Abstract: A golf simulator has a housing and three arrays of IR receivers and emitters positioned in the housing. A launch area is established near one end of the housing, and a user can launch a golf ball located in the launch area and drive the ball into the housing through the planes defined by the arrays of emitters and against a screen positioned at one end of the housing. The planes established by the arrays are disposed vertically and perpendicular to the angle of travel of the ball. A computer is connected to the IR receivers, which detect the passage of the golf ball through each respective plane. Based upon the signals from the receivers the computer, using triangulation techniques, determines the horizontal and vertical position, as well as the velocity, of the ball for a range of shots including drives, steep chip shots and putts less than 4 feet.

Abstract: A sports simulator has a housing and two arrays of IR receivers and emitters positioned in the housing. A launch area is established near one end of the housing, and a user can launch an object such as a golf ball located in the launch area and drive the ball into the housing through the planes defined by the arrays of emitters and against a screen positioned at one end of the housing. A computer is connected to the IR receivers, which detect the passage of the object through the respective plane. Based upon the signals from the receivers the computer, using triangulation techniques, determines the horizontal and vertical position, as well as the velocity, of the object. The computer can also determine the spin of the golf ball, and cause an image of the golf ball, as it would have appeared travelling away from the golfer had it not encountered the screen, to be displayed on the screen.