Communications: directive radio wave systems and devices (e.g. – Determining velocity
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-09
2001-09-18
Lobo, Ian J. (Department: 3662)
Communications: directive radio wave systems and devices (e.g.,
Determining velocity
C342S055000, C473S151000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06292130
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a system for determining the speed and/or timing of an object.
2. Description of the Related Art
The remarkable, often astonishing, physical skills and feats of great athletes draw millions of people every day to follow sports that range from the power of football to the grace of figure skating, from the speed of ice hockey to the precision of golf. Sports fans are captivated by the abilities of a basketball player to soar to the rafters, of a baseball pitcher to overwhelm the best hitters in the world, of a batter to hit home runs, of a runner to explode down the track, etc. In televising these events, broadcasters have deployed a varied repertoire of technologies—ranging from slow-motion replay to lipstick-sized cameras mounted on helmets—to highlight for viewers these extraordinary talents. Not only are fans intrigued and excited by the efforts of athletes, their comparative abilities become topics of endless debate at water coolers, in sports bars, on the Internet, etc.
One piece of information that has never been readily and reliably available to fans of sports like baseball is the speed that a batter swings a bat. Such information will not only create a statistic that reflects a critical athletic skill, but will also provide announcers with information that will enhance their analysis of the game. Subtle variations in different players' swings, now verifiable, may explain batting success. This information will be of tremendous interest to baseball fans, and to date there have been no successful attempts to provide such information during the telecast of a game.
There has been an attempt to measure and report bat speed in the past. However, this prior art system required significant amounts of human intervention and utilized too much time to arrive at a speed estimate such that the speed was reported significantly after the event to be of maximum interest to a viewer. Furthermore, the system was not been proven to be sufficiently accurate. The particular system included digitizing multiple frames of a video of a bat swing and estimating the distance of movement of the bat in between frames. This information was used to estimate the speed of the bat. Because of the shortcomings described above, the prior art system could not automatically and reliably determine bat speed in a timely manner.
Another piece of information that has not been readily available to baseball fans is the speed of a ball at the beginning of the pitch, at the end of a pitch and/or after it has been hit. Prior art systems measure the speed of a pitch, but cannot guarantee that the measured speed corresponds to the beginning of the pitch, or the end of the pitch. Such information will provide insight into the success of certain pitchers and batters. This information will be of tremendous interest to baseball fans, and to date there have been no successful attempts to provide such information during the telecast of a game. Bat speed and ball speed will quickly join other popular statistics like running speed and throwing distance in adding to viewers' appreciation of an athletic event. Fans of other sports that involve moving objects are also interested in the speeds of the various moving objects.
Therefore, a system is needed that can determine the speed of an object at desired times with sufficient accuracy to be of interest to a viewer of an event.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention, roughly described, provides for a system for determining the speed and/or timing of an object. The determined speed and/or timing information can be reported in a format suitable for use on a television broadcast, radio broadcast, the Internet or another medium, etc. Additionally, the information can be made available to another software process or function, or another computer. One example of suitable use for the present invention includes determining the speed that a baseball player swings a bat. Another use of the present invention is to measure the speed of a moving ball. The present invention can also be used to determine the path of a moving object. Other embodiments of the present invention can be used to measure information regarding the movement of other moving objects.
One method for practicing the invention includes automatically detecting the occurrence of a first event and determining the speed of an object during the first event. By automatically, it is meant that a human does not detect the occurrence of the first event. The event detected could be the start of a pitch, the end of a pitch, a bat hitting a ball, a ball starting to travel away from a bat, a bat swing, etc. The system can determine the speed of a ball at the start of a pitch, at the end of a pitch, at the time it begins to travel away from a bat, or at another time. The system can also determine the maximum speed of a bat during a swing, the speed of a bat at the moment it hit a ball, the speed of a bat at various instants during a swing, the time the bat is at certain angles, the acceleration of the bat, etc.
In one embodiment, the system includes sensing radar data using multiple radar units and storing that radar data. The system determines a start of a pitch of a ball, the end of a pitch, the speed of the ball during various points during its flight from the pitcher to the catcher and/or the speed of a bat during a swing. The system can report one or more of the determined speeds and times. In another embodiment, the system can determine a three dimensional velocity vector of an object. By determining the three dimensional velocity vector and position of an object at one or more points, the system can determine the trajectory of the path of the object.
The radar units may provide data for multiple objects in motion. In one example, the invention is used to determine which data represent the swing of a bat. Once the proper data is identified, the identified data is used to determine the speed of the bat. In one embodiment, it is the speed of the tip of the bat that is measured. The present invention can also be used to determine when a bat hit a ball and the speed of the bat swing at that moment and other moments. For example, the time that a bat hit the ball can be determined by identifying when a pitch ended, when a ball began traveling away from a bat or some time between the end of the pitch and the ball starting to travel away from the bat. Alternatively, the radar data for the bat may be used to determined when the bat hit the ball by looking for an abrupt change in speed of the bat.
In one embodiment, the system includes a set of radars positioned behind and pointing toward a batter or other object. Data from the radars is collected and sent to a computer which can determine the timing and/or speed information.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed description in which the preferred embodiment of the invention has been set forth in conjunction with the drawings.
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Dickson, G., “ESPN checks swings with Bat Track,” Broadcasting and Cable, Jun. 1998.
Cavallaro Richard H.
Heinzmann Fred Judson
Honey Stanley K.
Milnes Kenneth A.
White Marvin S.
Lobo Ian J.
Sportvision, Inc.
Vierra Magen Marcus Harmon & DeNiro LLP
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