Sports analysis and testing system
First Claim
1. A baseball bat performance and testing system, comprising:
- a pitching machine operative to pitch a ball to a batter;
a plurality of high-speed digital video cameras, each operative to record the pitch and hit of the ball by the batter from a different perspective, including at least one rear-view video camera positioned generally behind the batter having a field of view in substantial alignment with the ball in trajectory from the pitching machine, and at least one side-view video camera having a field-of-view positioned to observe the pitch and hit of the ball from a side-view perspective;
a computer interfaced to the video cameras, the computer including means for synchronizing images taken by the rear-view camera with those taken by the side-view camera to assist in determining the location of the ball as a function of time in three dimensions; and
an application software program resident on the computer to generate the baseball bat performance statistics as a function of pitch, hit, and bat swing.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A sports analysis and testing system includes a plurality of high-speed digital video cameras, each aimed at a player from a different perspective to record their movements and those of a ball in play. In a baseball application, a programmed computer interfaced to the video cameras and various optional sensors includes application software to generate performance statistics as a function of the pitch, hit, and bat swing. If previously obtained batter performances data are available, the system may also be used to generate a database containing historical performance statistics, including real-time measurements of many characteristics, including pitched and batted ball speeds and trajectories, bat swing timing, speeds, and swing angles, location over the plate, and ball-bat contact location.
169 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A baseball bat performance and testing system, comprising:
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a pitching machine operative to pitch a ball to a batter; a plurality of high-speed digital video cameras, each operative to record the pitch and hit of the ball by the batter from a different perspective, including at least one rear-view video camera positioned generally behind the batter having a field of view in substantial alignment with the ball in trajectory from the pitching machine, and at least one side-view video camera having a field-of-view positioned to observe the pitch and hit of the ball from a side-view perspective; a computer interfaced to the video cameras, the computer including means for synchronizing images taken by the rear-view camera with those taken by the side-view camera to assist in determining the location of the ball as a function of time in three dimensions; and an application software program resident on the computer to generate the baseball bat performance statistics as a function of pitch, hit, and bat swing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of analyzing the performance of a baseball bat, comprising the steps of:
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providing a programmed computer having a display and a memory for storing performance statistics; pitching a ball to the batter using a pitching machine; providing a first high-speed digital video camera positioned generally behind the batter to image the ball in trajectory from the pitching machine and the batted ball according to a first perspective; providing a second high-speed digital video camera to image the pitched ball and batted ball from a side-view; synchronizing the images from the first and second video cameras so as to track the pitch and hit in three-dimensional space; developing a database of batter performance statistics based upon the tracking of the pitch and hit of the ball; and displaying a portion of the database in response to an operator request, including a visual representation of the batter during a swing. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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Specification