Golf swing tempo measurement system

• US 7,160,200 B2
• Filed: 09/22/2004
• Issued: 01/09/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yale University
• Original Assignee: Yale University
• Inventors: Grober, Robert D
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, KIM T
• Application Number:
  US10/948,374
• Publication Number:
  US 20060063600A1
• Time in Patent Office: 839 Days
• Field of Search: 473/131, 473/213, 473/221, 473/224, 473233-234
• US Class Current: 473/234
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/40 Acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/3638 Normal golf clubs with directly attached weights

Abstract

A biofeedback system including an elongated member, for feeding back sounds indicative of swing tempo of the elongated member is provided. The system comprises a plurality of acceleration measuring devices adapted to measure accelerations at a plurality of locations along the elongated member; a first microcontroller for processing the measured acceleration signals to reduce effects of gravity and forming a digital number related to an angular rotational speed raised to a power; said digital number comprising a plurality of bits; a second microcontroller for receiving the digital number and associating the bits with a plurality of groups each having an associated tonal composition and amplitude value indicative of bit content and for forming commands indicative of the tonal composition and amplitude value; and a synthesizer responsive to commands and producing an audio signal; and an output for outputting the audio signal.

Claims

1. A biofeedback system including an elongated member, for feeding back sounds indicative of swing tempo of the elongated member, the system comprising:

a plurality of acceleration measuring devices adapted to measure accelerations at a plurality of locations along the elongated member;

a first microcontroller for processing the measured acceleration signals to reduce effects of gravity and forming a digital number related to an angular rotational speed raised to a power;

said digital number comprising a plurality of bits;

a second microcontroller for receiving the digital number and associating the bits with a plurality of groups each having an associated tonal composition and amplitude value indicative of bit content and for forming commands indicative of the tonal composition and amplitude value; and

a synthesizer responsive to the commands and producing an audio signal; and

means for outputting the audio signal.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the power to which the angular rotational speed is raised is at least substantially 2.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elongated member is a golf club.

4. A method of feeding back synthesized sounds indicative of swing tempo of an elongated member, the method comprising the steps of:

generating a plurality of acceleration signals indicative of the acceleration of the elongated member at different locations thereof;

processing the acceleration signals to reduce the contribution of gravity in the signals;

forming a sequence of digital samples of the processed acceleration signals, each sample comprising a plurality of bits related to an angular rotational speed raised to a power;

defining groups of the plurality of bits in a sample, each group having an associated tonal composition and amplitude value related to a group'"'"'s digital value;

generating commands for the synthesis of sounds representative of the tonal composition and amplitudes of the groups; and

feeding back synthesized sounds.

5. A biofeedback system including an elongated member for feeding back sounds indicative of swing tempo of the elongated member, the system comprising:

a plurality of sensors coupled to the elongated member for deriving digital signals indicative of motion of the elongated member;

means for processing the signals to reduce an effect of gravity, generating a multi-bit digital number indicative of an angular velocity raised to a power and associating the bits into a plurality of groups each having an associated tonal composition and amplitude indicative of bit content and for fanning commands indicative of the tonal composition and amplitude value;

a synthesizer responsive to the commands for producing audio signals; and

means for outputting the audio signals.

6. The system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the power to which the angular rotational speed is raised is at least substantially 2.

7. The system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the elongated member is a golf club.

8. A method of feeding back sounds indicative of swing tempo of an elongated member, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of sensors mounted along the elongated member for deriving digital signals indicative of motion of the elongated member;

processing the signals to eliminate or reduce an effect of gravity, generating a multi bit digital number indicative of the angular velocity raised to a power at at least two positions along the elongated member, and mapping the bits into a plurality of groups each having an associated tonal composition and an amplitude indicative of bit content;

synthesizing a sound signal having the tonal composition associated with a group and amplitude indicative of the bit value of the group; and

outputting the audio signal.

9. A biofeedback system for converting motion characteristics of an elongated member into sounds, the biofeedback system comprising:

a plurality of sensors positioned along the elongated member to capture motion parameters as multi-bit digital numbers;

a processor to map the bits of each of the numbers into a plurality of groups each having an associated tonal composition and an amplitude indicative of bit content;

a synthesizer for generating an audio signal responsive to the mapped bits; and

means for outputting the audio signal.

10. A method for providing biofeedback signals to a user using sensors to capture motion characteristics of an elongated member, the meted comprising:

providing a plurality of sensors positioned along the elongated member for capturing motion parameters thereof as multi-bit digital numbers;

mapping the bits of each of the numbers into a plurality of groups each having an associated tonal composition and an amplitude indicative of bit content;

synthesizing a sound signal responsive to the mapped bits to produce a signal having the tonal composition associated with a group and amplitude indicative of bit content; and

outputting the signal.