Golf Ball Trajectory Tracking for Predicted Drop Position Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing golfing technologies struggle to efficiently locate lost golf balls, leading to delays and inefficiencies in play, as they do not provide adequate support for ball finding and identification.
Innovation Solution
A golf support system equipped with a moving body, such as a course travelling vehicle or drone, that photographs the golf ball's trajectory, predicts its drop position, and calculates a route to the ball using a trajectory prediction unit and route calculation unit, thereby facilitating accurate and efficient ball search.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a golfer manually searches for a lost ball on the golf course, then the golfer can potentially find the ball, but the time required increases and the golf progress is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary tracking of the golf ball trajectory immediately after the ball is hit, continuously monitoring the ball's flight path and predicting the drop position before the golfer finishes searching. This advance action eliminates the need for manual searching and resolves the time loss contradiction.
Solution Approach 2:
The autonomous moving body acts as an intermediary between the golf ball and the golfer, capturing trajectory images and calculating drop positions that the golfer cannot obtain manually. This intermediary system provides precise ball location information without requiring the golfer's time and effort.
2Reliability
If the time to find a lost ball is extended, then the golfer may locate the ball, but the overall golf game progress is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides continuous feedback by tracking the ball trajectory in real-time and updating the predicted drop position as new trajectory images are captured. This feedback mechanism ensures high reliability in ball location while maintaining fast progress, as the system continuously refines its prediction without requiring extended search time.
Solution Approach 2:
The trajectory prediction and drop position calculation are performed preliminarily and continuously during ball flight, providing reliable ball location information before the golfer needs to search. This preliminary action ensures both high reliability and fast progress by eliminating the search phase entirely.
3Ease of operation
If manual ball searching is performed, then no additional equipment is needed, but the user burden increases and playing experience deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service by having the autonomous moving body independently track the ball, calculate the trajectory, and determine the drop position without requiring any manual searching effort from the golfer. This self-service approach eliminates both the user burden and the time spent searching, as the system performs all functions autonomously.
Data Source
AI summary
A golf support system supports a user to play golf on a golf course. The golf support system includes a course travelling vehicle to be operated in the golf course. A photographing unit photographs a trajectory of a golf ball as a trajectory image by using a camera mounted on the course travelling vehicle. A trajectory prediction unit calculates the trajectory of the golf ball as a predicted trajectory by using the trajectory image. A route calculation unit calculates a predicted drop position being a drop position of the golf ball by using the predicted trajectory. Then, the route calculation unit calculates a travelling route to the predicted drop position of the golf ball.