Optical Tracking Device for Skeet Shooting Lead Calculation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Shooting sports, particularly skeet and bird hunting, face challenges in accurately determining target lead due to ambiguity in existing training aids, leading to frustration for beginners and limited improvement for advanced shooters, as current methods rely on trial and error and provide insufficient feedback.
Innovation Solution
An optical tracking device mounted on a shooting device captures and analyzes target trajectories, providing accurate hit or miss patterns, determining lead positions, and presenting feedback to shooters through visual and audio means, using a computing device with processors and memory to calculate initial projectile velocities, barrel positions, and target velocities to predict interception points.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If tracer ammunition is used to provide shot visibility, then the shooter can see the direction of miss, but the feedback remains ambiguous and difficult to interpret
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an optical tracking device as an intermediary between the shooter and the target. This device captures images of the target's position and movement, processes the data to calculate the optimal lead position, and presents the information to the shooter through a display device. The intermediary device eliminates the ambiguity of tracer ammunition by providing precise, processed information about target trajectory and optimal aim points.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/optical system of tracer ammunition with an electronic computing system. Instead of relying on visual traces that are hard to interpret, the system uses image capture devices, processors, and display devices to calculate and present precise lead positions. This substitution transforms ambiguous visual information into clear, actionable data.
2Loss of time
If video analysis is used to provide post-shot feedback, then the feedback can be slowed down and analyzed repeatedly, but the same ambiguity as tracer ammunition remains
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary calculation of the optimal lead position before the shooter takes the shot. The system captures images of the target, processes the target's position and velocity, calculates the interception point, and presents the lead position to the shooter before the shot is fired. This eliminates the need for post-shot analysis and provides actionable information in advance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a real-time feedback system that provides the shooter with information about the optimal lead position based on the current target trajectory. The feedback is presented through a display device that shows the calculated lead position, allowing the shooter to adjust their aim accordingly. This continuous feedback loop replaces the delayed and ambiguous feedback from video analysis.
3Ease of operation
If physical sight modifications are used to present fixed lead estimates, then the estimate is always visible to the shooter, but the estimate is only valid under specific conditions and variations invalidate the assumptions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic lead estimation system that adjusts the lead position based on real-time target trajectory data. Instead of a fixed physical modification to the sights, the system uses a display device that shows the calculated lead position, which changes dynamically as the target's position, velocity, and trajectory change. This dynamic approach maintains validity across varying shooting conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameters of the lead estimate based on measured target parameters such as position, velocity, and trajectory. The system calculates the optimal lead position by processing these parameters in real-time and presents the updated information to the shooter. This parameter-based approach allows the lead estimate to adapt to different shooting conditions rather than relying on fixed assumptions.
Data Source
AI summary
A device receives an initial velocity of a projectile, determines a barrel position and a barrel orientation of a barrel, determines a target position, a target velocity and a projected target trajectory in relation to the barrel position and barrel orientation, determines a lead position in front of the projected target trajectory of an interception of the projectile at the target and presents the lead position to a user device.