Synchronized Shoe and Racket Sensors for Footwork-Stroke Correlation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Tennis players have difficulty correlating their footwork with stroke information during a game, as they are focused on the ball and lack awareness of the interplay between their footwork and strokes, making it hard to gain insights into strengths and weaknesses without external recording devices that are impractical for capturing simultaneous angles and high-speed data.
Innovation Solution
A system that includes sensors in sports shoes and rackets communicating with a processor to synchronize and present visual or audible indications of footwork and stroke data, allowing players to gain insights into their performance by correlating signals from both sources, including expert evaluations and video synchronization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If a player focuses on the ball during play, then the player can react quickly to the ball, but the player loses awareness of the interplay between footwork and strokes
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by capturing and recording footwork and stroke data during play, then presenting this information after play for analysis. This allows the player to maintain focus during play while gaining awareness through post-play review of the synchronized data from both shoes and racket sensors.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a camera is positioned far from the player to avoid being hit by the ball, then the camera safety is improved, but the angle of view becomes narrow and cannot capture baseline and net shots simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces the mechanical camera recording system with electronic sensors embedded in the shoes and racket. These sensors directly capture footwork and stroke data without requiring physical positioning, eliminating the trade-off between camera safety and field of view. The synchronized presentation of this data provides comprehensive coverage of all shots.
3Ease of operation
If a camera captures frames at thirty frames per second, then the camera operation is simple, but the capture speed is too slow to adequately capture the stroke or ball
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces the mechanical camera framing system with high-speed electronic sensors in the shoes and racket that continuously capture data at the actual speed of play. This eliminates the 30 fps limitation while maintaining operational simplicity through automated data collection and synchronized presentation.
4Loss of information
If sensors are placed in both shoes and racket, then comprehensive performance data is obtained, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges the shoe sensors and racket sensors into a unified analysis platform that synchronizes and presents both data streams together. This integration allows comprehensive performance data collection while managing complexity through combined processing and presentation of footwork and stroke information in a coordinated manner.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus are disclosed for correlating signals from a sports racket with signals from the shoes worn by a player wielding the racket to gain insight into the player's footwork at ball striking moments.