Patent Application
20230173341
In order to optimize one's golf swing and golf game, data on the golf swing and round of play is critically important for the golfer and can be extremely beneficial both for training and on course play. A device that can accurately measure the dynamics of the golf club swing, sense the impact of club to golf ball, merge that data to geophysical location data on a golf course, determine bearing to intended target, display that data to a golfer and upload that data to web servers for post round analysis would be extremely helpful to the golfer.
The present invention is a Golf Super Tag multifunction golf swing capture and analysis device. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the device is comprised of a printed circuit board mounted in a case attached to the end of the club grip or mounted along the club shaft containing a combination of one or multiples of the following sensors and components but not limited to the following sensors and electronic components.
Accelerometer—to determine the acceleration along a vector in x, y and z directions. One or all axis' can be utilized.
Gyro—to determine the degrees per second of rotation about an axis in x, y and z orientations. One or all axis' can be utilized.
Magnetometer/Digital Compass—to determine device orientation to the earth's magnetic field
Light sensor—to determine wake up states for the device
Microcontroller—to integrate the data from the above components for onboard processing and/or transmission
Memory—to store microcontroller firmware and sensor and identification data
Bluetooth Low Energy radio—to transmit sensor data and receive data as needed from a paired device. Other RF or communications technologies can be utilized.
Optional components—Piezo sensor, tilt sensor for cost reduced “Simple Tag”
Battery—to power the components. Could be a primary Lithium Ion or any other battery technology or a rechargeable battery for the same purpose. An option to on board battery would be an “energy harvesting” circuit comprised of a combination but not limited to a super capacitor, piezo, Peltier and/or solar cell to power the unit.
Contains a unique ESN or ID. Typically a set of clubs would have 14 Super Tags each with it's own unique ESN or ID. This ESN or ID would be transmitted along with the respective sensor data.
The ESN or ID would be associated with a golf club description (Driver, 9 Iron, etc.) either on a paired device or written back into the tags on board memory.
Ruggedized plastic or composite case to contain PCB, components and battery that securely mounts to the end of golf club grip or along golf club shaft.
When the Super Tag is mounted to a golf club it will determine its position in or out of the golf bag. If it is out of the golf bag it then enters a state of waiting for a golf swing ID that can be associated with each golf club.
Once there is enough motion as determined by sensor data from the accelerometer and/or gyro and/or magnetometer the sensor data associated with the golf club swing is processed by the microcontroller firmware that analyzes the physics of the golf swing to determine the various characteristics of the golf swing such as swing plane, club face orientation, club head speed, point of ball impact, etc. This data can be stored in onboard memory and/or relayed via Bluetooth Low Energy or other communication protocols for storage, further application processing and/or relay to web based systems.
If the Super Tag is paired to a BLE (or other communications protocol) device such as a SkyCaddie that contains GPS—the golf swing data can be associated with geophysical information such as time stamp, latitude, longitude, etc. for overlay on to golf course imagery to show the golfer either in real time or post round analysis the location and dynamics of the golf shot at that particular time and location on the course.
One embodiment of the Super Tag would be to determine the intended and actual Bearing to Target via the function of magnetometer/digital compass sensor data. It is envisioned that the golf club would be pointed to the intended target on the golf course or otherwise oriented to indicate intended bearing to target. The magnetic field degrees to magnetic North would be captured and recorded in memory prior to the golf swing. The accelerometer and/or gyro data would compensate the orientation of the magnetometer to provide accurate magnetic compass degrees to the intended target. The geo-location of the ball strike is then captured along with any other associated sensor data of the golf swing.
Upon transit to the landing location of the golf ball the ball location can be marked and geo-tagged and/or geo-tagged upon the next club swing and ball strike.
The magnetic bearing to target data with reference to magnetic North would be translated to golf course imagery True North data via declination offset tables or algorithms and the vector of the golf ball flight and landing would be displayed in real time or post round analysis as it relates to the intended bearing to target. This would be beneficial to the golfer to help identify accuracy issues in golf swing and ball flight.
The firmware is comprised of code that runs on the microcontroller to handle the microcontroller startup, wake up, power management, sensor control and sensor data, as well as BlueTooth (or other communication protocols). It is also comprised of a physics engine that analyzes the sensor data to create a 3D profile of the swing, ball strike and follow through. This data and/or profile is transmitted to a SkyCaddie and/or other mobile device for logging, processing and display of the golf swing profile as well as geo-location of that data on the golf course. The ball strike and landing locations are also displayed on the course hole imagery along with the graphical vector data of the captured intended and actual bearing to target.
Other features and aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the features in accordance with embodiments of the invention. The summary is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined solely by the claims attached hereto.
The various embodiments are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings. Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
Accelerometer—to determine the acceleration along a vector in x, y and z directions. One or all axis' can be utilized.
Gyro—to determine the degrees per second of rotation about an axis in x, y and z orientations. One or all axis' can be utilized.
Magnetometer/Digital Compass—to determine device orientation to the earth's magnetic field
Light sensor—to determine wake up states for the device
Microcontroller—to integrate the data from the above components for onboard processing and/or transmission
Memory—to store microcontroller firmware and sensor and identification data
Bluetooth Low Energy radio—to transmit sensor data and receive data as needed from a paired device. Other RF or communications technologies can be utilized.
Optional components—Piezo sensor, tilt sensor for cost reduced “Simple Tag”
Battery—to power the components. Could be a primary Lithium Ion or any other battery technology or a rechargeable battery for the same purpose. An option to on board battery would be an “energy harvesting” circuit comprised of a combination but not limited to a super capacitor, piezo, Peltier and/or solar cell to power the unit.
Contains a unique ESN or ID. Typically a set of clubs would have 14 SuperTags each with it's own unique ESN or ID. This ESN or ID would be transmitted along with the respective sensor data.
The ESN or ID would be associated with a golf club description (Driver, 9 Iron, etc.) either on a paired device or written back into the tags on board memory.
Ruggedized plastic or composite case to contain PCB, components and battery that securely mounts to the end of golf club grip or along golf club shaft.
Once there is enough motion as determined by sensor data from the accelerometer and/or gyro and/or magnetometer the sensor data associated with the golf club swing is processed by the microcontroller firmware that analyzes the physics of the golf swing to determine the various characteristics of the golf swing such as swing plane, club face orientation, club head speed, point of ball impact, etc. This data can be stored in onboard memory and/or relayed via Bluetooth Low Energy or other communication protocols for storage, further application processing and/or relay to web-based systems.
If the Super Tag is paired to a BLE (or other communications protocol) device such as a SkyCaddie that contains GPS—the golf swing data can be associated with geophysical information such as time stamp, latitude, longitude, etc. for overlay on to golf course imagery to show the golfer either in real time or post round analysis the location and dynamics of the golf shot at that particular time and location on the course.
The firmware is comprised of code that runs on the microcontroller to handle the microcontroller startup, wake up, power management, sensor control and sensor data, as well as Bluetooth (or other communication protocols). It is also comprised of a physics engine that analyzes the sensor data to create a 3D profile of the swing, ball strike and follow through. This data and/or profile is transmitted to a SkyCaddie and/or other mobile device for logging, processing and display of the golf swing profile as well as geo-location of that data on the golf course. The ball strike and landing locations are also displayed on the course hole imagery along with the graphical vector data of the captured intended and actual bearing to target.
While various embodiments of the disclosed technology have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not of limitation. Likewise, the various diagrams may depict an example architectural or other configuration for the disclosed technology, which is done to aid in understanding the features and functionality that may be included in the disclosed technology. The disclosed technology is not restricted to the illustrated example architectures or configurations, but the desired features may be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. Indeed, it will be apparent to one of skill in the art how alternative functional, logical or physical partitioning and configurations may be implemented to implement the desired features of the technology disclosed herein. Also, a multitude of different constituent module names other than those depicted herein may be applied to the various partitions. Additionally, with regard to flow diagrams, operational descriptions and method claims, the order in which the steps are presented herein shall not mandate that various embodiments be implemented to perform the recited functionality in the same order unless the context dictates otherwise.
Although the disclosed technology is described above in terms of various exemplary embodiments and implementations, it should be understood that the various features, aspects and functionality described in one or more of the individual embodiments are not limited in their applicability to the particular embodiment with which they are described, but instead may be applied, alone or in various combinations, to one or more of the other embodiments of the disclosed technology, whether or not such embodiments are described and whether or not such features are presented as being a part of a described embodiment. Thus, the breadth and scope of the technology disclosed herein should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.
Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unless otherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposed to limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term “including” should be read as meaning “including, without limitation” or the like; the term “example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item in discussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; the terms “a” or “an” should be read as meaning “at least one,” “one or more” or the like; and adjectives such as “conventional,” “traditional,” “normal,” “standard,” “known” and terms of similar meaning should not be construed as limiting the item described to a given time period or to an item available as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompass conventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that may be available or known now or at any time in the future. Likewise, where this document refers to technologies that would be apparent or known to one of ordinary skill in the art, such technologies encompass those apparent or known to the skilled artisan now or at any time in the future.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/279,576, filed Nov. 15, 2021, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63279576 | Nov 2021 | US |
