System and Method for Pitch Detection and Analysis
Systems and methods are shown for pitch detection involving a first linear array with multiple detection devices for detecting an object mounted on a base for positioning near the front of home plate, adjacent the front edge of the home plate. Some examples include an indicator on each detector to indicate detection. In some examples, the detectors communicate detection to an analysis system. In some examples, the analysis system determines and displays a pitch result from the position of the detect object. In other examples, a second is positioned at a known distance from the plate and communicates a detection position to the analysis system, which determines pitch speed and result from the two positions. In another example, three arrays are used to determine a curved pitch path. Another example has an array positioned near the back of the plate for determining pitch result, path and speed.
Baseball and softball are games that require a pitcher to throw a ball within a strike zone at home plate in order to earn a strike against the batter and any pitches outside of the strike zone represent balls against the pitcher. The strike zone is defined as the volume of space over home plate between the batter's knees and mid-point of their torso.
According to one aspect of the present invention, an example of a pitch detection system for use in detecting strikes is shown, where the system includes a first linear array with a base member having a linear length that is at least the length of a front edge of a home plate, where the base member is to be positioned adjacent the front edge of the home plate. Multiple detection devices are attached along the linear length of the base member and each has an emitter for producing a detection beam and a detector for receiving reflected energy of the detection beam to detect an object. In some examples, each detection device includes an indicator for indicating that the detector has detected an object.
In an example of a further refinement, the detection devices of the first array also have a communication interface to communicate that the detector has detected an object and a position of the object and the system has an analysis system configured to communicate with the detection devices, where the analysis system determines a pitch result from the position of the detected object and the pitch result is displayed.
In still another example of a refinement, the system has a second array of detection devices configured to be positioned at a known distance from home plate and detect an object and communicate the detection position and detection time to the analysis system, the first array of detection devices is further configured to communicate detection time to the analysis system, and the analysis system determines a pitch speed from the detection time at the first array, the detection time at the second array, and the known distance from home plate of the second array and may also display the pitch speed.
In yet another refinement, the pitch detection system has a second array of detection devices configured to be positioned at a known distance from home plate and detect an object and communicate the detection position to the analysis system, which determines a pitch path from the detection position at the first array and the detection position at the second array and determines an intersection of the pitch path with a strike zone volume of the home plate in order to obtain a pitch result, where the pitch result or pitch path or both may be displayed.
Still another refinement involves a third array of detection devices configured to be positioned at another known distance from home plate and detect an object and communicate the detection position to the analysis system, which determines the pitch path from the detection positions at the first, second and third arrays to obtain a two dimensional curved pitch path and determines the intersection of the pitch path with the strike zone volume of the home plate utilizing the two dimensional curved pitch path.
Further still, in another refinement of the pitch detection system, the detection devices of the first and second arrays are further configured to detect and communicate a detection height and the system includes a third array of detection devices configured to detect an object and communicate detection position and detection height to the analysis system and the third array is configured to be positioned at another known distance from home plate. The analysis system determines the pitch path from the detection positions and heights at the first, second and third arrays to obtain a three dimensional curved pitch path, and determines the intersection of the pitch path with the strike zone volume of the home plate utilizing the three dimensional pitch path.
In another example of a refinement of the pitch detection system, the detection devices of the first and second arrays are further configured to detect and communicate a detection height and a detection vertical speed. The analysis system determines the pitch path from the detection positions, heights and vertical speeds at the first and second arrays to obtain a three dimensional curved pitch path, and determines the intersection of the pitch path with the strike zone volume of the home plate utilizing the three dimensional pitch path.
In an additional example of a refinement of the pitch detection system, the detection devices of the first array are further configured to detect and communicate detection height and detection vertical speed. The analysis system determines a sinking speed of the pitch from the detection vertical speed, determines a pitch vector from the sinking speed, detected position and detect height, and determines the intersection of the pitch path with the strike zone volume of the home plate utilizing the pitch vector.
In still another example of a refinement of the pitch detection system, one or more of the arrays are embedded in a home plate.
Various embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings, in which:
Note that the same numbers are used throughout the disclosure and figures to reference like components and features.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONThe subject matter of embodiments of the present invention is described here with specificity to meet statutory requirements, but this description is not necessarily intended to limit the scope of the claims. The claimed subject matter may be embodied in other ways, may include different elements or steps, and may be used in conjunction with other existing or future technologies. This description should not be interpreted as implying any particular order or arrangement among or between various steps or elements except when the order of individual steps or arrangement of elements is explicitly described.
Detectors may utilize a variety of different technologies, such as laser, photo-optics, infrared, SONAR or radar, that are capable of detecting the presence of a projectile, such as ball 140. Generally, the detection beam provided must be sufficiently focused to differentiate the position of one detector from another as the ball passes over detector array 110. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that many technologies may be adapted for use in the detection array. In the example shown, ball 140 passes over array 110 and intersects detection beam 124G resulting in detector 122G detecting the ball.
Detector arrays 110A, 110B and 110C, in this example, are connected to analysis system 210 through a network, which may be wired or wireless. Analysis system may take the form, for example, of a personal computer or other computing device that communicates with detector arrays 110A, 110B and 110C to collect data regarding the pitch path 212.
In one embodiment, a light in one of the detector devices 122A-G is activated or changed to indicate the detection position. If detector devices in array 110A are provided that cover the area outside the strike zone, then the indicator lights for these devices may have a different indicator color than the detector devices within the strike zone. No analysis system is utilized in this embodiment.
In another embodiment, analysis system 210 is in communication with the detector devices 122A-G of array 110A, collects the position data from the detector devices, and displays the ball or strike result on, for example, a display monitor or an audible signal.
Note that the strike zone coverage provided by a single array 110A is one dimensional and provides a basic indication of whether the pitch is a ball or strike. In certain scenarios, it may provide some erroneous results. For example, a pitch that crosses home plate 10 from an oblique side angle may not be detected or may be detected as a ball. Also, no other information regarding the pitch is provided.
At 262, in one example, a detection device in array 110A detects the ball and reports the position and timestamp to analysis system 210. At 264, a detection device in array 110B detects the ball and reports the position and timestamp to analysis system 210. At step 274, analysis system 210 determines the speed of the pitch from the position and timestamp data along with the displacement distance D1 between arrays 110A and 110B. At step 274, analysis system 210 determines an angle of the pitch path from the positions detected at first array 110A and second array 110B. At 272, analysis system 210 determines from the pitch path angle whether the pitch path would intersect the strike zone volume above home plate 10. At 278, the strike/ball pitch result, the speed and the pitch path angle are displayed. Thus, this embodiment is able to provide additional information regarding the pitch, such as a basic two dimensional determination of pitch result, pitch speed and pitch angle.
Note, however, that the example pitch path 212 in
The processes described above, such as Process 260 of
As one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize, different features may be combined or excluded without departing from the scope of the invention. Also, the present pitch detection and analysis examples may be adapted to utilize other types of detector arrays, such as a rotating laser detector, without departing from the scope of the invention.
In accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention, the system, apparatus, methods, processes and/or operations for pitch detection and analysis may be wholly or partially implemented in the form of a set of instructions executed by one or more programmed computer processors, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or microprocessor. Such processors may be incorporated in an apparatus, server, client or other computing device operated by, or in communication with, other components of the system.
As an example,
It should be understood that the present invention as described above can be implemented in the form of control logic using computer software in a modular or integrated manner. Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art will know and appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the present invention using hardware and a combination of hardware and software.
Any of the software components, processes or functions described in this application may be implemented as software code to be executed by a processor using any suitable computer language such as, for example, Java, C++ or Perl or using, for example, conventional or object-oriented techniques. The software code may be stored as a series of instructions, or commands on a computer readable medium, such as a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a magnetic medium such as a hard-drive or a floppy disk, or an optical medium such as a CD-ROM. Any such computer readable medium may reside on or within a single computational apparatus, and may be present on or within different computational apparatuses within a system or network.
All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and/or were set forth in its entirety herein.
The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the specification and in the following claims are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms “having,” “including,” “containing” and similar referents in the specification and in the following claims are to be construed as open-ended terms (e.g., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely indented to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value inclusively falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate embodiments of the invention and does not pose a limitation to the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to each embodiment of the present invention.
Different arrangements of the components depicted in the drawings or described above, as well as components and steps not shown or described are possible. Similarly, some features and subcombinations are useful and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. Embodiments of the invention have been described for illustrative and not restrictive purposes, and alternative embodiments will become apparent to readers of this patent. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above or depicted in the drawings, and various embodiments and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A pitch detection system for use in detecting strikes, the system comprising a first linear array, the array having:
- a base member having a linear length that is at least the length of a front edge of a home plate for positioning adjacent the front edge of the home plate; and
- multiple detection devices, each detection device coupled to the base member along the linear length of the base member and including a emitter for producing a detection beam and a detector for receiving reflected energy of the detection beam to detect an object.
2. The pitch detection system of claim 1, where each detection device further includes an indicator for indicating that the detector has detected an object.
3. The pitch detection system of claim 1, where the detection devices of the first array further include a communication interface to communicate that the detector has detected an object and a position of the object and the system further includes an analysis system configured to communicate with the detection devices.
4. The pitch detection system of claim 3, where the analysis system is further configured to:
- determine a pitch result from the position of the detected object; and
- display the pitch result.
5. The pitch detection system of claim 3, where:
- the system further includes a second array of detection devices configured to be positioned at a known distance from home plate and detect an object and communicate the detection position and detection time to the analysis system;
- the first array of detection devices is further configured to communicate detection time to the analysis system; and
- the analysis system is further configured to: determine a pitch speed from the detection time at the first array, the detection time at the second array, and the known distance from home plate of the second array and display the pitch speed.
6. The pitch detection system of claim 3, where:
- the system further includes a second array of detection devices configured to be positioned at a known distance from home plate and detect an object and communicate the detection position to the analysis system; and
- the analysis system is further configured to: determine a pitch path from the detection position at the first array and the detection position at the second array, determine an intersection of the pitch path with a strike zone volume of the home plate in order to obtain a pitch result, and display the pitch result and the pitch path.
7. The pitch detection system of claim 6, where:
- the system further includes a third array of detection devices configured to be positioned at another known distance from home plate and detect an object and communicate the detection position to the analysis system; and
- the analysis system is further configured to: determine the pitch path from the detection positions at the first, second and third arrays to obtain a two dimensional curved pitch path, and determine the intersection of the pitch path with the strike zone volume of the home plate utilizing the two dimensional curved pitch path.
8. The pitch detection system of claim 6, where:
- the detection devices of the first and second arrays are further configured to detect and communicate a detection height;
- the system further includes a third array of detection devices configured to detect an object and communicate detection position and detection height to the analysis system and the third array is configured to be positioned at another known distance from home plate; and
- the analysis system is further configured to: determine the pitch path from the detection positions and heights at the first, second and third arrays to obtain a three dimensional curved pitch path, and determine the intersection of the pitch path with the strike zone volume of the home plate utilizing the three dimensional pitch path.
9. The pitch detection system of claim 6, where:
- the detection devices of the first and second arrays are further configured to detect and communicate a detection height and a detection vertical speed; and
- the analysis system is further configured to: determine the pitch path from the detection positions, heights and vertical speeds at the first and second arrays to obtain a three dimensional curved pitch path, and determine the intersection of the pitch path with the strike zone volume of the home plate utilizing the three dimensional pitch path.
10. The pitch detection system of claim 3, where:
- the detection devices of the first array are further configured to detect and communicate detection height and detection vertical speed; and
- the analysis system is further configured to: determine sinking speed of the pitch from the detection vertical speed; determine a pitch vector from the sinking speed, detected position and detect height, and determine the intersection of the pitch path with the strike zone volume of the home plate utilizing the pitch vector.
11. The pitch detection system of claim 1, where the base member is a portion of the home plate and the multiple detection devices are embedded in the home plate along the front edge of the home plate.
12. The pitch detection system of claim 1, where the system further includes a second array of detection devices configured to be positioned adjacent to a rear edge of the home plate.
13. The pitch detection system of claim 12, where the detection devices of the first and second arrays further include a communication interface to communicate that the detector has detected an object and a position of the object and the system further includes an analysis system configured to communicate with the detection devices and determine a pitch result from the position of the detected object.
14. The pitch detection system of claim 13, where the base member is a portion of the home plate and the multiple detection devices of the first array are embedded in the home plate along the front edge of the home plate and the multiple detection devices of the second array are embedded in the home plate along the rear edge of the home plate.
15. A method for pitch detection for use in detecting strikes, the method comprising:
- providing a first linear array having a base member having a linear length that is at least the length of a front edge of a home plate and including multiple detection devices, each detection device coupled to the base member along the linear length of the base member and including a emitter for producing a detection beam and a detector for receiving reflected energy of the detection beam to detect an object; and
- positioning the first linear array adjacent the front edge of a home plate.
16. The method for pitch detection of claim 15, where each detection device further includes an indicator for indicating that the detector has detected an object.
17. The method for pitch detection of claim 15, where the detection devices of the first array further include a communication interface to communicate that the detector has detected an object and a position of the object and the method further includes providing an analysis system for communicating with the detection devices.
18. The method for pitch detection of claim 17, where the analysis system is further configured to perform the steps of:
- determining a pitch result from the position of the detected object; and
- displaying the pitch result.
19. The method for pitch detection of claim 17, where the method includes:
- providing a second array of detection devices positioned at a known distance from home plate, detecting an object at the second array and communicating the detection position and detection time to the analysis system;
- the first array of detection devices is further configured to communicate detection time to the analysis system; and
- where the analysis system is further configured to perform the steps of: determining a pitch speed from the detection time at the first array, the detection time at the second array, and the known distance from home plate of the second array and displaying the pitch speed.
20. The method for pitch detection of claim 17, where the method further includes:
- providing a second array of detection devices positioned at a known distance from home plate, detecting an object at the second array and communicating the detection position to the analysis system; and
- the analysis system is further configured to perform the steps of: determining a pitch path from the detection position at the first array and the detection position at the second array, determining an intersection of the pitch path with a strike zone volume of the home plate in order to obtain a pitch result, and displaying the pitch result and the pitch path.
21. The method for pitch detection of claim 20, where the method further includes:
- providing a third array of detection devices positioned at another known distance from home plate, detecting an object at the third array and communicating the detection position to the analysis system; and
- the analysis system is further configured to perform the steps of: determining the pitch path from the detection positions at the first, second and third arrays to obtain a two dimensional curved pitch path, and determining the intersection of the pitch path with the strike zone volume of the home plate utilizing the two dimensional curved pitch path.
22. The method for pitch detection of claim 20, where the method further includes:
- configuring the detection devices of the first and second arrays to detect and communicate a detection height;
- the system further providing a third array of detection devices positioned at another known distance from home plate for detecting an object and communicating detection position and detection height to the analysis system; and
- the analysis system is further configured to perform the steps of: determining the pitch path from the detection positions and heights at the first, second and third arrays to obtain a three dimensional curved pitch path, and determining the intersection of the pitch path with the strike zone volume of the home plate utilizing the three dimensional pitch path.
23. The method for pitch detection of claim 20, where:
- configuring the detection devices of the first and second arrays to detect and communicate a detection height and a detection vertical speed; and
- the analysis system is further configured to perform the steps of: determining the pitch path from the detection positions, heights and vertical speeds at the first and second arrays to obtain a three dimensional curved pitch path, and determining the intersection of the pitch path with the strike zone volume of the home plate utilizing the three dimensional pitch path.
24. The method for pitch detection of claim 20, where:
- configuring the detection devices of the first array to detect and communicate detection height and detection vertical speed; and
- the analysis system is further configured to perform the steps of: determining sinking speed of the pitch from the detection vertical speed; determining a pitch vector from the sinking speed, detected position and detect height, and determining the intersection of the pitch path with the strike zone volume of the home plate utilizing the pitch vector.
25. The method for pitch detection of claim 17, the method further including embedding the multiple detection devices along the front edge of a home plate.
26. The method for pitch detection of claim 17, the method further including providing a second array of detection devices positioned adjacent to a rear edge of the home plate.
27. The method for pitch detection of claim 26, the method further including:
- configuring the detection devices of the first and second arrays to communicate that the detector has detected an object and a position of the object; and
- providing an analysis system for communicating with the detection devices and determining a pitch result from the position of the detected object.
28. The method for pitch detection of claim 27, the method further including embedding the multiple detection devices of the first array along the front edge of a home plate and embedding the multiple detection devices of the second array along the rear edge of the home plate.
27. A pitch detection apparatus for detecting strikes, the apparatus comprising:
- means for detecting a first position of an object when the object passes a front edge of a home plate; and
- means for determining whether the object has intersected a strike zone volume above the home plate.
28. The pitch detection apparatus of claim 27, the apparatus further comprising:
- means for detecting a second position of an object when thrown towards the home plate; and
- the means for determining whether the object has intersected a strike zone volume above the home plate utilizes the second position and includes means for determining pitch speed and pitch path.
29. The pitch detection apparatus of claim 28, the apparatus further comprising:
- means for detecting a third position of an object when thrown towards the home plate; and
- the means for determining pitch speed and pitch path is further configured to utilize the third position for determining pitch path.
30. The pitch detection apparatus of claim 28, wherein:
- the means for detecting a first position of an object and the means for detecting a second position of an object are each further configured to determine a height of the object when detected; and
- the means for determining pitch speed and pitch path is further configured to utilize the height at the first position and the height at the second position in determining pitch path.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 17, 2015
Publication Date: Jan 19, 2017
Inventor: Dayne Sampson (Sammamish, WA)
Application Number: 14/802,883