Motion tracking bar graph display

Abstract

A method for evaluating the motion of a moveable object relative to a reference object includes locating the reference object within a three-dimensional coordinate system having first, second, and third positional coordinates such that the position of the reference object is characterized by respective values of the first, second, and third positional coordinates. A display is providing having at least two visual indicators, each indicator being configured as an array of selectively switchable display elements. At a critical position of the moveable object, indicating an offset between the moveable object and the reference object along one of the first, second, and third positional coordinates by selectively switching at least one of the display elements of a first one of the indicators. In the vicinity of the critical position, indicating a dynamic property of the moveable object within the three-dimensional coordinate system by selectively switching at least one of the display elements of a second one of the indicators.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims be the benefit of U.S. Provisional App. No. 60/857,125, filed Nov. 7, 2006, and U.S. Provisional App. No. 60/874,320, filed Dec. 13, 2006.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention presents information about the movement of a mechanical device.

In many cases it is desirable to observe the motion of a golf club head in order to be able to properly modify its swing. In order to accomplish this, some intuitive display should represent the motion of the golf club head.

The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a coordinate axes system.

FIG. 2 illustrates a bar graph display.

FIG. 3 illustrates a six dimensional bar graph display.

FIG. 4 illustrates a collapsed six dimensional display.

FIG. 5 illustrates another collapsed six dimensional display.

FIG. 6 a golf swing monitor.

FIG. 7 illustrates a bar graph display showing side to side.

FIG. 8 illustrates a bar graph display showing side to side and trajectory.

FIG. 9 illustrates a bar graph display showing side to side, trajectory, and height.

FIG. 10 illustrates a bar graph display showing side to side, trajectory, height, and velocity.

FIG. 11 illustrates a bar graph display showing side to side, trajectory, height, velocity, and angle.

FIG. 12 illustrates a bar graph display showing side to side, trajectory, height, velocity, angle, and suppination.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

It is desirable to develop an intuitive display showing the complete vector movement (magnitude and direction) of an object in six dimensions (or any suitable number of dimensions). As an illustrative example the object is a golf club head when it is swinging through a golf ball. A three dimensional (3D) Cartesian coordinate axes is shown in FIG. 1. The golf club head swings primarily along the direction of the Z axis in FIG. 1. The Y axis is in the vertical direction representing the height of the club, and the X axis represents the side-to-side (S2S) position of the club. The origin of the axes is centered on the golf ball. Each axis has a linear and rotational movement associated with it. The three axes times the two movements (linear, rotational) produces the six dimensions (6D) mentioned above. In other words, linear movement is measured along each axis while rotational movement is measured about each axis.

Each movement (linear, rotational) is described by three related quantities, position, velocity, and acceleration, (PVA). Each of these quantities can be positive, zero, or negative. A complete vector movement of an object moving through this coordinate axes system can be described by using the six dimensions together (3D linear, 3D rotational), referred to as a “superposition.” A 3D Cartesian coordinate axes system is used to describe, but any 3D coordinate system can be used, i.e., cylindrical, spherical, etc.

FIG. 2 shows a 6D Cartesian coordinate system centered on the front face of a golf club. A putter is shown in FIG. 2, but any golf club may be used. The club can move along or rotate about each axis (X, Y, Z). Each of the axes movements is re-created in the illustration on the right by bar graphs using display elements such as light emitting diodes (LEDs.) The display system preferably resembles the coordinate system.

Each bar graph will display movement along its particular axis, linear or rotational. A complicated movement through this coordinate system will consist of movements on more than one axis simultaneously. This display will intuitively present that movement broken down into composite movements along/about each axis. This simplifies a complex movement into pieces easily comprehended by the person viewing the display.

A movement has three related components (quantities), position, velocity, and acceleration (PVA.) This display is designed to show each of these components along/about each axis in the linear and rotational domain. The total number of bar graphs would be three linear movements (X, Y, Z) plus three rotational movements (X, Y, Z) times three components (PVA) or eighteen (XYZ_Lin+XYZ_Rot)×PVA=18. This is a daunting amount of information to digest with each swing, and some of it is not necessary. In such a case the display could be reduced so that only information important to the user is displayed. In the case of a golf club, rotation about the Z and X axes is not necessary to display since it would be extremely difficult to rotate a club that way. These two rotational displays can therefore be omitted. Rotation about the Y will remain because that movement during a golf swing is very likely to happen.

Further display simplification can be accomplished by considering the components of a typical movement (in this example a golf club swing.) The Z axis is ideally aligned with the direction that the golf club head should travel. Position along this axis isn't as important because each swing of the golf club goes through the position of the ball. Therefore position along this axis will be omitted from the display. Acceleration along the Z axis is less important than velocity so it may be omitted or not. For the example presented here acceleration will be omitted leaving only velocity along the Z axis for the display.

The X axis also has one dominant component during a golf swing, position. Velocity and acceleration along this axis are less important so they will be omitted only for this discussion. Similar logic follows for the Y axis, or height.

One complicated swing a golf club can make is to not travel directly along the Z axis. During a swing the club could move at an angle to the Z axis. This is not a rotation but a linear movement not exactly parallel with any of the three axes (X, Y, Z). A bar graph will be included to display the movement in the X-Z plane. One could also be included to display movement in the Y-Z plane but it is not illustrated.

This reduces a display having potentially 18 bar graphs to 6. But the optimum number of bar graphs in a display will depend on the application.

A display constructed in three dimensions would not be terribly practical because the user would have to be at the correct position and perspective to the display in order to see all the axes indicators without obscuration. To remedy this problem the display is preferably constructed in two dimensions in such a way that it retains a three dimensional character.

The X-Z plane as shown in these illustrations is a flat horizontal surface. The linear Y axis projects up vertically from this surface. The Y axis could be represented in the X-Z plane with the illusion that it projects vertically. For instance it could be constructed as a portion of a triangle representing an incline. This is shown in FIG. 3 (the X and Z rotational bar graphs are omitted from FIG. 3 but the display still functions as 6D showing linear and rotation components.)

FIG. 3 illustrates three examples of a 6D display. All have three linear segments (X, Y, X) and one rotational segment (Y). The display on the left is in the original configuration as previously shown. The display in the center has the Y rotational display segment collapsed into the X-Z plane but the linear Y axis still projects up out of this plane. The display on the right collapses the vertical Y axis into the X-Z plane by shaping it as the hypotenuse of a triangle. This triangle represents a ramp or an incline. The user can imagine that the bottom of the incline is lower than the top. This way a linear movement in the X-Z plane can represent a change along the Y axis (a change in height.)

Further manipulation of the display is shown in FIG. 4. The left side of the figure is copied from the right side of FIG. 3 above. The right side of FIG. 4 shows a modified version of the left side of FIG. 4.

The left side of FIG. 4 shows the fully collapsed 6D display in its original form. The same display is shown on the right but in a re-arranged format to reduce the clutter. The bar graphs are made smaller by reducing the number of display elements (LEDs) in each one. The cleaned up display (on the right) shows the same the amount of information as the original display (on the left) though at a reduced resolution because of the shortened bar graphs.

The preferred number of bar graphs was determined to be six. FIG. 5 illustrates where these could be added while keeping the display uncluttered.

The left side of FIG. 5 shows a top view of the display shown FIG. 4 above on the right side. In FIG. 5 the viewer is looking straight down on the display. The center of the coordinate axes system is denoted by the cross-hair in the center of the display. If used for a golf club swing monitor the golf ball would be centered on this cross-hair.

The right side of FIG. 5 shows the 6D display with two additional bar graphs (X-Z, Y_Rot2). The X-Z bar graph represents the direction of a linear movement projected onto the horizontal (X-Z) plane. The Y_Rot2 represents the angle of the golf club face as it passed over the center of the display. The other Y rotational display bar graph (Y_Rot1) represents the rotational velocity of the golf club about the vertical (Y) axis as it passed over the center of the display.

A bar graph typically denotes a minimum (no LEDS illuminated) to a maximum (all LEDS illuminated) value. This type could be referred to as unidirectional. A bar graph can also be designed to show minimum (or zero) when the center LED is illuminated. The LED on one end would designate a maximum value in the negative direction when illuminated while the LED on the other end would designate a maximum value in the positive direction. This type could be referred to as bidirectional. In the case of a golf swing monitor the Z axis designates velocity so a unidirectional bar graph display suffices. The remaining bar graphs on the swing monitor are bidirectional. The center of each one represents an optimum position/direction/velocity of the golf club.

One embodiment of a golf swing monitor is shown in FIG. 6. The Z axis bar graph display is formed to resemble a speedometer as in an automobile.

FIG. 7 shows three club positions. The large rectangle in each instance (A-C) is the club head. The small circle inside the rectangle coincides with the center of the clubface. The large circle in each instance is the golf ball. The horizontal line going through all three instances is a reference line (L_c) passing through the center of each ball and each bar graph. The series of small rectangles to the left of the ball are display components (i.e. LEDs) forming a bar graph. “A” shows the golf clubface off to one side (by amount S1) of the center line (L_c). The LED corresponding to the position of the center of the clubface is illuminated, none of the others are turned on. The user can see that the clubface is off (above) center of the golf ball. “B” shows the clubface off to the other side (by amount S2) of the ball centerline (below center). The LED corresponding to the position of the center of the clubface is lit up. “C” shows the clubface centered on the ball and the center LED is lit up. The LEDs in this bar graph (X) track the side-to-side (S2S) movement of the club. The user has merely to look at which LED is lit to accurately know the side-to-side position of the club, i.e. the illuminated LED moves with the club.

The trajectory of a golf club is the path a club takes through the ball when viewed from overhead. As an example, draw a straight line on the ground from the center of the ball to the intended destination. This is the reference line. As the club swings it follows a path that can be projected onto the ground as a line. For instance, if a golfer swings a club outside at noon (the sun is directly overhead) a shadow of the club head will be cast on the ground. This shadow follows an imaginary line on the ground defined by the actual path the club took during the swing. This is the trajectory line. If the trajectory line is parallel to the reference line then the trajectory is zero, i.e. there is no angular difference between the reference line and the trajectory line.

The bar graph displaying trajectory will be curved to illustrate the angular nature of the measurement. FIG. 8 shows three examples of a golf club head following three different trajectories.

The illustration in FIG. 8 shows three examples of a trajectory by a golf club. In “A” the club follows a path starting in the upper right and heads toward the lower left. The arrow in the figure indicates the path the club is taking and also represents the trajectory line. This path has an angle of −α to the reference line and is indicated by the illuminated LED in the trajectory bar graph (X-Z). The side-to-side position of the club (S1) at the same instance is given by the illuminated LED in the S2S bar graph (X.)

In “B” the club follows a path starting from the lower right and heads toward the upper left. The arrow in the figure indicates the path the club is taking and also represents the trajectory line of the club head. This path has an angle of +a to the reference line and is indicated by the illuminated LED in the trajectory bar graph (X-Z.) The S2S position of the club (S2) at the same instance is given by the illuminated LED in the S2S bar graph (X.)

In “C” the trajectory of the club head is parallel with the reference line. This is indicated to the user by the center LED in the trajectory bar graph (X-Z) being illuminated. The clubface is also centered in this example as shown by the center LED in the S2S bar graph (X) being illuminated.

Another example of club head position is the height of the clubface. If the center of the face of the club is the same height as the center of the ball then an LED in the center of the height bar graph (Y) is illuminated. If the club is above the center of the ball then a corresponding LED above the center of the bar graph will be illuminated. If the club is below the center of the ball a corresponding LED below the center of the bar graph will be illuminated. The concept is similar to the S2S position tracking described above. But this bar graph represents height rather than S2S position.

The bar graph shown in FIG. 9 (to track height) is for illustration purposes only. In order to avoid confusion with the S2S position display the height bar graph is set on a slope. It is meant to be a graphical representation of an incline or a ramp.

The vertical line adjacent to each golf ball in FIG. 9 above represents the center of the golf ball and also the center of each height bar graph (Y.) In “A” the height of the club is higher than the center of the ball and an LED “higher” than the center of the display is illuminated. In “B” the height of the club is lower than the center of the ball and an LED “lower” than the center of the ball is illuminated. In “C” the clubface is centered on the ball, i.e. its center is the same height as the center of the golf ball and the “center” LED is illuminated. The illuminated LED moves with the club.

Referring to FIG. 10, the velocity of a golf club head during impact with the ball can be displayed by a bar graph resembling the speedometer of an automobile.

Example “A” in FIG. 10 shows a relatively slow swing by illuminating an LED towards the left side of the curved bar graph (Z.) Example “B” shows a medium speed swing by illuminating an LED in the center of the Z bar graph. Example “C” shows a relatively fast swing by illuminating an LED toward the right side of the Z bar graph.

Referring to FIG. 11, another example of club head position is angle. FIG. 11 illustrates three top views of the golf club head behind the ball.

The golf club head angle is shown above in FIG. 11. Each example has an arrow coming perpendicularly out of the front face of the golf club. In example “A” the arrow points downward with the value −β, as indicated by the Y_Rot2 bar graph. In example “B” the arrow points upward with the value +β, as indicated by the Y_Rot2 bar graph. And in example “C” the arrow points directly to the left, i.e. no angle, or an angle of value zero as indicated by the Y_Rot2 bar graph (center LED is illuminated.)

Referring to FIG. 12, another example of golf club head motion is rotation about the shaft of the golf club. This is generally referred to as “suppination.” When done properly, suppination can add important distance when driving the ball. The following illustration shows three examples of a display giving information on the rotation velocity of the golf club head.

The golf club head rotation in FIG. 12 above is shown using examples A-C. In example A the head is shown rotating counter clockwise by a value of +λ as shown by bar graph Y_Rot1. In example B the golf club head is shown rotating clockwise by a value of −λ as shown by bar graph Y_Rot1. In example C there is no rotation. The bar graph Y_Rot1 shows this by illuminating the center (zero value) LED.

In general the 6D display described herein is designed to be intuitive and accurate. It's designed to provide quantitative data to the user of independent vector parameters of an object moving in a complex manner. The example used in this document is a golf club head during a typical swing but this display will work for any mechanical movement.

The terms and expressions which have been employed in the foregoing specification are used therein as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, it being recognized that the scope of the invention is defined and limited only by the claims which follow.

Claims

1. A method for evaluating the motion of a moveable object relative to a reference object comprising:

(a) locating said reference object within a three-dimensional coordinate system having first, second, and third positional coordinates such that the position of said reference object is characterized by respective values of said first, second, and third positional coordinates;

(b) providing a display having at least two visual indicators, each indicator being configured as an array of selectively switchable display elements;

(c) at a critical position of said moveable object, indicating an offset between said moveable object and said reference object along one of said first, second, and third positional coordinates by selectively switching at least one of said display elements of a first one of said indicators; and

(d) in the vicinity of said critical position, indicating a dynamic property of said moveable object within said three-dimensional coordinate system by selectively switching at least one of said display elements of a second one of said indicators.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said moveable object is the head portion of a golf club.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said reference object is a golf ball.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said offset and said array of said first one of said indicators are linear.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said array of said second one of said indicators is curvilinear.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said dynamic property is an angle of approach based on the angle between an axis of intended trajectory of said reference object and an axis of motion of said moveable object as said moveable object closely approaches said reference object as evaluated with each said axis being projected onto a common plane within said three dimensional coordinate system.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said dynamic property is velocity.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said dynamic property at least in part describes a rotational movement by said moveable object about one of said first, second, and third positional coordinates.

9. The method of claim 1 including selectively switching only one of said display elements of said first one of said indicators.

10. The method of claim 1 including selectively switching a series of said display elements of said second one of said indicators.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein said three-dimensional coordinate system is a rectangular coordinate system having mutually perpendicular coordinate axes.

12. The method of claim 1 including configuring each array as a bank of light-emitting diodes (LED's).

13. The method of claim 1 including, at said critical position of said moveable object, indicating another offset between said moveable object and said reference object along another one of said first, second, and third positional coordinates by selectively switching at least one of said display elements of another one of said indicators.

14. The method of claim 1 including, at said critical position of said moveable object, indicating a rotational offset of said moveable object about one of said first, second, and third positional coordinates by selectively switching at least one of said display elements of a third one of said indicators.

15. The method of claim 1 including evaluating a sports technique of a user in handling said moveable object by signaling with said indicators how closely said user replicates a preferred motion of said moveable object.

16. The method of claim 1 including enabling a user to practice an exemplary form of handling said moveable object by selecting at least one target element from among said display elements of each indicator and by indicating how closely said user conforms to said exemplary form in each practice session by varying how closely the switched elements of each indicator conform to said at least one target element.

17. A system for evaluating the motion of a moveable object relative to a reference object comprising:

(a) a locating device to locate the position of said reference object within a three-dimensional coordinate system having first, second, and third positional coordinates such that the position of said reference object is characterized by respective values of said first, second, and third positional coordinates;

(b) a display having at least two visual indicators, each indicator being configured as an array of selectively switchable display elements;

(c) a switch control connected to a first one of said indicators and configured to selectively switch at least one of said display elements of said first one of said indicators to indicate, at a critical position of said moveable object, an offset between said moveable object and said reference object along one of said first, second, and third positional coordinates; and

(d) said switch control being connected to a second one of said indicators and configured to selectively switch at least one of said display elements of said second one of said indicators to indicate, in the vicinity of said critical position, a dynamic property of said moveable object within said three-dimensional coordinate system.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein said locating device is a stop to immovably fix said position configured such that said position of said reference object is characterized by predetermined values of said first, second, and third positional coordinates.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein said predetermined values represent the origin coordinates for said three-dimensional coordinate system.

20. The system of claim 18 wherein said reference object is shaped as a golf ball.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein said stand is adapted to removably receive said golf ball in said characterized position.

22. The system of claim 18 wherein said stand has a generally planar surface and said indicators are disposed on said surface in distributed arrangement about said reference object.

23. A system for evaluating the motion of a moveable object relative to a reference object comprising:

(a) a locating device to locate the position of said reference object within a three-dimensional coordinate system having first, second, and third positional coordinates such that the position of said reference object is characterized by respective values of said first, second, and third positional coordinates;

(b) a display having at least two visual indicators, each indicator being configured as an array of selectively switchable display elements;

(c) a switch control connected to a first one of said indicators and configured to selectively switch at least one of said display elements of said first one of said indicators to indicate, at a critical position of said moveable object, a first offset between said moveable object and said reference object along a first one of said first, second, and third positional coordinates; and

(d) said switch control being connected to a second one of said indicators and configured to selectively switch at least one of said display elements of said second one of said indicators to indicate, at said critical position of said moveable object, a second offset between said moveable object and said reference object along a second one of said first, second, and third positional coordinates; and

(e) said first and second one of said indicators being disposed in generally coplanar arrangement such that the respective arrays of said first and second one of said indicators extend generally in oblique directions relative to each other.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein said first and second offsets represent a side-to-side displacement and a vertical displacement, respectively, substantially parallel to and substantially perpendicular to, respectively, said coplanar arrangement of said indicators.

25. The system of claim 23 wherein said switch control is configured to selectively switch only one of said display elements in the respective array of each of said first and second one of said indicators to indicate said first and second offset, respectively.

26. The system of claim 23 wherein said switch control is connected to a third one of said indicators and configured to selectively switch at least one of said display elements of said third one of said indicators to indicate, in the vicinity of said critical position, a dynamic property of said moveable object within said three-dimensional coordinate system.

27. The system of claim 26 wherein said switch control is configured to selectively switch only one of said display elements of either of said first and second indicators to indicate either of said first and second offsets and more than one of said display elements of said third indicator to indicate said dynamic property of said moveable object.

28. The system of claim 26 wherein said first, second, and third one of said indicators are disposed in generally coplanar arrangement such that the respective arrays of said first and second one of said indicators are substantially linear for visually signifying either of said offsets and the array of said third one of said indicators is substantially curvilinear for visually signifying said dynamic property.