SEAM SHIFTED WAKE MEASUREMENT AND VISUALIZATION SYSTEM

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to a measurement and visualization system and method for determining the flight of a moving spherical object such as a baseball.

BACKGROUND

Advances in sensor and computer technology have had a significant impact on various sports, including baseball, over time. As recently as in the 1940's, the speed of a pitch was measured using a moving car as a comparison. Later, doppler radar guns were introduced to measure velocity of a pitch, a major advancement in evaluating and comparing pitches and pitchers. Further advances in sensor technology have allowed more metrics to be obtained. With this increased data available, pitchers and coaches have used this data for a number of purposes, such as evaluating and comparing pitchers more granularly, developing pitchers, preventing injury and designing pitches.

Pitch trajectories depend on pitcher-controlled variables, characteristics of the baseball itself, and the environment. Understanding these dependencies supports pitcher development, evaluation and pitch design. It also aids in defining ball specifications to constrain trajectories, and allows optimization of performance in various environments. Further, it enables the monitoring of sensor systems.

Ball tracking systems typically use either radar or an optical system to measure the different parameters of the flight of the ball through the air, including pitch trajectory. At the same time, physics models have been created to simulate the general movement of the pitch trajectory. This has been an issue that has been studied for decades. While physics constrains ball-flight models, the complex geometry of a baseball precludes modeling from first principles.

From the book, “The Physics of Baseball”, Robert K. Adair, published by Harper & Row (1990), there was some understanding that the stitches on a baseball (located along the continuous seam connecting the two pieces of the cover) could affect the trajectory of the ball. It said “If the baseball were quite smooth rather than provided with 216 raised cotton stiches, it could not be thrown or batted nearly as far: A stitched ball batted 400 feet could travel only about 300 if it were very smooth. As the baseball travels from pitcher to batter, the total drag force on the ball (from the normal air pressure of 14.6 pounds per square inch) pushing the ball toward third base is nearly 100 pounds. If these forces differ by as much as 1.5 oz. —or about one part in a thousand—the ball thrown to the plate at a velocity of 75 mph will be deflected, or curve, a little more than a foot. Such modest imbalances are generated by asymmetric spinning of the ball and by asymmetric placement of the stitches.”

Further research has shown that turbulent airflow moving across the ball created certain effects on the ball. The latest theories regarding ball flight have centered around what is termed “Seam Shifted Wake” or “SSW”. As will be explained in more detail later, SSW relates to the effect that the seams (or more precisely, the stitches along the seams) have on the trajectory of the ball. For two baseballs thrown with the same speed and initial direction, the orientation of the seams when the ball is released has a measurable effect on the trajectory of the ball. The seams of the ball shift the wake of the air coming off the ball. This creates forces on the ball as it travels through the air. By re-orienting the grip on the ball so that the seams are oriented differently, pitchers can obtain different trajectories for the same throwing action.

Computer modeling of pitches is advantageous for coaches and players to understand how different parameters, such as grip pressure, finger locations, velocity, spin rates will affect pitch trajectories. Using a pitch model, players and coaches can determine how to adjust certain parameters in order to achieve a desired pitch trajectory. They can also design pitches by inputting parameters into a physics model and observing the resulting pitch trajectory. Pitchers can then try to emulate those parameters to throw the designed pitch.

Several forces on a spinning baseball in flight are graphically depicted in FIG. 4. There is the Magnus force, the drag force, and gravity. The equation for the magnitude of the Magnus force is:

$❘ {\overline{F}}_{magnus} ❘ = \frac{1}{2} ρ A C_{L} {❘ \overline{ν} ❘}^{2}$

where: ρ is the air density, A is the ball cross-sectional area, C_Lis the lift coefficient, and v is the translational velocity vector. C_Ldepends on the spin parameter S:

$S = \frac{2 π R ❘ \overline{ω} ❘}{❘ \overline{ν} ❘}$

wherein R is the ball radius and ω is the spin vector. The direction of the Magnus force is the direction of ω× {circumflex over (v)} where ω and {circumflex over (v)} are unit vectors corresponding to ω and v. The air density ρ for each pitch depends on temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure and altitude.

The prior art systems that measure ball flight and employ modeling to predict ball flight use Magnus force, drag and gravity to evaluate or predict ball flight. As stated earlier, however, current ball flight models do not take into account how the seam orientation affects the flight of the ball. Recent research has shown that seam orientation can have a marked effect on ball flight. The ball flight systems that are currently in common use throughout the baseball industry, whether at the professional level or in the amateur ranks, use ball flight models that do not take into consideration the effect of seam orientation. This failure to factor in seam orientation, or seam shifted wake, makes the current ball flight systems less accurate than they could be in evaluating pitches, and less useful in designing pitches, since they return less accurate information than would be the case if they factored in seam shifted wake force data.

Optical ball flight systems, such as those made and sold by Hawkeye and Yakkertech respectively, have made seam orientation data of a spinning ball available. These optical ball flight systems represent an advance in the sensed parameters of a ball in flight. However, while they can measure the seam orientation, such optical ball flight systems have not taken full advantage of the seam orientation metrics now observable. It is now known that seam shifted wake forces affect the flight of a ball, but the ball flight systems that can observe seam orientation of a ball do not provide any indication of the separate effect that the seam shifted wake forces apply to a baseball. A model for seam shifted wake forces has not been available for use in a ball flight system. Even were such a model provided, it would be difficult to intuitively understand the forces on a thrown ball due to a seam shifted wake. This difficulty in intuitive visualization hinders players and coaches in evaluation and comparison of thrown and measured pitches (“why did that pitch move that way?”). It also hinders them in designing pitches (“how can we get a pitch to move in a certain way?”).

SUMMARY

There is a need for an improved computer modeling of ball flight that accounts for seam shifted wake to provide a more accurate modeling of ball flight than previously known. There is also a need for an intuitive visualization of the effects of seam shifted wake on a ball.

These and other needs are met by a system that determines and generates a graphic visualization of ball flight. The system includes a ball flight tracking system configured to detect a ball in flight, including detecting seam orientation, hemisphere plane angle and seam angle of the ball in flight. A processor is coupled to the ball flight tracking system and is configured to determine a coefficient of the seam shifted wake force based on the detected hemisphere plane angle and the detected seam angle, calculate a seam shifted wake force based on the determined coefficient of the seam shifted wake for multiple locations on a ball, and generate a visualization of the ball. The visualization depicts a seam shifted wake force on the multiple locations on the ball. An output device is coupled to the processor and is configured to display the visualization of the seam shifted wake force on the ball.

It is understood that other configurations of the subject technology will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein various configurations of the subject technology are shown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized, the subject technology is capable of other and different configurations and its several details are capable of modification in various other respects, all without departing from the scope of the subject technology. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fec.

The drawing figures depict one or more implementations in accord with the present teachings, by way of example only, not by way of limitation. In the figures, like reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements. Furthermore, it should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale.

FIG. 1 depicts particle image velocimetry of a non-spinning sphere moving to the left in the figure.

FIG. 2 depicts particle image velocimetry of a clockwise spinning baseball moving to the left in the figure.

FIG. 3 depicts particle image velocimetry of a non-spinning baseball moving to the left in the figure.

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a baseball with overlaid arrows depicting the forces on a spinning baseball in flight.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show how the seam orientation for a spinning ball can be different.

FIG. 6 depicts how a spinning baseball seam orientation can be specified.

FIG. 7 shows the hemisphere plane angle HPangle that is measured for the ball.

FIGS. 8A and 8B depict the measurement of the seam angle.

FIG. 9 depicts the dependence of a seam force coefficient on the hemisphere plane angle and the seam angle.

FIGS. 10A-10C are block diagrams of examples of a system constructed in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure that models and measures ball-flight trajectory

FIGS. 11A-D depict screenshots of a graphic visualization of the seams of a spinning ball at different points in its rotation with color changes on the seams to visually show a user the effective seam shifted wake force on the ball.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are flowcharts depicting methods according to the principles described.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating an example software architecture, various portions of which may be used in conjunction with various hardware architectures herein described.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating components of an example machine configured to read instructions from a machine-readable medium and perform any of the features described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below is intended as a description of various configurations of the subject technology and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the subject technology may be practiced. The appended drawings are incorporated herein and constitute a part of the detailed description. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the subject technology. However, it will be clear and apparent to those skilled in the art that the subject technology is not limited to the specific details set forth herein and may be practiced using one or more embodiments. In one or more instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the subject technology.

FIGS. 1-3 will be described to explain briefly the phenomenon of seam shifted wake. These figures are reproduced from the M.S. thesis of John Garrett, Utah State University, entitled “Seam Shifted Wake in the Magnus and Non-Magnus Directions.” FIG. 1 shows a particle image velocimetry of ball 104, which is a non-spinning sphere 104 (without seams) moving to the left of the figure. There is a stagnant pressure point 102, P_stag, at the front of the ball (in the direction of travel 106). At the top and bottom of the ball 104, there are minimum pressure points P_min110a and 110b. Just behind the P_minpoints 110a and 110b are separation points 112a and 112b, shown by arrows. As air flows around the ball 104, a boundary layer forms on the surface of the ball 104. The separation points 112a and 112b are where the boundary layer separates from the surface of the ball and leaves a wake behind the ball (to the right in FIG. 1). As the separation points 112a and 112b at the top and the bottom are the same distance from the top and bottom P_minpoints 110a and 110b, respectively, the wake as a whole is directed along the line of travel with no deflection upwardly or downwardly.

FIG. 2 is an image similar to FIG. 1 but shows a baseball 204 with a seam and stitches instead of the smooth sphere of the ball 104 shown in FIG. 1. Also, the baseball 204 in FIG. 2 is spinning clockwise, as indicated by the arrow 220. There is a stagnant pressure point 202, P_stag, at the front of the baseball 204 (in the direction of travel 206). The particle image velocimetry shows that the separation point 212a at the top of the baseball is further from P_min210a at the top than the separation point 212b at the bottom of the baseball 204 is from P_min210b at the bottom of the baseball 204. As can be seen in FIG. 2, and in comparison to FIG. 1, the wake behind the baseball 204 is shifted in a downward direction. This causes a force to be exerted on the baseball 204 in an upward direction. While a baseball pitch does not actually rise due to this force, the force will counter the force of gravity acting on the baseball 204 so the baseball 204 will not move downwardly as rapidly as it otherwise would.

The wake is shown as shifted in FIG. 2 due to the spinning of the baseball 204. The separation points 212a and 212b are located at a smooth surface of the baseball 204. Research has shown that the wake, and therefore the trajectory, can also be shifted by the scam. Turning now to FIG. 3, a non-spinning baseball 304 is depicted with particle image velocimetry with a direction of travel denoted by the arrow 306. Note that the separation point at the top of the baseball 304 is forward of what would normally be P_min310a at the top of the ball 304. The separation point 312a at the top of the ball 304 is at the seam while the separation point 312b at the bottom of the ball 304 is behind P_min310b at the bottom of the ball. Since the separation point 312a at the top of the ball 304 is further forward in the direction of travel than the separation point 312b at the bottom of the ball 304, the wake behind the ball 304 is shifted upwardly. This causes a force to be applied downwardly on the ball 304 during its flight. The seam has shifted the wake, even though the ball 304 is not spinning in FIG. 3.

Several forces on a spinning baseball in flight are graphically depicted in FIG. 4. There is the Magnus force, the drag force, and gravity. Seams can also cause a force that operates in a different direction than the Magnus and drag forces

The equation for the magnitude of the Magnus force is:

$❘ {\overline{F}}_{magnus} ❘ = \frac{1}{2} ρ A C_{L} {❘ \overline{ν} ❘}^{2}$

where: ρ is the air density, A is the ball cross-sectional area, C_Lis the lift coefficient, and v is the translational velocity vector. C_Ldepends on the spin parameter S:

$S = \frac{2 π R ❘ \overline{ω} ❘}{❘ \overline{ν} ❘}$

wherein R is the ball radius and ω is the spin vector. The direction of the Magnus force is the direction of ω×{circumflex over (v)} where ω and {circumflex over (v)} are unit vectors corresponding to ω and v. The air density ρ for each pitch depends on temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure and altitude.

Conventional ball flight modeling employs a determination of the Magnus force and combines it with calculations for drag and gravity to create a simulation or explanation of the trajectory of a ball in flight. The technical problem with such a conventional ball flight modeling system is that it does not include the effects of seam shifted wake. The present disclosure describes a technical solution that overcomes the disadvantages of conventional ball flight modeling by taking into account the seam shifted wake force, as discussed below. The system of the present disclosure takes advantage of the seam orientation data now available through the use of modern ball tracking systems. The discussion below provides details regarding the formulation of a seam shifted wake force model that is applied to calculate the forces acting on each of the stitches on the seam of a baseball as it is spinning and moving through the air. By applying this seam shifted wake force model, the system of the present disclosure adds seam shifted wake force to the parameters of the Magnus force, gravity, and drag to create a more accurate explanation of a measurement and also more accurate predictions of a pitch trajectory in comparison to prior systems. The following describes the factors that are measured and employed in the seam shifted wake force model, and how the determined seam shifted wake force is determined for each seam on a baseball as it is traveling through the air. Also described is how the seam shifted wake force component can be isolated and presented to a user of the system in an intuitive manner so that such user can gain a greater understanding of the contribution (positive or negative) that the component provides to the ball during the flight of a ball.

Although the present disclosure can include other technologies such as radar sensors, optical ball-flight tracking sensors such as produced by Hawkeye and by Yakkertech can measure seam orientation. The seam orientation for a spinning ball is specified by the location relative to the seams where the spin axis pierces the ball surface. See, for example, FIGS. 5A and 5B. The spin axis, shown by the arrow 505 in FIG. 5A and the arrow 510 in FIG. 5B, is the same in both FIGS. 5A and 5B. However, the spin axis does not pierce a seam of the ball 520 in FIG. 5A but does pierce a seam of the ball 525 in FIG. 5B. The seam orientation of the spinning ball is therefore different in the two figures.

FIG. 6 depicts how a seam orientation of a pitched baseball 605 can be uniquely specified. The spin axis ω is shown by 620. The seam orientation is determined by longitude and latitude using a pole of the ball 605 as a reference point. In the example of FIG. 6, the latitude is given by: θ_lat=45° (represented by arrow 610) and the longitude is given by θ_long=112.5° (represented by arrow 615). This definition is one way to specify seam orientation but other mathematical representations can be used to provide the same information.

With the seam orientation determined, a parametric model can be used to generate 108 uniformly spaced stitches. An example of a such a parametric model is given by:

$x = a \sin (t) + b \sin (3 t)$

$y = \sqrt{4 ab} \cos (2 t)$

$z = a \cos (t) - b \cos (3 t)$

$a = 0.699, b = 0.301, 0 \leq t \leq 2 π$

For this example, seam derivatives can be determined according to the equations:

$\frac{dx}{dt} = a \cos (t) + 3 b \cos (3 t)$

$\frac{dy}{dt} = - 2 \sqrt{4 ab} \sin (2 t)$

$\frac{dz}{dt} = - a \sin (t) + 3 b \sin (3 t)$

The seam shifted wake force model employed in the present disclosure is the following, according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. The magnitude of the seam shifted wake force is given by:

$❘ {\overline{F}}_{SSW} ❘ = \frac{1}{2} ρ A C_{S} {❘ \overline{ν} ❘}^{2}$

where: ρ=air density

and A=ball cross-sectional area

and C_S=seam force coefficient.

The seam force coefficient, or C_S, is a function of the hemisphere angle, seam angle, and spin direction at each seam location.

The direction of F_SSWis the direction of −{circumflex over (v)}×(ŝ×{circumflex over (v)}).

In the seam shifted wake force model according to the present disclosure, {circumflex over (v)} is the unit vector corresponding to the translational velocity vector v of the ball and ŝ is a unit vector in the direction from the center of the ball to each individual seam. The seam force coefficient C_S, which is proportional to the force magnitude, is what is being represented in the graphic visualization of FIGS. 11A-D described later. At each point in time, each seam contributes to C_Saccording to its hemisphere angle, seam angle, and whether it is moving towards or away from the translational velocity direction v.

The seam shifted wake force model above is formed from a number of different factors. However, the model is not limited to such factors and may include additional factors such as seam height, spin rate and others that further refine the force model.

FIG. 7 shows the hemisphere plane angle HPangle that can be derived for a seam point on the ball by the ball flight system (see FIGS. 10A-10C). The hemisphere plane 705 is the plane that bisects the ball and is perpendicular to the translational velocity vector, as seen in FIG. 7. In this example, the HPangle that is measured is the angle that the seam on the edge of the ball makes with the hemisphere plane. In this example, the HPAngle is-15 degrees and −75 degrees For the edges of the seam behind the hemisphere plane and 15 degrees and 75 degrees For the edges of the seam in front of the hemisphere plane.

The measurement of the seam angle (see FIGS. 10A-10C) is depicted in FIGS. 8A and 8B. The straight line in FIG. 8A depicts a 90 degree seam angle (relative to the direction of ball travel). The straight line in FIG. 8B depicts a 0 degree seam angle. The ball flight measurement system therefore has measured the seam orientation of the spinning ball (see FIG. 6), and allows determination of the HPAngle (see FIG. 7), and the seam angle (see FIG. 8). From these parameters, the ball flight system is able to determine the seam force coefficient C_Sthat is used in the seam shifted wake force model given above.

FIG. 9 is a color representation to depict the dependence of C_Son HPangle and seam angle. The size of the contribution by the seam force coefficient C_Sis depicted here by the colors. The more yellow the color, the more effect the seam shifted wake force has on the ball. The more purple, the less effect. In FIG. 9, the vertical line represents the hemisphere plane. The HPAngle is represented by angular position in the circle as defined by FIG. 7. The seam angle is represented by distance from the center of the circle. For example, the center of the circle is a seam angle of 0 degrees and the outer edge of the circle is a seam angle of 90 degrees. As can be seen, the maximum possible contribution to C_Sis for a scam with a hemisphere angle of about 10 degrees and a scam angle of 90 degrees and which is spinning towards the velocity direction v. FIG. 9 provides one example of how C_Scan depend on the parameters. In general, the seam force coefficient C_Sis a function that is estimated or learned from a large set of sensor data.

Using the force model above, following the measurements by the ball flight system to determine the needed parameters for the force model, including C_S, the scam shifted wake force is determined for each seam point (stitch) on the ball by the ball flight system.

The direction F_SSWof the seam shifted wake force for each seam point on a ball at each point in time is given by: −{circumflex over (v)}×(ŝ×{circumflex over (v)}). In other words, the direction of the force is the negative of the vector obtained by projecting the vector s for the seam point onto the hemisphere plane. Seams on the top half of the ball, for example, will cause the ball to move down.

Once the seam shifted wake force is computed for each seam point on a ball, the contribution of C_Sis converted to a color representation for each seam point in embodiments of the system according to the present disclosure. The 0 to 1 scale shown in FIGS. 11A-D is a normalized version of the contribution to C_Sfor each seam point at each instant of time. Bright yellow is the largest contribution and dark purple is the smallest. Seams at different locations will provide different contributions to C_Sand these contributions can change as the ball spins. These contributions are added up as the ball spins to produce a net seam shifted wake force that contributes to how the ball moves. For example, if all of the C_Scontributions are on the top of the ball as the ball spins, then the ball will have a net movement downwardly.

FIGS. 11A-D show an exemplary graphic visualization of a spinning three-dimensional ball in which only the seams are shown only for illustrative purposes. The seam shifted wake force at each of the seams is represented by the color of the seam. The ball is shown through a rotation around the spin axis depicted by the arrow. As can be seen in FIG. 11A, the largest contribution by the C_Sis at the upper right, which is why the seams are depicted in yellow. The seams that intersect the spin vector have a purple color, showing that there is little to no contribution to the force on the ball by C_S. As the ball rotates to different positions around the spin axis in FIGS. 11B-D, the colors on the individual seams will change from yellow to green to blue to purple to represent the different contributions of the seam force coefficient at that seam on the ball in that position as a function of the HP angle, the seam angle and the spin of the ball.

The graphic visualization can be provided to an output device, such as a display, a printer, either locally or remotely. The visualization can also be stored locally or remotely. Several examples of a system for performing the modeling and providing an output of the visualization is depicted in FIGS. 10A-10C.

As shown in FIG. 10A, the system includes a ball flight tracking system 1005, or ball flight sensor, with seam orientation sensing capability. As noted above, commercially available sensors, such as optical ball-flight tracking sensors, including examples produced by Hawkeye and by Yakkertech, can output image data from which seam orientation can be determined. The output from the ball flight tracking system 1005 is provided to a processor 1010. This processor can be computer 1020 that utilizes programming, e.g., application 1030, in an associated storage device 1025 to determine seam orientation during the flight of a ball and utilize this seam orientation data to identify and visualize the seam shifted wake force as described herein.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 10B, the processor 1010 could be an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) 1060. This ASIC 1060 is configured to implement, for example, the method of FIG. 12A or 12B, described below.

As further shown in FIG. 10A, the system 1000 also includes an output device 1015 in communication with the processor 1010. The output device 1015 may be, for example, a monitor 1035, but could also be a printer, virtual or augmented reality headset or other output device that outputs a visualization of the seam shifted wake force, such as shown in FIGS. 11A-D.

As shown in FIG. 10C, in some examples, the visualization of seam shifted wake forces can be provided over a network 1040 as a service. In this example, the ball flight tracking system 1005 and output device 1015 may be paired with a local processor 1045. The local processor 1045 utilizes a network interface and the network 1040 to communicate with a server 1035. The server 1035 utilizes, for example, the application 1030 to receive the output of the ball tracking system 1005, execute the method of FIG. 12A or 12B and return a visualization of the seam shifted wake force to the local processor 1045. The local processor 1045 then outputs the visualization using the output device 1015.

It is useful for evaluation and pitch design to show the seam shifted wake force in isolation. This allows a greater intuitive understanding of how changes in seam orientation will increase or decrease the seam shifted wake force for a certain pitch. To generate a full pitch trajectory, the seam shifted wake force is combined by the system of FIGS. 10A-10C with gravity, drag and the Magnus effect, including their dependence on air density. All of the vector forces are readily combined to produce a net effect on the ball at every instant in time during the flight of the ball.

The current information provided by ball-flight data includes the following: induced vertical break, vertical break, horizontal break, four-seam rotational index, scam latitude, and seam longitude. With the addition of the determination of the seam shifted wake force in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the following information can be determined: Magnus induced vertical break, Magnus vertical break, Magnus horizontal break, drag induced vertical break, drag vertical break, drag horizontal break, seam induced vertical break, seam vertical break, scam horizontal break, seam potential, seam efficiency, seam consistency, movement spectrum vertical break, movement spectrum horizontal break, and late life index.

FIG. 12A is a flowchart depicting a method 650 according to the principles described. As shown in 12A, a method for determining and generating a graphic visualization of a seam shifted wake force on an object in flight, the object having a scam thereon, can include the following. The method begins with a tracking system configured to track the object in flight, determining 625 a seam orientation of the seams of the object at one or more times during the flight. Next, with the processor, the method includes using 630 the determined seam orientation to calculate a seam shifted wake force at different points on the object. Lastly, the method includes, with the processor, modeling 635 effects of the seam shifted wake force on a trajectory of the object to support design of a desired trajectory of the object.

FIG. 12B is another flowchart depicting a method according to the principles described. As shown in FIG. 12B, the method begins with using a sensor, as described herein, to capture and determine the seam orientation of the ball in flight. The seam orientation is quantified as described herein. From the determined seam orientation, the method determines the hemisphere plane (HP) angle and the seam angle, as described above.

These parameters allow the method to determine the seam force coefficients at different times during the flight of the ball. As described above, the seam force coefficient, or C_S, is a function of the hemisphere angle, seam angle, and spin direction at each scam location. This is illustrated in FIGS. 6-9.

With this information, the method of FIG. 6 can use the seam force coefficients in the seam shifted wake force model described herein. This allows the creation of a visualization of the seam shifted wake forces as shown, for example, in FIGS. 11A-11D, described above.

The preceding description has presented a Seam Shifted Wake (SSW) model that, for the first time, accounts for the effect of the seam shifted wake in the trajectory of a baseball. This model, as described herein, has many applications. 1) The SSW model can be applied in a tracking system for more accurately tracking the trajectory of the flight of a baseball. 2) The SSW model can be used to support a visualization of the ball in flight including the ball movement and forces. 3) The SSW model can be used in pitch design.

As described herein, various systems can incorporate the SSW model: 1) model with tracking system, 2) model with visualization, 3) model for pitch design, 4) model with tracking system and visualization, 5) model with tracking system and for pitch design, 6) model with visualization and for pitch design, 7) model with tracking system and visualization and for pitch design.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram 700 illustrating an example software architecture 702 that can be employed to constitute application 1030 shown in FIG. 10A. Various portions of this architecture may be used in conjunction with various hardware architectures herein described, which may implement any of the above-described features. FIG. 13 is a non-limiting example of a software architecture, and it will be appreciated that many other architectures may be implemented to facilitate the functionality described herein. The software architecture 702 may execute on hardware such as a machine 800 of FIG. 14 that includes, among other things, processors 810, memory 830, and input/output (I/O) components 850. A representative hardware layer 704 is illustrated and can represent, for example, the machine 800 of FIG. 14. The representative hardware layer 704 includes a processing unit 706 and associated executable instructions 708. The executable instructions 708 represent executable instructions of the software architecture 702, including implementation of the methods, modules and so forth described herein. The hardware layer 704 also includes a memory/storage 710, which also includes the executable instructions 708 and accompanying data. The hardware layer 704 may also include other hardware modules 712. Instructions 708 held by processing unit 706 may be portions of instructions 708 held by the memory/storage 710.

The example software architecture 702 may be conceptualized as layers, each providing various functionality. For example, the software architecture 702 may include layers and components such as an operating system (OS) 714, libraries 716, frameworks 718, applications 720, and a presentation layer 744. Operationally, the applications 720 and/or other components within the layers may invoke API calls 724 to other layers and receive corresponding results 726. The layers illustrated are representative in nature and other software architectures may include additional or different layers. For example, some mobile or special purpose operating systems may not provide the frameworks/middleware 718.

The OS 714 may manage hardware resources and provide common services. The OS 714 may include, for example, a kernel 728, services 730, and drivers 732. The kernel 728 may act as an abstraction layer between the hardware layer 704 and other software layers. For example, the kernel 728 may be responsible for memory management, processor management (for example, scheduling), component management, networking, security settings, and so on. The services 730 may provide other common services for the other software layers. The drivers 732 may be responsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware layer 704. For instance, the drivers 732 may include display drivers, camera drivers, memory/storage drivers, peripheral device drivers (for example, via Universal Serial Bus (USB)), network and/or wireless communication drivers, audio drivers, and so forth depending on the hardware and/or software configuration.

The libraries 716 may provide a common infrastructure that may be used by the applications 720 and/or other components and/or layers. The libraries 716 typically provide functionality for use by other software modules to perform tasks, rather than interacting directly with the OS 714. The libraries 716 may include system libraries 734 (for example, C standard library) that may provide functions such as memory allocation, string manipulation, file operations. In addition, the libraries 716 may include API libraries 736 such as media libraries (for example, supporting presentation and manipulation of image, sound, and/or video data formats), graphics libraries (for example, an OpenGL library for rendering 2D and 3D graphics on a display), database libraries (for example, SQLite or other relational database functions), and web libraries (for example, WebKit that may provide web browsing functionality). The libraries 716 may also include a wide variety of other libraries 738 to provide many functions for applications 720 and other software modules.

The frameworks 718 (also sometimes referred to as middleware) provide a higher-level common infrastructure that may be used by the applications 720 and/or other software modules. For example, the frameworks 718 may provide various graphic user interface (GUI) functions, high-level resource management, or high-level location services. The frameworks 718 may provide a broad spectrum of other APIs for applications 720 and/or other software modules.

The applications 720 include built-in applications 740 and/or third-party applications 742. Examples of built-in applications 740 may include, but are not limited to, a contacts application, a browser application, a location application, a media application, a messaging application, and/or a game application. Third-party applications 742 may include any applications developed by an entity other than the vendor of the particular platform. The applications 720 may use functions available via OS 714, libraries 716, frameworks 718, and presentation layer 744 to create user interfaces to interact with users.

Some software architectures use virtual machines, as illustrated by a virtual machine 748. The virtual machine 748 provides an execution environment where applications/modules can execute as if they were executing on a hardware machine (such as the machine 800 of FIG. 14, for example). The virtual machine 748 may be hosted by a host OS (for example, OS 714) or hypervisor, and may have a virtual machine monitor 746 which manages operation of the virtual machine 748 and interoperation with the host operating system. A software architecture, which may be different from software architecture 702 outside of the virtual machine, executes within the virtual machine 748 such as an OS 750, libraries 752, frameworks 754, applications 756, and/or a presentation layer 758.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating components of an example machine 800 configured to read instructions from a machine-readable medium (for example, a machine-readable storage medium) and perform any of the features described herein. With reference to FIG. 10A, the machine 800 can be used as the processor 1010 or computer 1020 in the system 1000. Consequently, in FIG. 14, the example machine 800 is in the form of a computer system, within which instructions 816 (for example, in the form of software components) for causing the machine 800 to perform any of the features described herein may be executed.

As such, the instructions 816 may be used to implement modules or components described herein. The instructions 816 cause unprogrammed and/or unconfigured machine 800 to operate as a particular machine configured to carry out the described features. The machine 800 may be configured to operate as a standalone device or may be coupled (for example, networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 800 may operate in the capacity of a server machine or a client machine in a server-client network environment, or as a node in a peer-to-peer or distributed network environment. Machine 800 may be embodied as, for example, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a set-top box (STB), a gaming and/or entertainment system, a smart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device (for example, a smart watch), and an Internet of Things (IoT) device. Further, although only a single machine 800 is illustrated, the term “machine” includes a collection of machines that individually or jointly execute the instructions 816.

The machine 800 may include processors 810, memory 830, and I/O components 850, which may be communicatively coupled via, for example, a bus 802. The bus 802 may include multiple buses coupling various elements of machine 800 via various bus technologies and protocols. In an example, the processors 810 (including, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, or a suitable combination thereof) may include one or more processors 812a to 812n that may execute the instructions 816 and process data. In some examples, one or more processors 810 may execute instructions provided or identified by one or more other processors 810. The term “processor” includes a multi-core processor including cores that may execute instructions contemporaneously. Although FIG. 14 shows multiple processors, the machine 800 may include a single processor with a single core, a single processor with multiple cores (for example, a multi-core processor), multiple processors each with a single core, multiple processors each with multiple cores, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the machine 800 may include multiple processors distributed among multiple machines.

The memory/storage 830 may include a main memory 832, a static memory 834, or other memory, and a storage unit 836, both accessible to the processors 810 such as via the bus 802. The storage unit 836 and memory 832, 834 store instructions 816 embodying any one or more of the functions described herein. The memory/storage 830 may also store temporary, intermediate, and/or long-term data for processors 810. The instructions 816 may also reside, completely or partially, within the memory 832, 834, within the storage unit 836, within at least one of the processors 810 (for example, within a command buffer or cache memory), within memory at least one of I/O components 850, or any suitable combination thereof, during execution thereof. Accordingly, the memory 832, 834, the storage unit 836, memory in processors 810, and memory in I/O components 850 are examples of machine-readable media.

As used herein, “machine-readable medium” refers to a device able to temporarily or permanently store instructions and data that cause machine 800 to operate in a specific fashion, and may include, but is not limited to, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), buffer memory, flash memory, optical storage media, magnetic storage media and devices, cache memory, network-accessible or cloud storage, other types of storage and/or any suitable combination thereof. The term “machine-readable medium” applies to a single medium, or combination of multiple media, used to store instructions (for example, instructions 816) for execution by a machine 800 such that the instructions, when executed by one or more processors 810 of the machine 800, cause the machine 800 to perform and one or more of the features described herein. Accordingly, a “machine-readable medium” may refer to a single storage device, as well as “cloud-based” storage systems or storage networks that include multiple storage apparatus or devices. The term “machine-readable medium” excludes signals per sc.

The I/O components 850 may include a wide variety of hardware components adapted to receive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information, exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/O components 850 included in a particular machine will depend on the type and/or function of the machine. For example, mobile devices such as mobile phones may include a touch input device, whereas a headless server or IoT device may not include such a touch input device. The particular examples of I/O components illustrated in FIG. 14 are in no way limiting, and other types of components may be included in machine 800. The grouping of I/O components 850 are merely for simplifying this discussion, and the grouping is in no way limiting. In various examples, the I/O components 850 may include user output components 852 and user input components 854. User output components 852 may include, for example, display components for displaying information (for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a projector), acoustic components (for example, speakers), haptic components (for example, a vibratory motor or force-feedback device), and/or other signal generators. User input components 854 may include, for example, alphanumeric input components (for example, a keyboard or a touch screen), pointing components (for example, a mouse device, a touchpad, or another pointing instrument), and/or tactile input components (for example, a physical button or a touch screen that provides location and/or force of touches or touch gestures) configured for receiving various user inputs, such as user commands and/or selections.

In some examples, the I/O components 850 may include biometric components 856, motion components 858, environmental components 860, and/or position components 862, among a wide array of other physical sensor components. The biometric components 856 may include, for example, components to detect body expressions (for example, facial expressions, vocal expressions, hand or body gestures, or eye tracking), measure biosignals (for example, heart rate or brain waves), and identify a person (for example, via voice-, retina-, fingerprint-, and/or facial-based identification). The motion components 858 may include, for example, acceleration sensors (for example, an accelerometer) and rotation sensors (for example, a gyroscope). The environmental components 860 may include, for example, illumination sensors, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, pressure sensors (for example, a barometer), acoustic sensors (for example, a microphone used to detect ambient noise), proximity sensors (for example, infrared sensing of nearby objects), and/or other components that may provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding to a surrounding physical environment. The position components 862 may include, for example, location sensors (for example, a Global Position System (GPS) receiver), altitude sensors (for example, an air pressure sensor from which altitude may be derived), and/or orientation sensors (for example, magnetometers).

The I/O components 850 may include communication components 864, implementing a wide variety of technologies operable to couple the machine 800 to network(s) 870 and/or device(s) 880 via respective communicative couplings 872 and 882. The communication components 864 may include one or more network interface components or other suitable devices to interface with the network(s) 870. The communication components 864 may include, for example, components adapted to provide wired communication, wireless communication, cellular communication, Near Field Communication (NFC), Bluetooth communication, Wi-Fi, and/or communication via other modalities. The device(s) 880 may include other machines or various peripheral devices (for example, coupled via USB).

In some examples, the communication components 864 may detect identifiers or include components adapted to detect identifiers. For example, the communication components 864 may include Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag readers, NFC detectors, optical sensors (for example, one- or multi-dimensional bar codes, or other optical codes), and/or acoustic detectors (for example, microphones to identify tagged audio signals). In some examples, location information may be determined based on information from the communication components 864, such as, but not limited to, geo-location via Internet Protocol (IP) address, location via Wi-Fi, cellular, NFC, Bluetooth, or other wireless station identification and/or signal triangulation.

While various embodiments have been described, the description is intended to be exemplary, rather than limiting, and it is understood that many more embodiments and implementations are possible that are within the scope of the embodiments. Although many possible combinations of features are shown in the accompanying figures and discussed in this detailed description, many other combinations of the disclosed features are possible. Any feature of any embodiment may be used in combination with or substituted for any other feature or element in any other embodiment unless specifically restricted. Therefore, it will be understood that any of the features shown and/or discussed in the present disclosure may be implemented together in any suitable combination. Accordingly, the embodiments are not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents. Also, various modifications and changes may be made within the scope of the attached claims.

Generally, functions described herein (for example, the features illustrated in FIGS. 1-6) can be implemented using software, firmware, hardware (for example, fixed logic, finite state machines, and/or other circuits), or a combination of these implementations. In the case of a software implementation, program code performs specified tasks when executed on a processor (for example, a CPU or CPUs). The program code can be stored in one or more machine-readable memory devices. The features of the techniques described herein are system-independent, meaning that the techniques may be implemented on a variety of computing systems having a variety of processors. For example, implementations may include an entity (for example, software) that causes hardware to perform operations, e.g., processors functional blocks, and so on. For example, a hardware device may include a machine-readable medium that may be configured to maintain instructions that cause the hardware device, including an operating system executed thereon and associated hardware, to perform operations. Thus, the instructions may function to configure an operating system and associated hardware to perform the operations and thereby configure or otherwise adapt a hardware device to perform functions described above. The instructions may be provided by the machine-readable medium through a variety of different configurations to hardware elements that execute the instructions.

The present disclosure provides a predictive model for seam shifted wake movement. Using these modeling techniques and with the visualization provided allows for improved pitcher development and evaluations, enhanced pitch design, defining ball specifications, greater understanding of environmental effects, and better monitoring of sensor accuracy. Methods and a system to produce and visualize the seam shifted wake force on a ball are provided. These methods and system may be, in many different examples, described by any of the following items:

Item 1. A system for determining and generating a graphic visualization of a ball flight parameter, comprising:

- a ball flight tracking system configured to detect a ball in flight, the ball flight tracking system detecting seam orientation;
- a processor coupled to the ball flight tracking system and configured to determine a hemisphere plane angle and seam angle of the ball in flight and to determine a coefficient of a seam shifted wake force based on the determined hemisphere plane angle and seam angle, the processor further configured to calculate the seam shifted wake force based on the determined coefficient of the seam shifted wake force for multiple locations on the ball, and generate a visualization of the seam shifted wake force on the multiple locations on the ball; and
- an output device coupled to the processor to output the visualization of the seam shifted wake force on the ball to enhance pitch analysis and accurate pitch design.

Item 2. The system of Item 1, wherein the processor comprises an Application Specific Integrated Circuit.

Item 3. The system of Item 1, wherein the processor comprises a local processor configured to communicate with a server via a network, the server to assist with generating the visualization of the seam shifted wake force.

Item 4. The system of Item 1, wherein the visualization of the seam shifted wake force on the multiple locations on the ball includes a variation of color at the multiple locations on the ball, with the variation of color being related to the seam shifted wake force on those multiple locations on the ball respectively.

Item 5. The system of Item 4, wherein the visualization includes a three-dimensional representation of the ball rotating around a spin axis, the color at the multiple locations on the ball changing during a rotation to reflect that changing seam shifted wake force on the multiple locations respectively during the rotation of the ball.

Item 6. The system of Item 1, wherein the output device comprises a virtual or augmented reality system.

Item 7. The system of Item 1, wherein the output device comprises a monitor.

Item 8. A method for determining and generating a graphic visualization of a seam shifted wake force on an object in flight, the object having a seam thereon, the method comprising:

- with a tracking system configured to track the object in flight, determining seam orientation of the seams of the object at different times during the flight;
- with a processor, using the determined seam orientation to calculate a seam shifted wake force at different points on the object; and
- with the processor, modeling effects of the seam shifted wake force on a trajectory of the object to support design of a desired trajectory of the object.

Item 9. The method of Item 8, further comprising calculating the seam shifted wake force on the different points of the object at multiple different time points during flight of the object.

Item 10. The method of Item 8, further comprising calculating the seam shifted wake force by:

- using the seam orientation to determine a hemisphere plane angle and seam angle of the object in flight, and
- using the hemisphere plane angle and seam angle to determine a coefficient of the seam shifted wake force, and
- calculating the seam shifted wake force based on the determined coefficient of the seam shifted wake force each of the different points on the object.

Item 11. The method of Item 8, further comprising generating a visualization of the seam shifted wake force on the object at the different points on the object.

Item 12. The method of Item 11, further comprising outputting the visualization in a virtual or augmented reality system.

Item 13. The method of Item 8, further comprising, with the processor, invoking a service available on a server accessible over a network, the service to model effects of the seam shifted wake force on a trajectory of the object to enable design of a desired trajectory of the object.

Item 14. The method of Item 11, wherein the visualization of the seam shifted wake force on the different points on the object includes a variation of color at the different points on the object, with the variation of color being related to the seam shifted wake force on those multiple locations on the ball respectively.

Item 15. The method of Item 11, wherein the visualization includes a three-dimensional representation of a ball rotating around a spin axis, the color at the multiple locations on the ball changing during a rotation to reflect that changing seam shifted wake force on the multiple locations respectively during the rotation of the ball.

Item 16. A computer programming product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

- receive input from a tracking system configured to track an object in flight including determination of an orientation of seams of the object at different times during the flight;
- use the determined seam orientation to calculate a seam shifted wake force at different points on the object; and
- model effects of the seam shifted wake force on a trajectory of the object to support design of a desired trajectory of the object.

Item 17. The product of Item 16, further comprising instructions causing the processor to calculate the seam shifted wake force on the different points of the object at multiple different time points during flight of the object.

Item 18. The product of Item 16, further comprising instructions causing the processor to calculate the seam shifted wake force by:

- using the seam orientation to determine a hemisphere plane angle and seam angle of the object in flight, and
- using the hemisphere plane angle and seam angle to determine a coefficient of the seam shifted wake force, and
- calculating the seam shifted wake force based on the determined coefficient of the seam shifted wake force each of the different points on the object.

Item 19. The product of Item 16, further comprising instructions causing the processor to generate a visualization of the seam shifted wake force on the object at the different points on the object.

Item 20. The product of Item 19, further comprising instructions causing the processor to output the visualization in an output device.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” or as an “example” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “include,” “have,” or the like is used in the description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprise” as “comprise” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.

All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for”.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principled defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein but are accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one: unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. Pronouns in the masculine (e.g., his) include the feminine and neuter gender (e.g., her and its) and vice versa. Headings and subheadings, if any are used for convenience only and do not limit the subject disclosure.

While the foregoing has described what are considered to be the best mode and/or other examples, it is understood that various modifications may be made therein and that the subject matter disclosed herein may be implemented in various forms and examples, and that the teachings may be applied in numerous applications, only some of which have been described herein. It is intended by the following claims to claim any and all applications, modifications and variations that fall within the true scope of the present teachings.

Unless otherwise stated, all measurements, values, ratings, positions, magnitudes, sizes, and other specifications that are set forth in this specification, including in the claims that follow, are approximate, not exact. They are intended to have a reasonable range that is consistent with the functions to which they relate and with what is customary in the art to which they pertain.

The scope of protection is limited solely by the claims that now follow. That scope is intended and should be interpreted to be as broad as is consistent with the ordinary meaning of the language that is used in the claims when interpreted in light of this specification and the prosecution history that follows and to encompass all structural and functional equivalents. Notwithstanding, none of the claims are intended to embrace subject matter that fails to satisfy the requirement of Sections 101, 102, or 103 of the Patent Act, nor should they be interpreted in such a way. Any unintended embracement of such subject matter is hereby disclaimed.

Except as stated immediately above, nothing that has been stated or illustrated is intended or should be interpreted to cause a dedication of any component, step, feature, object, benefit, advantage, or equivalent to the public, regardless of whether it is or is not recited in the claims.

It will be understood that the terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions with respect to their corresponding respective areas of inquiry and study except where specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein. Relational terms such as first and second and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded by “a” or “an” does not, without further constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in various examples for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claims require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed example. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.

SEAM SHIFTED WAKE MEASUREMENT AND VISUALIZATION SYSTEM

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