Golf Club Simulation with Adjustable Weight and Haptic Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current golf simulation technologies fail to provide a realistic golfing experience, as they lack the physical feedback of swinging a real golf club, making it difficult for gamers to develop actual golfing skills and encouraging them to play the game outdoors, and existing devices are limited in simulating the feel and impact of different clubs.
Innovation Solution
A golf club simulation apparatus that incorporates electromechanical assemblies, including an elongate shaft housing, grip member, head housing, inertial measurement unit, weight indexing assembly, and haptic elements, allowing users to simulate the experience of swinging various golf clubs with adjustable weight distribution and shaft flexibility, interacting with visual mediums via wireless communication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional video games with mouse clicks and joysticks are used, then the game can be played casually, but it does not teach realistic swing technique and does not provide physical feedback
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a physical replica of a golf club that can be swung, complete with a club head, shaft, and grip. This physical copy allows users to experience the actual swing motion and physical feedback that traditional video game controllers cannot provide, while still being able to play the game indoors without needing actual golf clubs or outdoor courses.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional video game input mechanisms (mouse clicks, joysticks) with a physical swing-based input system. The club head's position and movement are detected by sensors, converting the physical swinging motion into digital signals for game control, thus bridging the gap between casual gaming and realistic swing technique learning.
2Reliability
If a full set of golf clubs is used for practice, then realistic swing technique can be learned, but it requires significant space and is not feasible in interior environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential functional elements needed for swing training from a full set of golf clubs. Instead of requiring multiple clubs of different lengths and types, the invention uses a single club body with adjustable components that can be configured to simulate different club characteristics, dramatically reducing the space and equipment needed while maintaining training effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates adjustable components including a movable club head weight system and variable shaft flexibility mechanisms. These dynamic adjustments allow a single physical club to simulate the characteristics of multiple different golf clubs, enabling users to practice with different club types in the same indoor space without needing multiple physical clubs.
3Illumination intensity
If existing golf simulation devices are used, then visual representations of golf courses can be displayed, but they do not enable users to feel the actual length, weight, swing speed, and impact of striking a golf ball
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges visual display components with physical feedback mechanisms into a single integrated system. The club head includes sensors to detect swing parameters and impact forces, while haptic feedback elements provide tactile sensation of ball impact. This combination allows users to simultaneously experience visual graphics and physical feedback, creating an immersive training environment that neither component could achieve alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces haptic feedback elements as an intermediary between the virtual game environment and the user's physical experience. These tactile sensors and actuators translate virtual impact forces into physical sensations in the user's hands, bridging the gap between visual simulation and physical reality, and enabling users to feel the impact of virtual ball strikes.
4Length of moving object
If a single miniaturized length golf club is used, then the club can be swung indoors without ceiling height restrictions, but it must simulate an entire set of golf clubs with different characteristics
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates adjustable components including a movable club head weight system and variable shaft flexibility mechanisms. These dynamic adjustments allow a single physical club to simulate the characteristics of multiple different golf clubs, enabling users to practice with different club types in the same indoor space without needing multiple physical clubs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses adjustable parameters including weight distribution, shaft flexibility, and club head configuration to transform a single miniaturized club into a simulation tool that can represent multiple different golf clubs. By changing these physical parameters, the club can simulate the feel and characteristics of various club types, from drivers to irons, all while maintaining a compact size suitable for indoor use.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables users to practice and improve their golfing skills indoors with a realistic feel, influencing gamers to transition from casual video games to actual golfing by providing a comprehensive simulation of club selection, swing analysis, and impact sensations, effectively shifting users from gamers to golfers.
Implementation Method 1
inertial measurement unit
Implementation Method 2
haptic elements
Data Source
AI summary
A golf club simulation apparatus includes an elongate shaft housing having opposed lower and upper ends and defining an interior area. A head housing is coupled to the lower end of the shaft housing. A battery is situated in the shaft housing. An input member configured to receive club selection data is coupled to an outer surface of the shaft housing and electrically connected to the battery. A weight indexing assembly is situated in the head housing that includes a tumbler rotatably coupled to the lower portion of the shaft housing and that includes a weight carriage situated in the club head housing. The tumbler has an outer surface defining an indexed slot network, the weight carriage being in communication with the indexed slot network and configured for movement along the indexed slot network in a gravity assisted movement.