Incorporation of Computing Hardware that Captures and Conveys the Shape and Relative Position of Sporting Equipment Without Affecting its Required Physical Performance

Abstract

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to sport's equipment comprising of “thin film” and “flexible electronics” that mimic and conform to the assembly components of traditional, non-interactive, sport's equipment. The layers of the equipment contain electrical and computing circuits in the form of one or more of an active mesh, active stitching, and/or active piping that mimics components otherwise made of leather, fabric, yarn or other non-conductive materials of a sport's equipment. Further provided for is the use of a suitable wireless technology to transmit the data collected by the digitally active implements to an external computer, which is capable of receiving the data to perform a simulation or computation for a sporting exercise.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the technical field of the manufacture of sports equipment capable of conveying to an external computer data of the equipment's shape and relative position within a field of play, and specifically to sport's equipment comprising of “thin film” and “flexible electronics” that mimic and conform to the assembly components of traditional, non-interactive, sport's equipment without altering or affecting the required performance.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application 63/204,174, Confirmation No. 5943, filed on Sep. 16, 2020, and is incorporated by reference in it's entirety for all purposes by the present inventor.

BACKGROUND ART

Modern sports impose highly specific requirements on the physical performance of the equipment said sport requires. The digital age has only served to add an increased set of requirements on the sports industry in order for sports to be “interactive” per the expectations of real-time sports broadcasting, video game interactivity, and analytics. However, sports equipment in the digital age still must comply with a set of predetermined game rules and officiating regulations. A determination of “utility” in reference to modern sports must still comport with this traditional set of rules, regulations, and expectations as understood by a person knowledgeable in the art of officiating, managing, analyzing, or playing said sport. Unfortunately, much of the prior art which seeks to address novel methods for making sporting equipment truly “interactive,” often overlook the most basic and fundamental requirements of said sports.

Furthermore, the needs and requirements of modern sports cannot be relegated to that of inconsequential entertainment. The so-called “Deflategate” controversy serves to illustrate the need for accuracy in a sector of our culture that can no longer be described as a mere pastime, but rather is a multi-billion-dollar world-wide industry that is fully reliant on accurate, real-time generation of metrics and data. The National Football League (NFL) reportedly spent $22 million dollars investigating the slight alteration of a piece of equipment during the “Deflategate” scandal. (see NPL—11) This is but the latest in a long history of controversial, and significantly expensive mishaps in officiating of modern sporting events. The fairness of officiating in sporting events is deemed to be so crucial to Western cultures, that wars have even been started due to sporting events, as what happened between the nations of El Salvador and Honduras during the infamous “Soccer War.” (see NPL—13) The expectations have only increased with the advent of digital or virtual entertainment. Sporting equipment in the 21^st Century is now subject to the demands of smart and accurate computing of real-time events that traditionally were partially and inadequately fulfilled by the eyesight of human referees, and as of late, the complimentary use of video equipment that has been relied on to an extent beyond its inherent technical capabilities. The measurement and appraisal of relative positioning of the player's body parts with respect to their location on the field of play, other players, and field equipment has thus far been left to the inaccurate eyesight of the referees or the equally inaccurate review of film footage, otherwise known as “instant replay,” and the cost of this deficiency can easily be said to reach untold millions of dollars.

In order to address the dysfunction of the status-quo, prior art has devised methods and strategies that inject or include conventional computing electronics into sporting equipment that, otherwise, would not be permitted by the sport's rules and regulations. The insertion of monitoring and communication devices into equipment that will be subjected to severe physical abuse while still meeting the weight distribution, size, and balance requirements is an objective yet to be successfully achieved. One of the main reasons for this failure is that any alteration to the participant, the field of play, or the equipment that significantly affects the weight, balance, aerodynamics, or other performance inevitably renders them as either a useless hindrance or ineligible for participation. This presents a significant design challenge for inventors of sporting equipment in the 21^st Century “Digital Age.” Prior art typically fails to meet the mission critical requirements as described above for one or more of the following reasons:

• • a) CATASTROPHIC PHYSICAL ALTERATION: The alteration of the physical qualities of the piece(s) of sporting equipment that is digitally enhanced by introducing conventional computing hardware alters the overall design to an extent where said pieces of equipment no longer meet the required physical performance of said equipment.
  • b) PARTIAL DIMINISHMENT OF A CATASTROPHIC DEFECT: The partial elimination of a weight and balance problem caused by the introduction of conventional electronics into sporting equipment does not mean that the problems of weight and balance will not continue to create real-world problems in the practice of the art. The introduction of conventional computing hardware, even in its diminutive versions, will still alter the weight and balance of a high-speed rotating mass, namely a ball, significantly enough to render it dysfunctional. Adding computing functionality does not remedy the uselessness of a ball that will wobble in its trajectory or weigh more than the rules of the sport allow. Conventional computing hardware is not weight balanced or distributed as it comprises of disparate masses arranged in a two-dimensional silicon wafer. Batteries and heat sinks are not weight balanced to offset the weight of their corresponding silicone chips and distribution boards. A silicone board, by all intents and purposes, is a two-dimensional construct meant to lay flat, and by its very physical definition is contradictory to the physics of a mass that rotates in three-dimensions as a ball does. Referencing an unrelated industry may be helpful in illustrating this particular point: it is illegal in the United States for an auto-tire store to install tires that have only been ‘partially’ balanced into a car, as partial balancing may as well be no balancing whatsoever. A tire-wheel combination that is only partially balanced will still rotate in an oblong manner and travel in unpredictable trajectories. The same concept applies to game balls: a soccer ball that wobbles even slightly because it houses conventional computing hardware, is still a ball deemed unusable in the game of soccer no matter what added benefits incorporating said computing hardware may provide. However, unlike the auto-tire example, sports equipment has weight restrictions imposed on it by the traditional rules and regulations of each particular game. Adding more physical material and mass to a conventional ball in order to cleverly suspend conventional electronics within it serves only exacerbates the problem.
  • c) DYSFUNCTION DUE TO INCOMPLETENESS: Addressing a single function or requirement of the sport it seeks to serve, by making a game ball interactive, may still fail to provide a solution that completes the entirety of the mission critical task said invention seeks to remedy. This is especially true when it comes to providing relative positions of the sporting equipment in order to facilitate officiating or supplant the status-quo technology of “instant replay.” A tracking and positioning solution that persists on relying on line-of-sight of either humans, a camera, or tracking equipment to provide positioning determinations remains as dysfunctional as the status-quo “instant replay” solutions. For example, providing the location of a game ball via positioning hardware, while relying on the officiating crew's line-of-sight to account for the relevant player's feet, hands, knees, elbows, or buttocks will continue to be as equally dysfunctional as the status-quo as the line-of-sight to any particular player will always be liable to be obstructed by other players or the field of play. For the same reasons, providing a singular determination or metric when the sport requires a multiplicity of determinations to be ascertained fails to provide for the real-world needs of those players or participants trained in the art. For example, providing for the location of a ball in relation to a goal line is of limited value in American Football if this singular metric is delivered incomplete without the relative position, shape, and location of the player's feet, knees, hands, elbows, thighs, or buttocks at the simultaneous moment said ball crossed the goal line or “first down marker.” Similarly, a digital position of a ball crossing the goal posts in soccer requires a determination of the relative position of the players to each other in order to provide an accurate determination if said goal was valid per the predetermined rules of those sports. Therefore, it is insufficient, and largely dysfunctional, to deliver a solitary metric or data point in the multifaceted matrix of determinations a sports analyst or referee must consider in order to make a game-determinant call. Any solution that does not address the myriad of points an officiating crew must consider, the majority of which rely on the accurate discerning the shape and relative position of the ball, field, or of a player's bodily fails to provide “utility” to the current officiating and “interactivity” standards.
  • d) DYSFUNCTION THROUGH OVERSIMPLIFICATION: The catastrophically mistaken assumption that a one-dimensional digital dot on a computer screen is sufficient in representing the relative position of the shape of a three-dimensional ball or the shape of the extremities of a player, is dysfunctionally insufficient. An American Football, for example, cannot be reduced to a single dot on a field as it is oblong and has a long and a short side that must be accounted for.
  • e) FAILURE BY ALGORYTHMIC INFERENCE: One major defect of “oversimplification” as described above is the reliance on computer calculations or algorithms to discern a three-dimensional shape from a one-dimensional digital dot in determining relative position or shape of a human being, or the sporting equipment. Officials and players skilled in the art of modern-day sports make determinations according to the real shape of the body parts of players or the relative location of the ball. A human foot or a ball cannot be reduced or inferred from a digital dot ascertained from conventional Geo-positioning software. Attempting to compensate for the single, one-dimensional dot dysfunction of tracking devices by algorithmic inferring the shape of the ball or the player's bodily extremities, fails as a solution since the shape of human beings is not standard, and sporting equipment is often required to be flexible and thus not of a consistent shape or size. The actual field of play may also differ from a computational ideal geometry as it may be intended to be a non-flat surface made of imperfect natural materials such as dirt and grass. For example, simply enabling the ground, the floorboards, the mat, or the turf to sense the equipment or player that physically touches it by itself fails as a system, as many of the determining factors an officiating crew must consider occur above ground and in mid-air. Inferring the shape of a flexible ball or inconsistently sized human beings via a computer algorithm will also fail to provide a useful measurement as these determinations can come down to miniscule differences that are made useless by algorithmic averaging. The actual shape of an imperfect human foot and its shoe cannot, in real-life practice of the art, be inferred by theoretical calculations. Thus, an officiating crew tasked with determining where the actual boundaries of a human appendage fall in relation to the perimeter of a field of play cannot be accurately inferred by theoretical averages as the innumerable differences in the shape of human feet and shoe designs, for example, render this approach useless for the art of sports officiating and analysis.
  • f) DYSFUNCTION VIA TECHNICAL INSUFFICIENCY: Reliance on technologies that are known to have inherent limitations renders a solution catastrophically dysfunctional per the needs of the professionals, players, or officiating crews skilled in the art of playing, officiating, and managing modern sports. For example, relying on the mere insertion of Radio Frequency Identification Tags (RFID) into balls and other equipment is catastrophically dysfunctional on its face as an American-style football, for example, is 11 inches long while RFID is known to be inaccurate plus or minus 5 to 10 inches. (see NPL—6) Anyone vaguely familiar with American Football knows that an error rate of 5 to 10 inches is unacceptable in determining the position of an American Football within the field of play. Global Positioning Satellite Systems (GPS) is another technology explicitly stipulated by prior art. Measurements conducted by a GPS satellite are conducted from outside of and through the thick of the Earth's atmosphere. The conditions in the troposphere, stratosphere, and ionosphere all impact the GPS signal in some way. (see NPL—6) Severe solar storms or local environmental calamities like volcanoes can both contribute to GPS error. Everyday events such as rain and thunderstorms can create erratic changes in the troposphere that render GPS base station corrections less meaningful. As mentioned, an American-style football is 11 inches tip to tip. Thus, through similar analysis, GPS offers a “single dot” to represent the object it is tracking and is also known to be off by about 7 inches. GPS, by itself, cannot be of use to track an accurate shape and relative position of an 11-inch ball, especially one that is oblong in shape. To take the examples further, a baseball is about 3 inches in diameter; a soccer ball's diameter is about 9 inches; a golf ball is 1.6 inches in diameter; therefore, an error rate of 5 to 10 inches would be intolerable to a person skilled in the art of officiating said sports or providing a novel solution superior to that of the status-quo of human eyesight supplemented by the “analog” video assisted “instant replay.”

In a different but related industry of Hollywood special effects, providers know that logging a single digital dot is insufficient when the requirements call for the mapping of shape, contours, and relative position specific to a certain thespian whose bodily movements are desirable to be accurately mimicked in a virtual environment. This is no different than the impending demands “Digital Gaming” is increasingly imposing on modern sports entertainment companies, such as how the NFL and NCAA currently seek to capture the actual movements of a specific athlete. Generic or algorithmically arrived at thespians are not good enough for Hollywood, and for much of the same reasons, generic or algorithmic approximations or averages of an athlete's movements are increasingly insufficient stand-ins for the actual acrobatics performed by highly paid professional athletes.

Both collegiate and professional sports are increasingly demanding more accurate methods to achieve the goal of mapping and conveying the shape and relative positions of the ball, the players, and the field of play. The 21^st Century has brought the added demand with the impending “integration” of “virtual” and traditional sports. “Digital Gaming” has in the past been fed raw statistics, but the clientele of “Digital Gaming” has increasingly required a closer match to the real games played by actual professional and collegiate athletes, as opposed to their algorithmically inferred counterparts of 1990s technology. The proverbial “X's and O's” of drawing up and simulating real-life game play is relegated to 20th Century coaching and game analysis, and is wholly insufficient for 21^st Century integration and interactivity. The real movements of players in relation to the field of play and equipment are increasingly the standard not just for professional sports, but collegiate, high-school and even recreational “virtual” gaming that seeks to reproduce as accurately as possible the actual games played by professionals or to modify their theoretical outcomes with the real-world acrobatic movements of the players. This merging of “virtual” and “actual” is upon us and is a multi-billion dollar a year enterprise. For all the reasons described in preceding pages, neither the “single digital dot” of Atari era gaming of the 1980s, nor the “instant replay” of the 1990s are sufficient to meet the impending demands. Nor are incomplete or physically dysfunctional solutions. In order to do that, the geometric shape and relative positions of the equipment and the players must be rendered electronically, and these shapes mapped accurately according to the critical boundaries of the field of play, and it is thus an objective of this disclosure to provide such a solution.

CITATION LIST

In some embodiments thereof, the current invention may claim benefits to the prior art disclosed in the patent and non-patent literature (NPL) as particularized hereunder:

Non-patent Literature (NPL) Bibliography

• 1. John Sowell, Idaho Statesman online magazine, “Boise tech company rolls out bendable computer chips,” (Feb. 23, 2018)
• 2. Rushabh Haria, 3dprintingindustry.com, “3D Printing Increases Memory of Flexible Silicone Chips 7000 Times”, (Jan. 4, 2018)
• 3. M. Kammoun,a S. Bergb and H. Ardebilia, The Royal Society of Chemistry Nanoscale Publication, “Flexible Thin-Film Battery based on Graphene-Oxide Embedded in Solid Polymer Electrolyte” (January 2015)
• 4. Min Koo, Kwi-Il Park, Seung Hyun Lee, Minwon Suh, Duk Young Jeon, Jang Wook Choi, Kisuk Kang, and Keon Jae Lee, American Chemical Society Nano Letters, “Bendable Inorganic Thin-Film Battery for Fully Flexible Electronic Systems” (Jul. 30, 2012)
• 5. Shoubhik Gupta, William T. Navaraj, Leandro Lorenzelli & Ravinder Dahiya, npj Flexible Electronics, “Ultra-thin chips for high-performance flexible electronics” (Mar. 14, 2018)
• 6. Gcodes.com, “Facts about GPS tracking using QR codes, RFID/NFC, Bluetooth & GSM/SMS” (Date Unknown)
• 7. Online Resource Library of the National Geographic Society, “GIS—Geographic Information System,” (Encyclopedic Entry—No Date)
• 8. Jeffery S. Nighbert, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, esri.com, ArcUser, “The Accuracy and Precision Revolution—What's ahead for GIS?” (Winter 2010)
• 9. Wikipedia.org, “Core Rope Memory”
• 10. Ken Shirriff, Ken Shirriff's Blog, righto.com, “Software woven into wire: Core rope and the Apollo Guidance Computer” (No Date Given)
• 11. Kevin Seifert, espn.com, “What really happened during Deflategate? Five years later, the NFL's ‘scandal’ aged poorly” (Jan. 18, 2020)
• 12. Cavallaro, R. (1997). “The FoxTrax hockey puck tracking system”. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications. 17 (2): 6-12
• 13. Soccer War—Honduras-El Salvador, britannica.com/topic/Soccer-War
• 14. POLYTAN.COM—IN-GROUND SYSTEM FOR PERFORMANCE DIAGNOSTICS
• 15. GENIUS—Smart Sports Field, fieldturf.com/en/products/detail/genius
• 16. Spatial Measurements for Artificial Turf Systems Using Hall Effect Sensors, David Cole, Paul Fleming, Steph Forrester and Kelly Morrison, Sports Technology Institute, Loughborough University, Loughborough—Proceedings 2020, 49, 160; doi:10.3390/proceedings2020049160-mdpi.com/journal/proceedings

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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following summary is an explanation of some of the general inventive steps for the improvement of embedding computing facilities in sports' equipment without affecting its required physical performance, and as further exemplified in various embodiments in the detailed description. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention and does not intend to limit the scope beyond what is described and claimed as a summary.

In order to overcome the defects in the prior art, an objective of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing and operating sport's equipment comprising of “thin film” and “flexible electronics” that mimic and conform to the assembly components of traditional, non-interactive, sport's equipment. The layers of said equipment contain electrical and computing circuits in the form of one or more of an active mesh, active stitching, and/or active piping that mimics components otherwise made of leather, fabric, yarn or other non-conductive materials of a sport's equipment. Generally, player attires (such as shoes, t-shirts, kneecaps, shorts, gloves among others), balls (such as those used in soccer, basketball, baseball, tennis and cricket, among others), tools of play (such as hockey sticks, rackets, among others) and constituents of a field of play (such as netting, posts, field markers), may generally be referred to as artifacts of play

The term “equipment” throughout this description is meant to be all inclusive beyond player wearable equipment and inclusive of balls or any such objects of play, and field of play surface and delimiters such as goal posts, nets, or corner markers. Accordingly, several advantages of one or more aspects disclosed herein are as follows:

Described herein are methods and strategies of manufacturing, using and providing sporting equipment that can act as or interact with modern electronics in order to precisely map the shape and the relative position of said equipment within the field of play without significantly altering the expected physical performance of said equipment as stipulated in the rule books of the various sports.

Described herein are methods and strategies which address the need for a system and computing platform to map and communicate the shape and relative position of all the pieces of equipment, including the field of play. This said platform will act as a system operating architecture that allows a plurality of pieces of equipment to function as one system with the plurality of equipment acting as components thereto.

Described herein are methods and strategies (systems) towards assembling a system of digitally active components that are not reliant on the line-of-sight of the human eye or other line-of-sight reliant technologies. Other advantages of one or more aspects will be apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

The novel features believed to be characteristic of the illustrative embodiments are set forth in the appended claims. The included drawings are not to scale engineering drawings. They are concept drawings meant to convey the methods and strategies of incorporating electrical circuits and computing circuits into a plurality of pieces of equipment by utilizing flexible and “thin film” components that mimic the physical attributes of traditional assembly components of non-interactive equipment. The illustrative embodiments, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and descriptions thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of one or more illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGS. 1A to 1C show various aspects of a digitally active American football assembly made with flexible computing and communication components.

FIG. 2A shows a cross section of an American football whose assembly incorporates various digitally active, thin film layers, digitally active stitching, and digitally active pipping.

FIG. 3A shows digitally active and flexible circuits sown into a synthetic turf assembly.

FIG. 4A shows a system of integrated pieces of equipment mapping and communicating in real time the relevant Cartesian data points of an American Football game.

FIG. 5A shows various aspects of system of integrated pieces of equipment mapping and communicating in real time the relevant Cartesian data points of an American Football game.

FIGS. 6A to 6C show various aspects of a football/Soccer ball assembled with thin film and flexible circuitry.

FIG. 7A shows various aspects of system of integrated pieces of equipment mapping and communicating in real time the relevant Cartesian data points of a football/Soccer game.

FIG. 8A shows digitally active and flexible circuits incorporated into a Basketball or Volleyball court floorboard assembly.

FIGS. 9A to 9C show various aspects of a Baseball assembled with thin film and flexible circuitry.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The terminologies or words used in the description and the claims of the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited merely to their common and dictionary meanings. On the contrary, they should be interpreted based on the meanings and concepts of the invention in keeping with the scope of the invention based on the principle that the inventor(s) can appropriately define the terms in order to describe the invention in the best way.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention shown and described herein is to be taken as a preferred embodiment of the present invention, so it does not expressly limit the technical spirit and scope of this invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that various changes and modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

In this disclosure, there is prior arts as well as some overlooked new technologies that are combined in a novel way by the claimed methods described herein. The first consideration is replacing the mass of traditional electronic batteries that are used by conventional computing equipment as energy storage. There are present advances in the art of rechargeable battery devices that provide “paper-thin” sheets that function as electrical energy storage in “thin film” that is as flexible as any leather, plastic, or fabric traditionally used to manufacture the components of modern sporting equipment. (see NPL—3, 4) These “thin-film” batteries can be incorporated into sporting equipment in a manner that mimics traditional applications of leather, plastic, or fabric in a plurality of embodiments.

However, energy storage only provides the fuel that enables the various embodiments to provide the capture of metrics in addition to the shape and relative position of said sporting equipment. In order to integrate data capturing and communication “hardware” into a leather sown ball, uniforms, goal nets, field turf, floorboards, goal markers or posts, (computers) that do not alter their expected physical performance, these electronic components must mimic the materials these items are traditionally composed of and furthermore, (ought to preferably) be woven into the equipment in ways not dissimilar to the construction of traditional nets, turf, uniforms, or balls. In order to provide the computing functions in a material as thin and flexible as leather, plastic, or fabric, otherwise disparate sources of inspiration have been leveraged in this novel combination of old and new technologies. These various embodiments, for example, merge the technologies found inside the Apollo spacecraft's computer, (see NPL—10) a modern “touch-screen”, and Hollywood's special effects techniques in order to deliver the critical data points of shape and relative position. Traditional metrics-providing hardware including but not limited to temperature sensors, impact sensor, pressure sensor, accelerometer, orientation sensors, or any plurality of digital sensing, data logging, and communication devices otherwise possible with stiff conventional computer board instrumentation can be similarly manufactured by “weaving” the computer circuit instead of casting it into a solid silicon wafer. Copper, fiber-optic yarn, or any other plurality of conductive materials can be “woven” into a working computational circuitry and has been in the past, as is the case with the computer that controlled the Apollo spacecraft. (see NPL—10) This is not completely alien to current computing equipment standards, as the shape and touch sensing technology is not dissimilar from that implemented in the “weave” that comprises modern “touch-screen” technology. Hollywood movie-makers capture an array of Cartesian markers in order to capture the shape and movement of a thespian's bodily contours and translate them to coordinates via which animated “virtual” character movements can be controlled and/or mapped. Digital “yarn” can be used to create a “weave” or “woven” “flexible circuitry” by employing one or more of the following claimed methods and strategies:

• • A. SMART STITCH—DIGITALLY ACTIVE YARN: The term digitally active yarn describes the utilization of conductive stitching to sow together an assembly. This method and strategy describe the utilization of smart and active stitching, whose conductive strands provide the capability to replace a network of circuits that can transmit and/or process digital information or an electrical charge. Recent advances in telecommunications technology have provided us materials that are conductive, lightweight, and flexible, perfect for the creation of a strand of stitching material that can be used to stitch equipment together at the same time as completing a circuit.
  • B. SMART WEAVE—DIGITALLY ACTIVE LINER: This method and strategy describes the utilization of a digitally active weave, film, or liner which within its skin is woven the network of circuits that can transmit and/or process electronic information as well as store energy for powering the circuit. Recent advances in battery technology, as mentioned, have provided us with the ability to manufacture electrical energy storage in the form of a thin metallic film. Such films can also assume the role of insulating layers of modern circuitry. Like a conventional silicone computer board or wafer, a smart mesh can be sown or glued in as a liner and can be programmed, and the layout of its circuitry custom designed as are conventional pieces of electronics. The proposed mesh-liner circuitry can be comprised of ultralight and flexible layers similar capabilities expected of computer circuit boards. More precisely, by distributing the electronics along the inner surface of the ball, this method evenly distributes the weight over the entire (the largest possible) surface of the ball. By distributing an array of sensors over said surface, the shape and relative position of said ball or piece of equipment can be mapped and communicated.
  • C. SMART PIPPING—DIGITALLY ACTIVE PIPPING: for the avoidance of doubt, the term “Pipping” is used by upholsterers to describe a continuous bead, made of a plurality of materials, that runs along and is sown into a seam. It is used to add decoration at the same time as added durability to the item being stitched together from disparate materials, and that (in some cases) is subjected to physical and environmental abuse, as is auto-upholstery, for example. Digitally active pipping in this method and strategy is utilized for its strengthening of sown or woven joints, but also to carry or communicate digital information, data or electrical currents. The digitally active pipping can be made of a conductive material to sense, measure, carry, communicate, or receive data if a particular embodiment utilizes it as an antennae array for the equipment it is helping to hold together. In the same manner, digitally active pipping can be utilized to distribute the energy needed by the piece of equipment it helps sow together.

As detailed in the included illustrations, the above claimed methods comprise a system of woven and flexible computer components that a person skilled in the art of manufacturing said equipment will recognize as components to be stitched or adhered into the layers of rubber and leather of equipment, namely the layers that comprise the bladder and skin of a ball. The various layers comprising of an energy storage layer, a computational layer, an electronic sensing layer, or a communications layers can all be sown or adhered together by digitally active “yarn,” not altogether dissimilar to the Apollo spacecraft's “core rope memory.” The physical “yarn” or “thread” that weaves the components together can replace the lines in an otherwise stiff circuit board or convey data and carry a charge to and from a thin film battery. The disclosed improves the utility of a sports equipment in the manner further anticipated hereunder.

Mode of Carrying Out the Invention

The embodiments exemplified by the FIGS. 1A-5A demonstrate an exemplary arrangement of components of an American football assembly in accordance with the current invention. As an example, the FIGS. 1A-1C demonstrates potential components of an American football assembly in accordance with the current invention. FIG. 2A shows the resulting and completed assembly would look, feel, weigh, bounce, and travel through the air as any conventional and non-interactive American football. FIGS. 1A-1C convey the concept that a complete electrical circuit made up of “flexible” and “thin film” electronics comprising of a digitally active stitching 1, digitally active mesh 2, thin film sensing layer 4, and thin film battery 5 that can mimic the assembly parts of a conventional non-interactive football for the purpose of capturing and conveying relative position and shape data of said non-interactive football without altering the expected physical feel and performance of a traditionally manufactured football, which for purposes of this disclosure is depicted as an American football.

Further still, the FIG. 1A demonstrates the concept of replacing the traditional stitching of an exemplary American football with electronically conductive stitching 1 (which for purposes of this disclosure may also be referred to as a digitally active stitching) that can operate as or with a computer circuit while at the same time serving its traditional purpose of sowing the components that comprise said ball together. The active and smart stitching mimics the method in which traditional and non-conductive stitching sows together a conventional football where it is shown sown assembly holes 3 where digitally active stitching is made, thus providing a function of an active electronic circuit 7 in the form of a digitally active computing mesh while not affecting the expected weight, balance, or bounce of said ball. FIG. 1B demonstrates the concept of using “thin film” or “flexible” computer components 2 that make up a digitally active computing mesh as one of a plurality of layers in the sown assembly that is an American football. The digitally active mesh 4 mimics the cutting patterns of a traditional and non-interactive football in order to accomplish the goal of being sown into said assembly in a manner that will not adversely affect the weight and balance of said football when incorporated into said active circuit and assembly. In this depiction of this particular embodiment, the active and smart mesh is shown as translucent or porous to demonstrate that it is a thin and light mesh or film comprised of an active computing circuit from flexible but conductive fibers and materials. On the other hand, the FIG. 1C demonstrates the concept of using “thin film” and “flexible” components that mimic the traditional cutting patterns 5 of an American football that can be added to and the assembly weight compensated for in order to accommodate their inclusion without altering the stipulated weight, bounce, and balance per the sport's regulations. Said active and smart layers can be “thin film batteries” in one of a plurality of functions these active and smart layers can provide to the overall assembly.

The concept of using “thin film” and “flexible” components is further exemplified in the FIG. 2A, where it is illustrated in an exploded view a thin film battery 6 embedded into the layers that conventionally make up an American football, such as the skin in a manner that will not adversely affect the weight and balance of said football when incorporating an active circuit and assembly. It is further illustrated a digitally active computing mesh 7, which has a function of an active electronic circuit and computing woven in a non-interactive manner. The active and smart stitching 8 as illustrated in the exploded view mimics the method in which traditional and non-conductive stitching sows together a conventional football, while having the benefit of a digitally active yarn utilizing conductive stitching to sow together an assembly. This digitally active yarn comprise of conductive strands provide the capability to replace a network of circuits that can transmit and/or process digital information or an electrical charge. The digitally active pipping 9 illustrated in the same FIG. 2A is utilized for its strengthening of sown or woven joints, but also to carry or communicate digital information, data or electrical currents.

In yet another embodiment according to FIG. 3A of the diagrams, it is shown that the manufacturing or construction of a field of play comprising of synthetic turf is no different, technologically speaking, than that of the weaving of a “smart-fabric”, whereby it is shown a filed of play comprising of a digitally active computing mesh 12. Modern synthetic turf is manufactured by a weaving of synthetic materials in order to create its substrate, and this is a well-known art in the sporting industry. In this particular embodiment, this substrate can be comprised of the “smart-yarn” 10 and “smart-weave” as are other pieces of sporting equipment being described above in FIG. 1A-1C. The assembly shown further provides an array of sensors 11 woven into the playing surface, which enable it to interact with the player wearable and digitally active game balls. For the avoidance of doubt, and in one example, the array of sensors 11 is capable of determining the presence of a player or football, or any such object of play. It is further to be noted that the American Football provided herein is for illustration purposes only. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the same method and technology can be applied in other sports. Further, the mesh circuitry as in 12 can be comprised of ultralight, tough and flexible layers capable of withstanding brutal sport activity such as running, kicking, or even falling of players among others while exhibiting capabilities expected of computer circuit boards, sensors and other electronic circuitry.

In the following illustrative embodiments exemplified by the FIGS. 4A to 5A it is shown an American Football player wearing the various pieces of “digitally active” equipment/attire, the art of which has been described in the above embodiments, wherein the digitally active equipment interact and communicate the relative position 13 and shape of the ball 18,22,29 and the player's appendages in relation to an active field of play 20 with an active field of play delimiter 14. More specifically, in the FIG. 4A the relative position of the player 13 may be determined by a signal of a of digitally active footwear. The relative position of the player itself is determined from the data collected from the footwear in a play field and the determination of said position may be assisted by that collected from other worn digitally active implements by the embedded computing implements. In the same figure, it is further illustrated a player wearing a digitally active kneepad 15, a digitally active glove 16, a digitally active elbow pad 17, a digitally active pants 19. Further, in the FIG. 5A is is illustrated a digitally active kneepad 23, digitally active footwear 24, digitally active gloves 25, which are also digitally active implements worn by a player.

According to the rules of American style Football, a player's knees 15, hands 16, buttocks 19, feet 24 and other appendages 17 must be accounted for and not cross any of the field demarcations/play delimiters as in 14 in the electronically demarcated field of play 21 that would rule his relative position 13 out of bounds/out of play, if any parts of their body as determinable from 25, 26, 27 is found to be outside the field demarcations/play delimiters 14. While such rules vary from one sport to the other, there are similar rules in soccer, tennis, marathon, tennis, basketball and others to which the current invention may find application. In American football, the position of the digitally active game ball 22, is very important and therefore, being able to track its position accurately results in an overall better sporting experience. The embodiment of the figures FIGS. 4A to 5A displays the concept of a system of active equipment pieces meant to map and account for the relative position of the player's extremities in relation to the field of play 20 and the shape and location of the Football. 29,28

The invention anticipates the use of wireless technology such as but not limited to RFID, Bluetooth, the internet, GPS, Zigbee, and others and in any combinations thereof that are not shown, to transmit the data collected by the digitally active implements to an external computer. Accordingly, said computer, whether local or remote is capable of receiving data from the various “thin film” or “flexible” computer components embedded from the sports equipment and players that may include at least in part, the player attitude/position data, the ball position/attitude data as well as their respective position in a digitally active play field (or even a non-digitally active field of play). Thereafter, such a computer is capable of mapping a field of play with the position, attitudes and other metrics of a player, as well as their interaction with the digitally active equipment. It is preferred that this mapping takes place in near real-time to simulate the sporting activity on the computer in that inputs from the various “thin film” or “flexible” computer components embedded from the sports equipment and players cause a continuous iteration of the computer simulation with the benefit of assisting digitally assisted officiating, replays, among others.

Thus and preferably, the accounting of the parts and components described herein, such as RFID has subsequently offered, is completely within the scope of this implementation as the individual pieces of equipment can be assigned and tracked with their unique identifiers. For example, a left kneepad 23 can be differentiated from a right kneepad. A digitally enabled shoe on the left foot can be differentiated from that of the right foot 24. A ball in play 22 can be differentiated via unique identifiers or any such means from a ball stored on the sidelines 29. Twenty-first Century technological accomplishments have already proved that flexible electronics can accomplish all of the traditional computational tasks that are accomplished by conventional electronics. Accounting capabilities are no exception and flexible electronic circuits are just as capable of performing these standard tasks as conventional electronic equipment.

However, the digitally active field of play system being described need not be limited to games where the field of play is manufactured or constructed to be digitally active as in 21 and as embodied by the FIG. 3A. The choice of system architecture may accomplish or replace a synthetic field in totality or in part. Therefore, the next consideration in providing accurate cartesian data is the means of collecting and transmitting the information: the system architecture. It is anticipated that RFID and GPS can be integrated into this system, but for the reasons stated in previous pages and as identified in the prior art, are by themselves insufficient technologies to meet the impending demands. Next generation positioning technology such as, but not limited to “Geographic Information System” (GIS) can be employed in this embodiment, as unlike RFID and GPS, GIS technology is specifically geared towards mapping the shapes and contours of a field, which in this embodiment can be the undulating grounds of a golf course or the terrain of war games. As mentioned previously, the assumption that a field made of natural dirt and grass is a flat, two-dimensional, plane, or that all of the relevant activity happens while in contact with the surface, are both catastrophic errors that render more simplistic solutions useless. GIS is a well-known art, and the technology can integrate RFID, GPS, and other positioning technology and is specifically designed to overcome the spatial or cartesian data capturing limitations of older positioning technologies such as RFID and GPS. Furthermore, GIS platforms are geared to incorporate local capture and communication devices that are not hampered by the thickness of the Earth's atmosphere, the weather, seismic activity, or any other phenomenon that would compromise the pin-point accuracy of the positioning system. (see NPL—7, 8).

In the embodiments exemplified by the FIGS. 6A to 7A it is illustrated of the current invention to soccer and soccer-like artefact. The images aim to illustrate one of a plurality of potential embodiments which achieves the integration of electronic equipment into a Soccer Ball and soccer-like artefact by incorporating digitally capable components that mimic the elements and materials 34 that a traditional Soccer Ball is comprised of. Accordingly, the FIGS. 6A to 6C are a visualization conveying the method of constructing a “digitally active” Soccer Ball utilizing the same cutting and sowing patterns 34 and replacing or supplementing them with “digital yarn” 30 and “digital liners” 31,32,33 in order to maintain the expected physical performance of said Soccer Ball. The manufacturer of such a ball could choose the thickness of the ball leather and core to compensate for the added liner weight and thickness. The material of the soccer ball could be made into layers, where the digital active liners are embedded. The digitally active layers could be enjoined internally as layers without affecting the shape or general characteristics of a soccer ball.

Further, an according to the FIG. 7A it is shown the various methods as applied to the needs of a Soccer game's field of play 39. Where the sport requires a three-dimensional conception of its field of play, as in the case of the cylinders 40 that make up a goal post, the “smart-weave” 36 can take the form of a tape 37, not altogether different than a fiber reinforced duct-tape 37, in order to provide a flexible surface that can be adhered to 35 other construction materials and capture the contours and relative position of these vertical or three-dimensional elements, such as the netting of a goal 38 of the digitally active field of play to other pieces of equipment. However, it is also anticipated that other types of computing implements may be utilized for example, in the goal posts or the netting. In the same figure, it is also shown a digitally active field of play comprising of synthetic turf comprising of a digitally active computing mesh. As with the above, in this particular embodiment, this substrate can be comprised of the “smart-yarn” and “smart-weave” as are other pieces of sporting equipment being described above in FIG. 1A-1C. The assembly shown further provides an array of sensors woven into the playing surface, which enable it to interact with the player wearable and digitally active game balls. For the avoidance of doubt, and in one example, the array of sensors is capable of determining the presence of a player or soccer, or any such object of play.

In yet another embodiment exemplified by the FIG. 8A it is illustrated application of the current invention to basketball, volleyball and such artefact. In this particular embodiment, the creation of plywood and other types of material traditionally made of wood fibers are often replaced by both woven and unwoven strands of synthetic material. FIG. 8A demonstrates how the floorboards 44 for a Basketball or Volleyball court can incorporate a web of “smart-yarn” 43 in order to capture cartesian data points with an array of sensors 42 no different than a modern “touch-screen” captures the cartesian data of where a finger touches the active panel.

The final embodiment according to the FIGS. 9A to 9C illustrates the application of the the current invention to baseball, wherein in the said figures is a concept drawing meant to convey one of a plurality of potential embodiments which achieves the integration of electronic equipment into a Baseball by incorporating digitally capable components that mimic the elements and materials that a traditional Baseball is comprised of. The figure is a visualization conveying the method of constructing a digitally active Baseball utilizing the same cutting and sowing patters 49 and replacing or supplementing them with digitally active yarn 43 and digitally active liners 46,47,48 in order to maintain the expected physical performance of said Baseball. The manufacturer of such a ball could choose the thickness of the ball leather and core to compensate for the added liner weight and thickness.

From the description above, a number of advantages of some embodiments of these methods and strategies become evident, some of which include:

The purity and integrity demanded of traditional sports and artistic events can be preserved while capturing the critical nuances of their performances for the purposes of replay, analysis, officiating, and interactivity.

Equipment worn or utilized by the participants can comport to the strict rules, regulations, and expectations that govern such sporting and artistic performances.

Participants can wear equipment that makes their performances interactive without sacrificing physical performance or safety.

Mission critical tasks of officiating and analysis can be determined by precise, real-time, cartesian data and no longer rely on the partial or inadequate combinations of outdated technologies or the limitations of the human senses.

Described herein are methods and strategies that provide persons trained in the art of officiating, analyzing, or making live performances interactive the building blocks necessary to assemble a system of digitally active components that are not reliant on the line-of-sight of the human eye or other line-of-sight reliant technologies.

In summary, this novel combination of otherwise unrelated technologies can be used to monitor, analyze, and make interactive various types of sporting events but is not limited to recreation or entertainment. The methods and strategies described herein are equally applicable to the monitoring, analysis, and interactivity of other types of events and is not limited to any type of event or environment. The claims made above are equally valid for military “war games,” as an example of non-recreational uses, or to meet the military's needs in modern combat situations. The methods and strategies described herein are equally applicable to the thespian and performance arts. These methods and strategies are intended to be adaptable to the needs of police forces seeking to monitor the cartesian data of their resources and equipment, as another example of non-recreational uses.

The foregoing is provided for purposes of illustrating, explaining, and describing embodiments of the present invention. Modifications and adaptations to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art and may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. As such, although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments but as merely providing illustrations of some several embodiments. For example, the system architecture can and should be upgraded to the latest and most accurate positioning system available, as it is not meant to rely on any specific type of positioning software or hardware such as GPS, RFID, or Bluetooth. The intent is to preserve the traditional integrity of the sporting and artistic events via these novel methods and strategies of incorporating emerging technologies without altering the expected physical qualities of the equipment utilized in its performance. Thus, the scope of the embodiments should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION

The current invention technology is applicable to the manufacture of sports equipment capable of conveying to an external computer data of the equipment's shape and relative position within a field of play. It i also applicable to military combat, performance arts.

Claims

1. An artifact of play integrated with an electronic device comprising of a thin and/or flexible layer of computing, communication, sensor and/or battery components formed in one or more of a smart yarn, smart weave or smart pipping, wherein said electronic device is capable of conveying at least one of the artifact's (or another artifact's) shape and/or relative position within a field of play to an external computer, and wherein the integrated electronic device does not adversely alter or affect the performance requirements of the artifact.

2. The artifact of play of claim 1 being comprised of a player's attire.

3. The artifact of play of claim 1 being comprised of a field of play.

4. The artifact of play of claim 1 being comprised of an object of play such as but not limited to a soccer ball, an American football, a tennis ball, a racket among others.

5. The artifact of play of claim 1 being comprised of a constituent of a field of play such as a netting, a goal post, a field marker, among others.

6. The artifact of play of claim 1, wherein said smart yarn forms the threading for the layers and/or parts of the artifact.

7. The artifact of play of claim 1, wherein said electronic device or its parts comprise of one or more sensors.

8. The artifact of play of claim 7, wherein said one or more sensors is capable of sensing the presence of at least one second artifact.

9. The artifact of play of claim 8, wherein said second artifact is integrated with an electronic device as the first artifact.

10. The artifact of play of claim 8, wherein said second artifact is not integrated with an electronic device as the first artifact.

11. The artifact of play of claim 1, wherein said a smart yarn, smart weave or smart pipping are formed inside layers of the artifact.

12. The artifact of play of claim 1, wherein said a smart yarn, smart weave or smart pipping are formed inside layers of the artifact.

13. The artifact of play of claim 1, wherein said a smart yarn, smart weave or smart pipping are cast, inserted, or adhered to layers inside or outside of the artifact.

14. The artifact of play of claim 1, wherein said electronic device comprise of a data communication device including one or more of RFID, Bluetooth, internet, GPS, Zigbee, and in any combinations thereof.

15. The artifact of play of claim 1, wherein said electronic device comprises of a woven conductive circuitry making up a smart yarn.

16. The artifact of play of claim 1, wherein said electronic device comprises of a woven computer boards and/or communication devices making up a smart weave.

17. The artifact of play of claim 1, wherein said electronic device comprises of thin batteries making up a smart piping.

18. A method of manufacture of an artifact of play integrated with an electronic device, the method comprising of:

embedding a thin and/or flexible layer of computing, communication, sensor and/or battery components formed in one or more of a smart yarn, smart weave or smart pipping into an artifact of play, wherein the integration of the electronic device enables the artifact to convey at least one of the artifact's (or another artifact's) shape and/or relative position to an external computer, and wherein the integrated electronic device does not adversely alter or affect the performance requirements of the artifact.

19. The method of manufacture of 18, further comprising the threading of layers and/or parts of the artifact by a smart yarn.

20. The method of manufacture of 18, wherein said smart yarn, smart weave or smart pipping are formed inside layers of the artifact.

21. The method of manufacture of 18, wherein said a smart yarn, smart weave or smart pipping are cast, inserted, or adhered to layers inside or outside of the artifact.