Abstract: A ball machine comprising an imaging system to capture image data and a processor configured to, for a frame of the image data, analyze the image data using a neural network to detect a plurality of persons, determine a coordinate position on a playing surface of each of the plurality of detected persons, extract features of each of the plurality of detected persons, generate a first set of feature vectors corresponding to the plurality of detected persons, associate a first feature vector to the coordinate position on the playing surface of a first detected person to generate a first unique identifier, associate a second feature vector to the coordinate position on the playing surface of a second detected person to generate a second unique identifier, and control the ball machine to launch balls based on first settings corresponding to the first unique identifier and second settings corresponding to the second unique identifier.

Abstract: A ball machine system comprising a ball launching system, a memory configured to store a court model that includes dimensions of a court type in relation to a three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system, an imaging system connected to the ball launching system and configured to capture a plurality of images of a court, and a processor. The processor configured to analyze the plurality of images to detect feature points in each of the plurality of images, superimpose a plurality of different transformations of the court model onto the plurality of images to generate a plurality of model fits, select as a final model fit, from the plurality of model fits, a model fit based on a degree of overlap among features of the transformed court model and the respective image, and calculate the position of the ball launching system on a playing surface of the court based on the selected final model fit and intrinsic parameters of the imaging system.

Abstract: A method and automatic ball machine comprise an imaging system, a ball launching system, a mobility system, and a controller. The imaging system produces image data related to an environment of the automatic ball machine including a player to receive a ball. The ball launching system launches the ball to place the ball at a location proximate to the player. The mobility system automatically moves the automatic ball machine about the environment to change a trajectory of the ball based on the image data. The controller detect a location of the automatic ball machine relative to the environment based on the image data, adjust the ball launching system to place the ball at the location proximate to the player based on the image data, and control the mobility system to automatically move the automatic ball machine about the environment based on the image data.