Smartphone Camera Pitch Speed Detection Using Video Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional speed measuring devices for baseball pitches, such as radar guns, are expensive and inaccurate for amateur use, while smartphone applications lack precision due to user timing errors, necessitating a more reliable and affordable method for measuring pitch speed.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing a smartphone camera to capture live video frames, analyze ball flight, and calculate speed based on various factors including air drag, angle, and release point, providing accurate and user-friendly speed measurement for various sports.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If expensive radar guns are used to measure pitch speed, then measurement precision is improved, but device cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses video footage as a copy of the pitch event to derive speed information, rather than requiring expensive radar hardware. By analyzing sequential video frames showing ball position and timing, the system reconstructs pitch speed data that correlates with radar measurements, making professional-grade speed tracking accessible through widely available smartphone cameras
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/electronic radar system with a visual analysis system using video capture and frame-by-frame analysis. Instead of emitting and detecting radio waves, the system uses optical recording followed by computational analysis of ball position, velocity, and acceleration across sequential frames to determine pitch speed
2Ease of manufacture
If simple smartphone stopwatches are used to measure pitch speed, then device cost is reduced, but measurement precision deteriorates due to user timing errors
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically captures video footage and performs frame-by-frame analysis without requiring manual timing input from users. The smartphone's camera and processor work together to autonomously track ball position across frames and calculate speed, eliminating human reaction time errors while keeping the device simple and affordable
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies accelerated computational analysis to video frames, processing multiple frames per second to capture rapid ball movement. By analyzing numerous frames in quick succession and using algorithms to determine ball position and velocity, the system achieves high measurement precision that far exceeds manual timing methods
3Device complexity
If radar guns measure speed at a distance from the pitcher's hand, then device complexity is reduced, but measurement precision worsens due to inability to capture true release speed
Solution Approach 1:
The system captures video frames starting from the moment of ball release and continues through the pitch trajectory. By analyzing the initial frames that show the ball immediately leaving the pitcher's hand, the system can calculate release speed before the ball travels any significant distance, ensuring measurement of true release velocity rather than speed at a distant point
Data Source
AI summary
A system for measuring ball speed, the system comprising a camera configured to capture a live video stream including a plurality of frames, a processor, a memory having executable instructions stored thereon that when executed by the processor cause the processor to load configuration information for initializing settings for the processor and the camera, receive data representation of an environment layout, analyze the plurality of frames to identify a ball, calculate a speed of the ball at a release point based on the analysis, generate data representative of the calculated speed, and a display operative to display the data representative of the calculated speed.