Abstract: A ground traversing, electrically driven drone travels along a programmed path that corresponds to pass catcher's travel path during a play, matching the pass catcher's speed and run cuts. The play is wirelessly communicated to the drone by a handheld electronic device located remote of the drone. A target is located on the drone so that a quarterback can throw a football at the target in order to refine the quarterback's timing and accuracy for the play. Sensors located remote of the drone track both the football's and quarterback's speed and travel trajectories so that such data can be collected, along with the drone's travel path, and transmitted to the computer and eventually fed into 3-D reconstruction software for analysis by the quarterback and coaching staff. The target rotates so that the target either faces in a fixed direction or constantly faces the quarterback during execution of drone's maneuvers.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
September 20, 2020
Date of Patent:
February 7, 2023
Assignees:
Envelope Sports, LLC, SURVICE Engineering Company
Inventors:
Pat Hoderny, Joey Roberts, Chris Hoderny, Paul Aubrey Troth, Joseph Murphy, Shawn Thomas Recker, Mark Thomas Butkiewicz, Joel Henry Witman, Robert Eric Baltrusch
Abstract: A ground traversing, electrically driven drone travels along a preprogrammed path that corresponds to pass catcher's travel path during a play, matching the pass catcher's speed and run cuts. The play is wirelessly communicated to the drone by a handheld electronic device located remote of the drone. A target is located on the drone so that a quarterback can throw a football at the target in order to refine the quarterback's timing and accuracy for the play. Sensors onboard the drone track both the football's and quarterback's speed and travel trajectories so that such data can be collected, along with the drone's travel path, and stored onboard the drone's control unit and eventually fed into 3-D reconstruction software for analysis by the quarterback and coaching staff. The target rotates so that the target either faces in a fixed direction or constantly faces the quarterback during execution of drone's maneuvers.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
August 13, 2020
Date of Patent:
November 22, 2022
Assignees:
Envelope Sports, LLC, SURVICE Engineering Company
Inventors:
Pat Hoderny, Joey Roberts, Chris Hoderny, Paul Aubrey Troth, Joseph Murphy, Ryan Michael Walter, Mark Thomas Butkiewicz, Kyle David Herr, Robert Eric Baltrusch