively.

26. The tracking device of claim 25, wherein the motion sensor outputs rotational orientation of the motion sensor in terms of quaternion values and the microprocessor uses the quaternion values to determine the gravitational acceleration components Gx, Gy, and Gz of the acceleration values Ax, Ay, and Az, respectively.

27. The tracking device of claim 24, wherein the player shot data profile comprises data over a predetermined PSD window of time that is representative of how the player'"'"'s shooting arm moves when the player makes a shot-attempt of the type to which the particular player shot data profile corresponds.

28. The tracking device of claim 27, wherein the predetermined PSD window of time is centered around a point of maximum jerk within the predetermined window of time, with jerk being equal to the square root of the sum of the squares of Ax, Ay, and Az acceleration values of the motion sensor along three mutually orthogonal axes.

29. The tracking device of claim 27, wherein the qualified portion of motion data comprises motion data that has been generated by the motion sensor over a continuous period of time that lasts for more than a predetermined minimum length of time.

30. The tracking device of claim 29, wherein the qualified portion of motion data comprises motion data that has been generated by the motion sensor while the player'"'"'s arm is in a potential shooting position, with a minimum angle of inclination of the players arm relative to horizontal.

31. The tracking device of claim 27, wherein the player shot data profile comprises acceleration components Gx, Gy, and Gz, respectively, of acceleration values Ax, Ay, and Az along three mutually orthogonal axes.

32. The tracking device of claim 31, wherein the player shot data profile further comprises the Ax, Ay, and Az acceleration values.

33. The tracking device of claim 31, wherein the motion sensor outputs rotational orientation of the motion sensor in terms of quaternion values and the player shot data profile further comprises the quaternion values.

34. The tracking device of claim 23, wherein the qualified portion of motion data that is stored in the computer memory is motion data that has been smoothed by a multiple-point-in-time, moving-averages process.

35. A computer-implemented method for detecting basketball shot-attempts taken by a player using an arm-worn tracking device, the arm-worn tracking device having a motion sensor, a microprocessor and a computer memory, the computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving on the microprocessor motion data generated by the motion sensor;

analyzing and storing in the computer memory a qualified portion of the motion data;

comparing the qualified portion of the motion data to one or more player shot data profiles that have been previously stored in the computer memory, with each of the one or more player shot data profiles comprising data representative of how the player'"'"'s shooting arm moves when the player takes a shot-attempt for one of a plurality of different types of basketball shots;

determining from the comparing step whether the player has made a shot-attempt of any of said different types of basketball shots.

36. The computer implemented method of claim 35, wherein the tracking device includes a transmitter and the method further comprises causing the transmitter to transmit a shot-attempt event message when it is determined, in the determining step, that a shot-attempt has been made.

37. A computer-implemented method for detecting basketball shot-attempts taken by a player using an arm-worn tracking device, the arm-worn tracking device having a microprocessor, a motion sensor, a computer memory and an interface to a remote computer system, the method comprising the steps of:

generating with the motion sensor motion data representing the movement of the player'"'"'s arm;

for each of a series of training shots of a given shot-type, causing the microprocessor to

(i) analyze and store in the computer memory a qualified portion of motion data that generated by the motion sensor,

(ii) identify within the qualified portion of motion data, motion data indicative of a basketball shot having been taken and a point in time at which the basketball shot was taken, and

(iii) store in the computer memory a window'"'"'s worth of shot-taken data, the shot-taken data being determined from the data in the qualified portion of motion data within a time window of predetermined duration and centered around the point in time at which the basketball shot was taken;

averaging together the shot-taken data from all of the test shots within the series, on a time-increment-by-time-increment and parameter-by-parameter basis;

generating a player shot data profile for the player for basketball shots of the given shot-type, the player shot data profile including the averaged data values; and

storing the averaged data values in the computer memory.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising:

comparing the qualified portion of the motion data to the player shot data profile stored in the computer memory;

determining from the comparing step whether the player has made a shot-attempt of the given shot-type.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising transmitting via the interface to the remote computer system a message indicating that the shot-attempt of the given shot-type has occurred.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the interface to the remote computer system comprises a wireless radio transmitter.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein the interface to the remote computer system comprises a direct connection.

42. An arm-worn wrist tracking device comprising:

a microprocessor;

a computer memory that stores a player shot data profile for a user, the player shot data profile representing typical movements of the user'"'"'s wrist or arm while the user is shooting a basketball;

one or more motion sensors to detect actual movements of the user'"'"'s wrist or arm over a predetermined period of time; and

a radio transmitter;

wherein the computer memory further stores a shot attempt detection program having program instructions that, when executed by the microprocessor, cause the microprocessor to

(a) compare the actual movements of the user'"'"'s wrist or arm over the predetermined period of time with the typical movements of the user'"'"'s wrist or arm, as reflected in the player shot data profile,

(b) determine on the arm-worn wrist tracking device, based on the comparison step, whether the user attempted a shot during the predetermined period of time, and

(c) if the user attempted a shot during the predetermined period of time, transmit a message from the arm-worn wrist tracking device to a personal computer system via the radio transmitter, the message indicating that a shot attempt event has occurred.