Patent Application
20140162803
This invention generally relates to training apparatuses and more particularly to training apparatuses for ball striking activities.
Many sports, games, and other activities involve striking a ball. Minimizing head movement during these activities increases performance. Conventional training devices for improving the ability of the participant to refrain from moving their head are limited in that they cannot be used by the participant without additional personnel such as coach or trainer.
In response to detecting a sound when a ball is contacted, a training device presents a visual indicator selected from at least two visual indicators. The visual indicator is presented for a display duration. After an elapsed time after the visual indicator is presented for the display duration, a confirmation indicator is presented identifying the visual indicator. As a result, the training device can be used without a coach or trainer.
A training apparatus facilitates training of persons engaged in activities involving the striking of a ball. Examples of activities include golf, soccer, football field goal kicking, and baseball. The device is capable of presenting a visual indicator of at least two visual indicators in response to detecting the sound resulting from contact with the ball. The device is placed near the ball such that the participant can see the visual indicator when looking at the ball at the time the ball is struck. The visual indicator is only presented for a limited display time duration and, therefore, is deactivated after a short time after the ball is struck. In order for the participant to correctly identify the visual indicator from the possible indicators, the participant must be looking at the location of the ball immediately after it is struck. If the participant looks away from the ball immediately after striking the ball, the participant will not see the visual indicator. As a result, the participant will not likely be able to correctly identify the visual indicators from the set of possible indicators. The device, therefore, facilitates training the participant to refrain from moving their head at the time the ball is struck through the entire impact zone. In other words, the participant is trained to minimize head and body movement throughout the swing, kick, or other striking motion. The device presents a confirmation identifier after an elapsed time after the visual indicator is presented. In other words, the device presents a confirmation indicator after an elapsed time after the visual indicator is deactivated. As a result, the participant can make at least a mental note identifying the visual indicator and then can determine the accuracy of the identification when the confirmation indicator is presented. The device allows the participant to train without additional personnel such as a coach or trainer. During training, for example, the participant may strike the ball, attempt to identify the visual indicator that was displayed, and determine if their identification was correct when the confirmation indicator is presented. Various visual indicators and confirmation indicators may be used as discussed below. Although in some examples the confirmation indicator includes redisplaying the visual indicator, the confirmation indicator may be a different visual indicator or may be an audible indicator. Depending on the complexity of the training device, the visual indicators may range from a set of different colored lights or light emitting diodes (LEDs) to more elaborate colored display screens. Audible confirmation indicators may range from simple tones to music and synthesized or recorded voice.
During use, the training device 100 is placed near the ball such that the visual indicator device 116 and the confirmation indicator device 120 can be seen by the participant 106 while the participant 106 is striking the ball 102. For example, if the participant 106 is a golfer, as is depicted in
When the participant 106 is ready to begin training, the training device 100 is placed in a monitor mode where the training device monitors the surrounding area for sound waves 110 that are produced by physical contact of a striking member 104 with the ball 102. For the examples, the training device 100 may be placed in the monitor mode by the user 106 or may automatically enter the monitor mode after an elapsed time after a previous training event. As discussed herein, a training event includes the series of events including a striking of the ball 102, presentation of the visual indictor, and presentation of the confirmation indicator. Accordingly, the training device 100 can be configured to return to the monitor mode after an elapsed time after the confirmation indicator has been presented. As discussed below, the user 106 provides input to the training device 100 through a user interface such as a button, keyboard or microphone. In some situations the input may be entered through a remote device that is wirelessly connected to the training device 100. For example, a Bluetooth enabled switch or radio frequency switch may be used by the participant to trigger the presentation of the configuration indicator, to reset the training device to monitor mode, and/or to enter other information.
The various functions and operations of the blocks described with reference to the training device 100 may be implemented in any number of devices, circuits, and/or elements as well as with various forms of executable code such as software and firmware. Two or more of the functional blocks of
In addition, the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and methods described in connection with the examples discussed herein can be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (“DSP”), an ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor can be any processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.
For the examples, the controller 206 operates the training device 100 in at least four modes including a monitor mode, an indicator mode, a confirmation mode and an event-complete mode. Generally, the training device 100 monitors the surrounding areas for the sound caused by contact with the ball 102 in the monitor mode, displays the indicator in the indicator mode, presents the confirmation indicator in the confirmation mode, and waits for an instruction during the event-complete mode.
When the training device 100 is in the monitor mode, the audio detector 206 monitors the nearby geographic area for sounds. The audio detector 206 generates an electronic signal in accordance with received sound waves. An example of a suitable audio detector 202 is a microphone. The controller 206 receives the electronic signal and processes the signal to determine if the received sound should be interpreted as contact between the striking member 104 and the ball 102. The processing may include evaluating one or more characteristics of the sound such as the amplitude, frequency, and/or waveform. For example, the processing may include an amplitude analysis to determine if the sound has an amplitude greater than a threshold. In addition, the controller may determine if the frequency of the sound is within a frequency range that indicates it was produced by the striking of the ball 102. Also, in some circumstances, the controller 206 may evaluate the waveform to determine if it meets criteria to be characterized as sound caused by striking the ball 102. Accordingly, any of numerous techniques may be used to evaluate the electronic signal corresponding to the received sound to determine if the sound should be identified as a sound caused by contact with the ball 102. In some implementations, various thresholds, wave forms, and other criteria can be stored in memory and retrieved by the controller as needed. The thresholds, wave forms, and other criteria may be adjusted by the participant in some situations or may be changed by the installation of updated code or downloaded updates. The sound analysis criteria may be adjusted to correspond with different activities. Changing the activity selection from football to golf, for example, may change the sound criteria from one having lower frequencies to criteria having higher frequencies since the sounds resulting from striking a golf ball will be higher than those sounds resulting from a football being kicked.
The audio detector may include components that provide some processing of the electrical signal. For example, a filter may be connected between a microphone and the controller. Signal processing may be performed by analog as well and digital means. As a result, an analog filter may be supplemented by additional processing by the controller.
If the controller determines that the ball had been struck, the controller activates the visual indicator device to present a visual indicator of at least two visual indicators that can be produced by the visual indicator device. After a display duration, presentation of the visual indicator is stopped. The controller sends, or stops sending, a control signal to instruct the visual indicator device to stop presenting the visual indicator. In some circumstances, the display duration may be changed by, for example, by the participant or code changes. For the examples herein, the display duration is determined by a timer 208 operated, or formed by, the controller. Accordingly, a display duration value may be stored in memory 210 and changed in the examples. In some implementations, the display duration may be adjusted with electrical components. Examples of suitable display durations as in the range of 250 milliseconds to 350 milliseconds. For the examples discussed herein, the display duration is 300 milliseconds. Other values may also be used.
The visual indicator can be any kind of visual indictor that can be seen by the participant. In the examples discussed herein, the visual indicator is light. As discussed below, the light can be generated by a light bulb, LED, or display screen. Accordingly, the visual indicator device may include one or more LEDS, light bulbs or screen pixels that are capable of generating at least two lights having different colors. Other types of visual indicators may be used in some implementations.
The confirmation indicator is presented after the visual indicator is displayed but only after a confirmation delay time has elapsed. In some implementations, the confirmation indicator is only presented after user input is received. In other situations, the confirmation indicator is automatically presented after the confirmation delay time period. The confirmation indicator may be any kind of indicator that identifies the visual indicator that was displayed. As discussed above, the confirmation indicator may be a visual indicator or may be some other type of indicator such as sound that allows the participant to determine which visual indicator was displayed. The confirmation indicator device, therefore, may be a light bulb, LED, display screen, speaker, or vibratory device, for example.
At event 306, the visual indicator device 116 is activated and the device 100 enters the indicator mode 308. In response to detecting the ball contact 112, the controller 206 activates the visual indicator device 116 to present a visual indicator to the participant 106. From the perspective of the participant 106, the visual indicator is presented instantaneously after the ball 102 is contacted. An indicator delay 310, however, is applied in some circumstances. For the examples discussed herein, the indictor delay 310 is between 50 to 150 milliseconds. As discussed above, one example of the visual indicator device 116 includes two different colored LEDs that are turned on and off by the controller 106. During the indicator mode 308, the visual indicator is continuously presented for a display duration 312. As discussed above, the display duration 312 is 300 milliseconds in the examples.
After the display duration 312, the visual indicator device 116 is deactivated at event 314. For the example where the visual indicator device 116 includes LEDs, the LED that is turned on during the indicator mode 308 is turned off by the controller 206. The controller 206 may provide a control signal to a transistor or switch to provide and remove power to the LED to activate and deactivate the LED.
The training device 100 enters the confirmation delay mode 316 when the visual indicator device 116 is deactivated. The confirmation delay mode 316 allows for a time delay from the deactivation of the visual indicator device 116 to the presentation of the confirmation indicator. After a confirmation delay 318, the confirmation indicator device 120 is activated. An example of a suitable confirmation delay 318 is 3 seconds. For most applications, the confirmation delay 318 will be in the range of 2 to 6 seconds.
The controller 206 provides the appropriate control signal to activate the confirmation indicator device at event 320 during the confirmation mode 322. The confirmation mode 322 may be triggered by the expiration of a timer or may be triggered by user input. Where the visual indicator device 116 forms the confirmation indicator device 120, activation of the confirmation information device 120 is executed by presenting the same visual indicator that was presented during the indicator mode 300. For example, where the visual indicator device 116 and the confirmation indicator device 120 are the same set of LEDs, the LED that was turned on during the indicator mode 308 is turned on during the confirmation mode 322. During the confirmation mode 322, the confirmation indicator is presented for the confirmation presentation duration 324. The confirmation presentation mode 322 may be terminated by expiration of a timer or by user input. For example, the confirmation presentation duration 324 may last for several seconds or may continue until the participant provides a user input.
At the expiration of the confirmation presentation duration 324, the confirmation indicator device 120 is deactivated at event 326 and the training device 100 enters the event-complete mode 328. For the example of
The training device 400 includes at least a microphone 402, button switch 404, LED activation circuit 406, a first LED 408, a second LED 410, a microprocessor 412 and memory device 414. Therefore, the microphone 402 is an example of the audio detection device 202, the button switch 404 is a user interface 212 and the LED activation circuit 406 and LEDs form the visual indicator device 116 and the confirmation indicator device 120. As a result, the combination of LEDs and activation circuit are an example of a single visual indicator/confirmation device 216. The training device 400 may include other components. For example, a power supply, such as a battery, provides electrical power for the components.
During operation, the microphone 402 converts sound waves to electrical signals that are processed by the microprocessor 412. In some circumstances, additional processing components may be included between the microphone 402 and the microprocessor 412. A filter may be included, for example. At least some of the processing, however, is performed by executing code on the microprocessor. Code as well as values and other parameters may be stored on the memory 414. The microprocessor determines when the sound waves 110 received by the microphone are due to the striking member hitting the ball 102. In response to a determination that the ball 102 has been struck, the microprocessor 412 sends a control signal to activate one of the LEDs (408, 410). Although more than two LEDs can be used, the training device 400 only includes a first LED 408 and a second LED 410. When activated, the LEDs emit different color light. For the example, the first LED 408 emits red light and the second LED 410 emits green light. The microprocessor 412 randomly selects which LED to activate and sends a control signal to the LED activation circuit 406 to turn on the selected LED.
An example of a suitable LED activation circuit 406 includes a circuit with transistors where relatively low level control signals from the microprocessor bias one or more transistors to provide power to the selected LED. Other amplification devices or switches, however, can be used in some situations. In addition, the LED activation circuit 406 may be omitted in circumstances where the microprocessor output signals are sufficient to adequately power the LEDs.
In some situations, a single LED may be used to perform the functions of the first and second LEDs. Examples of multicolored LEDs include LEDs capable of emitting different colored light depending on the applied bias voltage or current.
The microprocessor 412 controls the LED to maintain continuous emissions of light for the display duration 312. Accordingly, the microprocessor 412 may employ a timer to determine when the LED should be turned off.
After the selected LED is turned off, the microprocessor 412 generates a control signal to turn on the selected LED after the confirmation delay 318. The microprocessor may employ a timer to determine when the LED should be turned on. In some circumstances, the display duration 312 and/or the confirmation delay 318 may be programmable. Accordingly, the values for the display duration and/or the confirmation delay may be stored in memory 414 and can be changed during manufacturing or, in some implementations, by the participant 106. Although such adjustments may be facilitated by a more sophisticated user interface, a single button 404 and the LEDs 408, 410 are sufficient for entering the participant's inputs. Certain activation patterns of the button 404 can be interpreted by the microprocessor for programming. For example, a program mode may be entered by quickly pressing the button three times. When in the program mode, the LEDs may provide feedback regarding the length of the delays within some programmable range. For example, an LED may be pulsed where the frequency of the flashing indicates the length of the delay. The participant may select the desired delay by pressing the button in accordance with some pattern or duration of pressing the button. Numerous other schemes may be used to program the training device 400.
The example of
The example of
After the selected visual indicator is displayed and turned off, it is redisplayed to provide the confirmation indicator. As described above, the confirmation indicator may be triggered by user input or may automatically be displayed after the confirmation delay 318. Accordingly,
The methods and apparatus of this invention may take the form, at least partially, of program logic or program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, random access or read only-memory, or any other machine-readable storage medium. When the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer or processor, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention. The methods and apparatus of the present invention may also be embodied in the form of program code that is transmitted over some transmission medium, such as over electrical wiring or cabling, through fiber optics, over wireless communication link, or via any other form of transmission. When the program code is received and loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention. When implemented on a general-purpose processor, the program code combines with the processor to provide a unique apparatus that operates analogously to specific logic circuits.
In the exemplary embodiment, the logic for carrying out the method is embodied as part of the training devices described above. One aspect of the invention is embodied as a method that is described below with reference to
At step 1002, the area near the training device is monitored for sounds. Sound waves 110 are received through the audio detection device 114, such as a microphone 402, and forwarded to the controller 206.
At step 1004, it is determined whether a sound of a ball 102 being struck has been detected. If a ball contact sound 110 has been detected, the method continues at step 1006. Otherwise, the training device continues to monitor the area for sounds.
At step 1006, a visual indicator is selected from a plurality of visual indicators. In the examples discussed herein, the selection is random.
At step 1008, the selected visual indicator is displayed for the display duration 312. Where the visual indicator is a colored light, the light emitting device, such as an LED, is turned on and then turned off after the display duration.
At step 1010, it is determined whether the confirmation indicator should be presented. In some implementations, the determination is based on whether a timer has expired. In these implementations, therefore, the confirmation indicator is displayed automatically after a confirmation delay 318. In some other implementations, the determination is based on whether a user input has been received. If it is determined that the confirmation indicator should be presented, the method continues at step 1012. Otherwise, the method stays at step 1010. The training device, therefore, waits for the appropriate trigger (e.g., expiration of a timer or received user input) until the trigger occurs before presenting the confirmation indicator at step 1012.
At step 1012, the confirmation indicator is presented. As discussed above, the confirmation indicator may be any audible, visual or vibratory indicator that allows the participant to determine which visual indicator was displayed. In some situations, the conformation indicator is a redisplay of the visual indicator.
At step 1014, it is determined whether the training device should return to the monitor mode. The decision can be based on an expiration of the timer or on user input. For example, the participant may provide a user input that resets the training device. If it is determined that the device should return to the monitor mode, the method returns to step 1002. Otherwise, the method remains at step 1014.
Clearly, other embodiments and modifications of this invention will occur readily to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of these teachings. The above description is illustrative and not restrictive. This invention is to be limited only by the following claims, which include all such embodiments and modifications when viewed in conjunction with the above specification and accompanying drawings. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined not with reference to the above description, but instead should be determined with reference to the appended claims along with their full scope of equivalents.
