Camera Unit for Golf Motion Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional camera-based golf motion analysis systems struggle with capturing high-speed motions and providing real-time analysis due to limitations in image-capturing speed and image processing performance, leading to inaccurate extraction of skeletal information, especially when body parts overlap.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing a camera unit with both image and depth sensors to capture 2D and depth images alternately, increasing image-capturing speed by generating corresponding images, and extracting skeletal information through analysis of output data to provide accurate and real-time motion analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If conventional camera-based systems are used, then the system is cost-effective and simple, but the image-capturing speed is insufficient to capture fast golf motions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the image capture process into two alternating phases: capturing only depth images at high speed during fast motion sections, and capturing both 2D and depth images at normal speed during slow motion sections. This segmentation allows the system to achieve high-speed capture when needed without maintaining high-speed capture continuously, thus reducing overall system complexity and resource requirements while still capturing fast motions effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic adjustment of the image capture mode based on motion detection. The system automatically switches between high-speed depth-only capture mode and normal-speed combined capture mode depending on whether fast motion is detected. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to optimize performance for fast motions while maintaining cost-effectiveness and simplicity during slower phases.
2Productivity
If high-performance computing equipment is used, then real-time image processing is achieved, but the system becomes expensive and less efficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and processes only the essential information needed for motion analysis. By capturing depth images at high speed and using them to generate corresponding 2D images or vice versa, the system processes a reduced set of data rather than full-resolution continuous video streams. This extraction of essential information enables real-time processing with standard computing equipment, avoiding the need for expensive high-performance systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses depth images as copies to generate corresponding 2D images, or uses 2D images to generate depth information. This copying approach allows the system to create the necessary image data without capturing and processing both full-resolution 2D and depth images simultaneously, reducing the computational burden and enabling real-time processing with standard equipment.
3Measurement precision
If contour line recognition is used, then the system is simple to implement, but skeletal information extraction is inaccurate when body parts overlap
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from 2D contour line analysis to 3D depth-based analysis by incorporating depth images. The depth information provides an additional dimension that allows the system to distinguish between overlapping body parts that appear merged in 2D images. This dimensional enhancement enables accurate skeletal information extraction even when body parts overlap, as the depth data reveals the spatial separation between them.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses depth information as an intermediary to resolve ambiguities in 2D image analysis. The depth data acts as a mediator that provides additional spatial context, enabling the system to accurately identify and separate overlapping body parts. This intermediary depth information bridges the gap between simple 2D contour recognition and complex 3D analysis, achieving high accuracy without requiring full 3D reconstruction complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and method for analyzing a golf motion. The apparatus includes acquiring, by an image sensor of a camera unit, a 2D image of motion of a user, acquiring, by a depth sensor of the camera unit, a depth image to temporally alternate with acquisition of the 2D image, the depth image including depth values of pixels in the 2D image, increasing an image-capturing speed by generating a corresponding depth image or a corresponding 2D image, which corresponds to a reference 2D image or a reference depth image acquired at a predetermined time, outputting the reference 2D image and the corresponding depth image or the reference depth image and the corresponding 2D image as output data for motion analysis, extracting skeletal information of the user through analysis of output data, and displaying motion of the user on a display unit based on skeletal information.