Shooting target system for automatic determination of the point of impact

Abstract

A shooting target system including a target including a material in which shock waves arise and propagate when hit by a projectile. A first shock sensor is arranged to detect the shock waves. At least a second shock sensor is arranged at a distance from the first shock sensor. A calculation module is configured to determine at least a first time-delay between the detections of the shock wave by the first and the at least second sensor, and to calculate information relating to the point of impact of the projectile in the target based on the at least first time-delay.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority to European patent application 07116964.3 filed 21 Sep. 2007.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The invention relates to a shooting target system, and a method for automatically retrieving information relating to the point of impact of a projectile in a target.BACKGROUND ART[0003]In both civil and military firearm shooting training, there is often a desire to detect quickly and automatically where a fired shot has hit. In some applications it is sufficient to determine whether a particular shot has hit or missed an intended target and in other applications there is a desire to determine precisely where in the target region the projectile hit, i.e. to determine the point of impact of the projectile in the target region.[0004]One known method for automatically determining whether a shot has hit or missed a target is to attach a shock sensor to the target and monitor the output from the sensor. If the sensor detects vibrat...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011]It is an object of the present invention to provide a cheap and compact shooting target system which is able to automatically retrieve information relating to the point of impact of a projectile in a target.

[0017]By utilizing shock sensors in order to retrieve information relating to the point of impact of a projectile in a target, the sensors can be attached directly to the target and the target system can thus be made very compact. Furthermore, conventional shock sensors available in the market can be used to implement the invention, thus minimizing the manufacturing cost of the target system.

[0018]Another advantage of the target system according to the above is that it is well suited for determining the point of impact of a projectile in three dimensional targets.

[0021]That is, by utilizing a “shredded” shooting target, the equation system that needs to be solved in order to determine the point of impact is reduced by one dimension, substantially reducing the computational power needed by the target system to calculate the point of impact of the projectile. Furthermore, a shredded target as described above prolongs the shock wave propagation path, i.e. the distance the shock wave have to travel in the target material, between the different sensors, thereby reducing the demands on the response time of the shock sensors and the electric circuit processing the shock sensor signals.

Problems solved by technology

The large number of acoustic sensors required in such a target system increases not only the size of the detection system, but also very much the complexity of the calculation algorithms needed to determine the point of impact.

Moreover, both the above methods for determining the point of impact of a projectile in a target suffer from the following drawbacks: The microphone frames or setups must be placed on the ground in front of the target making the target system delicate and cumbersome to move.

In close combat training, the microphones may be stepped upon or even tripped over; The microphones must be very accurately aligned and spaced, both to each other and to the target, since only a small misplacement could cause a large error in the point-of-impact determination; Acoustic sensors and the peripheral equipment required in acoustic detection systems are costly.

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