Sensor Mat for Golf Swing Impact Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Golf training on artificial turf mats fails to accurately simulate natural conditions, leading to misleading feedback on swing impact and ball flight, as they are too forgiving and do not replicate the resistance of natural turf, potentially resulting in 'fat shots' that are not recognized during practice.
Innovation Solution
A sensor mat with pressure-sensitive switches and LED indicators is placed beneath the conventional golf mat to provide immediate and prolonged feedback on impact location, distinguishing between ideal, thin, and fat shots, accommodating left- and right-handed golfers through a handedness switch.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If artificial turf mats are used for golf practice, then durability and cost reduction are improved, but measurement precision of impact location deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces pressure-sensitive switches as an intermediary layer between the artificial turf mat and the ground. This mediator detects impact locations that would otherwise be invisible on the forgiving artificial surface, translating physical impact into detectable signals without compromising the mat's durability or forgiveness characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the natural tactile feedback mechanism (where golfers feel impact quality through ground resistance) with an electronic detection system using pressure-sensitive switches and LED indicators. This substitution allows precise measurement of impact location on the artificial surface that cannot be detected through physical sensation alone.
2Ease of manufacture
If artificial turf mats are used for golf practice, then cost reduction is improved, but feedback accuracy on swing impact deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements an immediate visual feedback system using color-coded LED indicators that light up when pressure-sensitive switches detect impacts in specific zones. This feedback mechanism provides real-time information about impact location (front, center, or behind the ball), preventing information loss that would otherwise occur on forgiving artificial surfaces where impact quality is not apparent from ball flight alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses color-coded LED indicators (red, yellow, green) to represent different impact zones and quality levels. This color-changing system provides intuitive, immediate visual feedback about swing accuracy, transforming invisible impact quality information into easily interpretable visual signals that prevent information loss.
3Reliability
If artificial turf mats are used for golf practice, then durability is improved, but feedback timeliness on impact location deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-positions pressure-sensitive switches and LED indicators in specific zones corresponding to different impact locations (front, center, behind the ball) before practice begins. This preliminary arrangement ensures that feedback is immediately available and timely when impacts occur, eliminating any delay in information provision while maintaining the durable artificial surface.
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
The solution provides accurate and timely feedback to golfers on their swing impact, helping them recognize and correct 'fat shots' by distinguishing between ideal and suboptimal impacts, thus enhancing the effectiveness of practice sessions on artificial surfaces.
Implementation Method 1
one or more pressure or force sensitive switches (sensors) for detecting an impact location of a golf swing
Implementation Method 2
The sensors are coupled to respective indicators, such as LEDs (light emitting diodes) with different colors, for indicating, to the player, corresponding impact locations
Data Source
AI summary
A golf training aid apparatus having a sensor mat for being placed under a golf mat, the sensor mat having one or more first sensors disposed in a first region; one or more second sensors disposed in a second region; and one or more third sensors disposed in a third region. The apparatus having a timer circuit coupling each of the first, second, and third sensors to a respective first indicator, second indicator, and third indicator, the timer circuit triggering, over a predetermined amount of time, the first indicator upon an ideal impact detected by the one or more first sensors, the second indicator upon a thin impact detected by the one or more second sensors, or the third indicator upon a fat impact detected by the one or more third sensors.