Golf Ball Cover Durability Scoring Using Machine Vision
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for analyzing golf ball durability are subjective and lack uniformity in assessing damage patterns, making it difficult to objectively evaluate the durability of golf balls.
Innovation Solution
A method and system utilizing machine vision techniques, high-pass filtering, and image processing to analyze golf ball damage, applying damaging treatments and scanning to quantify damage parameters such as area, depth, and severity, with threshold settings to grade durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If subjective visual inspection is used to assess golf ball damage, then the analysis process is simple, but the measurement precision and objectivity are poor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces subjective human visual inspection with an automated machine vision system that captures images of the golf ball surface and uses image processing algorithms to objectively measure damage characteristics. This substitution of mechanical/optical systems for human sensory systems directly improves measurement precision while introducing systematic complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates digital copies (images) of the golf ball surface to analyze damage characteristics. By working with image data rather than directly inspecting physical damage, the system enables precise, repeatable measurements while eliminating subjective variability in human assessment.
2Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If traditional imaging is used to capture golf ball surface, then the device complexity is low, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring damage is high due to dimple interference
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the damage-related information from the golf ball surface by applying image processing techniques that isolate damaged areas from the complex dimple pattern. This extraction of relevant signals from irrelevant background complexity reduces detection difficulty while requiring sophisticated image processing capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different analysis methods to different regions of the golf ball surface, focusing computational resources on areas with detected damage rather than uniformly analyzing the entire surface. This localized approach improves detection sensitivity for damaged regions while managing overall system complexity.
3Measurement precision
If detailed image processing is applied to analyze damage, then the measurement precision improves, but the loss of time increases due to processing complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies image processing at multiple levels of detail, using coarse filtering for initial damage detection and finer processing only for confirmed damaged areas. This partial application of detailed processing maintains measurement precision for critical measurements while reducing overall processing time by avoiding exhaustive analysis of undamaged regions.
Data Source
AI summary
A method, technique, and/or system for determining the durability of a golf ball, and more particularly the durability of a cover of a golf ball is disclosed herein. The present disclosure provides an objective technique for scoring or rating the durability of golf balls such that a uniform scoring methodology can be used. The present disclosure uses imaging techniques and image processing techniques to analyze damage to a golf ball surface.