Sports ball communication system

• US 9,381,415 B1
• Filed: 12/10/2013
• Issued: 07/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ernest Digregorio
• Original Assignee: Ernest Digregorio
• Inventors: DiGregorio, Ernest
• Primary Examiner(s): Rowland, Steve
• Application Number:
  US14/101,635
• Time in Patent Office: 938 Days
• Field of Search: 473/570
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0075 Means for generating exercise programs or schemes, e.g. computerized virtual trainer, e.g. using expert databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2218/12 Classification; Matching
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/23 Recognition of whole body movements, e.g. for sport training
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/0038 Sports

Abstract

A sports ball communication system includes a band that is to be worn by a participant who is meant to handle the sports ball; and a communication unit constructed and arranged to be worn by the participant on the band. The communication unit includes a main control unit, a memory for storing predetermined messages, and at least one sensor for sensing the actions of the ball by the participant. The system may include as sensors a microphone for sensing a bounce of the ball by the participant, and an accelerometer for sensing a motion of a ball handling hand of the participant.

Claims

1. A sports ball communication system comprising:

a band that is to be worn by a participant who is meant to handle a sports ball; and

a communication unit constructed and arranged to be worn by the participant on the band;

the communication unit including a main control unit, a memory for storing predetermined messages, and at least one sensor for sensing the actions of the ball by the participant;

wherein a first sensor comprises a microphone for detecting a contact of the sports ball with an object of interest, wherein the communication unit comprises an enclosure for housing the microphone;

wherein detection of the contact of the sports ball with the object of interest will be determined by sampling a microphone signal, wherein the microphone signal is converted to digital form at a minimum sampling rate of 1 to 2 KHz;

wherein the microphone signal is passed through a low pass filter.

2. The sports ball communication system of claim 1 wherein the low pass filter for the microphone is set at 500 Hz.

3. The sports ball communication system of claim 2 wherein the at least one sensor also includes an accelerometer for sensing a motion of a ball handling hand of the participant.

4. The sports ball communication system of claim 3 wherein the communication unit comprises an enclosure for housing the microphone and accelerometer.

5. The sports ball communication system of claim 4 further including a speaker supported at the band, the speaker for providing audio messages stored in the memory to the participant based upon the detection of signals from the microphone and accelerometer.

6. The sports ball communication system of claim 5 wherein the communication unit also includes an accelerometer for sensing a motion of the user'"'"'s hand.

7. The sports ball communication system of claim 1 wherein the at least one sensor includes an accelerometer for sensing a motion of a ball handling hand of the participant.

8. The sports ball communication system of claim 7 further including a speaker supported at the band, the speaker for providing audio messages stored in the memory to the participant based upon the detection of signals from the accelerometer.

19. The sports ball communication system of claim 1 wherein the sports ball is a basketball and the object of interest is a floor.

20. The sports ball communication system of claim 1 wherein the microphone signal is compared to a pre-built library of known sports ball contact audio patterns;

and wherein a correlation between the microphone signal and the pre-built library results in a variable which is used to authenticate the signal as the contact of the sports ball with the object of interest.

9. A sports ball communication system for sensing the playing of a basketball by a player and in response thereto generating a predetermined audio message to assist in the performance of tasks with the basketball, the sports ball communication system comprising:

a band that is to be worn by a participant who is meant to handle the sports ball;

an electronic processing unit for storing pre-selected messages;

a plurality of sensors that are constructed and arranged for wearing by the player and including;

a first sensor for detecting a motion of the ball in the hand of the player, and a second sensor for detecting the bounce of the ball by the player;

wherein the second sensor comprises a microphone for sensing a basketball bounce, wherein the communication unit comprises an enclosure for housing the microphone;

wherein recognition of the basketball bounce will be determined by sampling a microphone signal, wherein the microphone signal is converted to digital form at a minimum sampling rate of 1 to 2 KHz;

wherein the microphone signal is filtered by a low pass filter;

wherein the microphone signal is compared to a pre-built library of known basketball bounce audio patterns; and

wherein a correlation between microphone signal and the pre-built library results in a variable which is used to authenticate the signal as a basketball bounce.

10. The sports ball communication system of claim 9 wherein the electronic processing unit includes a memory for storing pre-selected messages.

11. The sports ball communication system of claim 9 including an output audio stage wherein the message is an audio message delivered through a speaker.

17. The sports ball communication system of claim 9 wherein the low pass filter is set to 500 Hz.

18. The sports ball communication system of claim 9 wherein the microphone signal will be converted by microprocessor digital signal processing to a frequency domain representation via fast Fourier transform resulting in a spectrogram that is then compared to a pre-built library of known basketball bounce spectrogram patterns.

12. A method for sensing the playing of a basketball by a player and in response thereto generating a predetermined audio message to assist in the performance of tasks with the basketball, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a band that is to be worn by the player;

storing pre-selected messages in a memory; and

providing a plurality of sensors that are constructed and arranged for wearing by the player and including;

making a first sensing for detecting a motion of the ball in the hand of the player, and making a second sensing for detecting the bounce of the ball by the player;

wherein the second sensor comprises a microphone for sensing a basketball bounce, housing the microphone within an enclosure in a communication Unit;

recognizing the basketball bounce by sampling a microphone signal, wherein the microphone signal is converted to digital form at a minimum sampling rate of 1 to 2 KHz; and

filtering the microphone signal with a low pass filter;

wherein the microphone signal is compared to a pre-built library of known basketball bounce audio patterns;

wherein a correlation between the microphone signal and the pre-built library results in a variable which is used to authenticate the microphone signal as a basketball bounce.

13. The method of claim 12 including generating an audio message based on the sensed signals.

14. The method of claim 12 including comparing the sensed signals with a reference signal to determine authenticity.

15. The method of claim 12 including assigning a number of points to a plurality of categories;

wherein a first category is threshold detection, wherein a second category is correlation measurements;

wherein a threshold value is set at a predetermined value;

calculating an r-squared value;

assigning a maximum number of points for the r-squared value;

wherein a perfect value of r-squared is equal to 1.00;

determining an additional metric and assigning points to the additional metric to account for a remaining score; and

authenticating the microphone signal as the basketball bounce when the total number of points assigned to the microphone signal exceed a predetermined number of points.

16. The method of claim 12 including wherein the low pass filter is set to 500 Hz.