Basketball Sensing System for Shot Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Basketball players face challenges in improving their shooting skills due to the lack of effective feedback during practice, which hinders optimal skill development and performance enhancement.
Innovation Solution
A basketball sensing system that incorporates sensors within the ball to track various attributes of a shot, such as acceleration, spin, and launch parameters, transmitting data to a portable device for real-time analysis and feedback, allowing players to compare their performance with personal goals or other players.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If sensors are integrated into the basketball to track shot attributes, then measurement precision and feedback quality are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates sensors, processors, and transmitters into a compact electronics package that is nested within the basketball itself. The electronics package includes a processor coupled to sensors and a transmitter, all housed within the ball's internal structure, allowing the sensing system to be contained within the object being measured without adding external complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensing system is designed to measure multiple shot attributes simultaneously using a single integrated electronics package. The sensors track various parameters including ball velocity, spin rate, and launch angle, allowing one device to perform multiple measurement functions rather than requiring separate systems for each attribute.
2Loss of time
If real-time data transmission and analysis are implemented, then feedback speed and skill development efficiency are improved, but use of energy increases
Solution Approach 1:
The transmitter is configured to send data at specific intervals or triggered by particular events during the shot cycle, rather than continuously transmitting. This periodic transmission approach provides timely feedback while allowing the battery to conserve energy during non-transmission periods, balancing feedback speed with energy conservation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-processes sensor data locally using an integrated processor before transmission, preparing the information in advance for efficient communication. This preliminary data processing reduces the amount of raw data that needs to be transmitted and stored, thereby reducing energy consumption during transmission and storage operations while maintaining real-time feedback capability.
3Loss of information
If multiple sensors are used to track comprehensive shot attributes, then information completeness is improved, but loss of time for data processing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the most relevant shot attributes for transmission and analysis, such as ball velocity, spin rate, and launch angle, rather than processing and transmitting all possible sensor data. This selective extraction of critical information maintains data completeness for skill development while reducing overall data processing time and computational burden.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical data processing systems with electronic signal processing and digital computation. The integrated processor electronically filters, analyzes, and interprets sensor signals in real-time, substituting mechanical processing methods with faster electronic computation to handle multiple sensor inputs efficiently without increasing processing time.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium to direct a processor to: receive signals indicating a made basketball shot or a missed basketball shot of a basketball by a person during a basketball shooting session, receive signals indicating a location from which each made basketball shot is made, and determine and output a user cumulative score for the person for the basketball shooting session, the cumulative score being based upon the location of each made basketball shot.