Abstract: The invention detects the loft time, speed, power and/or drop distance of a vehicle, such as a sporting vehicle, during activities of moving and jumping. A loft sensor detects when the vehicle leaves the ground and when the vehicle returns to the ground. A controller subsystem converts the sensed information to determine a loft time. A display shows the recorded loft time to a user of the system. In addition, a speed sensor can detect the vehicle's speed for selective display to the user. A power sensing section informs the user of expended energy, which can be compared to other users. A drop distance sensing unit informs the user of the peak height of a jump, during an airtime. Gaming on the internet is facilitated to connect worldwide sport enthusiasts.

Abstract: The invention monitors the driving range and tracks golf balls from users at the driving range and informs those users of characteristics such as driving distance. A solid state camera images the range, and preferably one or more tee-off positions, and collects frames of image data to track a ball's motion through space. Simulation routines augment that track and assist in isolating the start location as well as where the ball lands, or would have landed had it not been obstructed (e.g., by a net). Preferably, the invention also determines the ball's position in 3-D to increase the accuracy. In one technique, two or more solid state cameras are used, and synchronized, to specify stereoscopic imaging. In another technique, the ball's energy or physical extent is used to determine an absolute distance between the camera and the ball. A computer at the club house monitors the entire system and further manages a network including an array of displays at the several tee off positions.

Abstract: The invention detects the loft time and/or speed of a vehicle, such as a sporting vehicle, during activities of moving and jumping. A loft sensor detects when the vehicle leaves the ground and when the vehicle returns to the ground. A microprocessor subsystem converts the sensed information to determine a loft time. A display shows the recorded loft time to a user of the system. In addition, a speed sensor can detect the vehicle's speed for selective display to the user. The invention is particularly well-suited to sporting activities such as snowboarding where users loft into the air on ski jumps and catch “air” time but have no quantitative measure of the actual time lapse in the air. Therefore, users in skiing can use invention to record, store, and playback selected information relating to their sporting day, including the total amount of “air” time for the day and information such as dead time, i.e., time not spent on the slopes.

Abstract: The invention detects the loft time and/or speed of a vehicle, such as a sporting vehicle, during activities of moving and jumping. A loft sensor detects when the vehicle leaves the ground and when the vehicle returns to the ground. A microprocessor subsystem converts the sensed information to determine a loft time. A display shows the recorded loft time to a user of the system. In addition, a speed sensor can detect the vehicle's speed for selective display to the user. The invention could be used in sporting activities such as snowboarding where users loft into the air on ski jumps and catch “air” time but have no quantitative measure of the actual time lapse in the air. Therefore, users in skiing can use invention to record, store, and playback selected information relating to their sporting day, including the total amount of “air” time for the day and information such as dead time, i.e., time not spent on the slopes.

Abstract: The invention monitors the driving range and tracks golf balls from users at the driving range and informs those users of characteristics such as driving distance. A solid state camera images the range, and preferably one or more tee-off positions, and collects frames of image data to track a ball's motion through space. Simulation routines augment that track and assist in isolating the start location as well as where the ball lands, or would have landed had it not been obstructed (e.g., by a net). Preferably, the invention also determines the ball's position in 3-D to increase the accuracy. In one technique, two or more solid state cameras are used, and synchronized, to specify stereoscopic imaging. In another technique, the ball's energy or physical extent is used to determine an absolute distance between the camera and the ball. A computer at the club house monitors the entire system and further manages a network including an array of displays at the several tee off positions.

Abstract: A portable distance tracking device calculates the distance to a flag from a first position on a hole of a golf course. An initialization means initializes the device at the start of play. The device includes two rotational accelerometers, to measure acceleration along pitch and roll axes, and a translational accelerometer, to measure acceleration along a surge axis. A microprocessor, including an A-D converter, (i) converts the accelerations to digital data and (ii) integrates the data twice, over time, to determine distance traveled on the hole. The microprocessor further compensates the data for forces due to at least one of gravity, centripetal acceleration, and a rotation of earth, and thereafter determines the distance to the flag as a function of the distance traveled. A keypad input device provides for selecting the initialization and for selecting the hole in play. A memory element stores a digital representation of the hole; and a display unit displays the distance to the flag.

Abstract: The invention monitors the driving range and tracks golf balls from users at the driving range and informs those users of characteristics such as driving distance. A solid state camera images the range, and preferably one or more tee-off positions, and collects frames of image data to track a ball's motion through space. Simulation routines augment that track and assist in isolating the start location as well as where the ball lands, or would have landed had it not been obstructed (e.g., by a net). Preferably, the invention also determines the ball's position in 3-D to increase the accuracy. In one technique, two or more solid state cameras are used, and synchronized, to specify stereoscopic imaging. In another technique, the ball's energy or physical extent is used to determine an absolute distance between the camera and the ball. A computer at the club house monitors the entire system and further manages a network including an array of displays at the several tee off positions.

Abstract: Signal processing wherein signals are processed using chirp-Z-transform (CZT) techniques and charge transfer device (CTD) transversal filters. The chirp weighting signal may be amplitude modulated to achieve signal apodization and may be generated by impulsing a CTD complex filter having an appropriate impulse response. Signal premultiplication using a one-bit quantized chirp signal is described.Application of these techniques to doppler range processing apparatus wherein radar returns are premultiplied to provide up-chirp multiplied time samples prior to being inputted into a CTD range buffer. Each bit of the CTD has an associated CTD chirp Z-transform complex filter the outputs from each of which are summed and squared. The range bins and the associated complex filters are provided on a common semiconductor chip together with peripheral circuitry.

Abstract: A charge-transfer transversal filter and method of use is provided. In one aspect of the invention a handpass filter is provided where the center frequency of the bandpass is variable responsive to the clock rate applied to the charge-transfer devices. In a different aspect of the invention a matched filter for a chirp signal is provided. The filter requires a minimum number of Nyquist samples by including the provision of a clock rate which varies responsive to the frequency sweep of the input chirp signal. A method for detecting a chirp signal is provided which includes the step of selectively varying the clock rate applied to a charge-transfer shift register responsive to the frequency variations of a selected chirp signal.

Abstract: Circuitry for compensating for charge transfer inefficiency related dispersion in analog charge transfer devices (CTD's) is disclosed. In one aspect of the invention the tap weights of a filter are modified in a preselected manner to provide dispersion correction. In a different configuration, a dispersion compensating filter is connected to the input of a charge transfer delay line to provide an initial signal which is the inverse of the total dispersion of the CTD. In a further aspect of the invention regenerators are inserted into a CTD delay line to provide negative feedback to previous stages of the delay line in order to compensate for dispersion.

Abstract: Signal processing wherein signals are processed using chirp-Z-transform (CZT) techniques and charge transfer device (CTD) transversal filters. The chirp weighting signal may be amplitude modulated to achieve signal apodization and may be generated by impulsing a CTD complex filter having an appropriate impulse response. Signal premultiplication using a one-bit quantized chirp signal is described.Application of these techniques to doppler range processing apparatus wherein radar returns are premultiplied to provide up-chirp multiplied time samples prior to being inputted into a CTD range buffer. Each bit of the CTD has an associated CTD chirp-Z-transform complex filter the outputs from each of which are summed and squared. The range bins and the associated complex filters are provided on a common semiconductor chip together with peripheral circuitry.

Abstract: A variable tap weight convolution filter comprised of charge transfer devices which may be charge coupled devices, bucket brigade devices or a combination of the two, for performing convolutions of an input signal with tap weights from a second input signal, said tap weights varying as a function of time.