KR101973607B1 - Apparatus and method for tracking ball by using rfid - Google Patents

Abstract

And a trajectory calculation unit for measuring a trajectory of the ball on the basis of a signal received by the reader and the reader that receives the signal through the antenna from the RFID tag provided on the moving ball, A moving direction, a moving speed and a rotation of a ball, and determines a trajectory of the ball.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a ball tracking device,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for tracking a ball used in ball games using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), and more particularly, And an apparatus and a method for tracking and analyzing the motion state.

Among balls, golf balls, tennis balls, and baseball balls are relatively small in size and move relatively quickly. It is important to accurately grasp the movement status of the ball in these ball games from various points of view such as assisting the athlete in practice efficiency, managing the record of the athlete, inducing interest in the exercise process, and determining the match accurately.

Currently, various systems for understanding ball movements in ball games are already in use. For example, in a golf driving range, a golf ball is photographed at a high speed to analyze a series of images. However, this method is expensive. In addition, since a large number of high-speed cameras for capturing the movement of the ball at a high speed must be provided, there is a limitation in applying the camera outdoors.

In another method, a method of calculating the ball's movement using brand markers or special markers printed on the ball has been proposed, but it is difficult to apply the method to all balls, .

In this environment, there is a growing demand for a tracking system capable of realizing the ball motion state of a ball ball at a high speed and at a low cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to improve the efficiency of ball motion analysis by quickly and accurately grasping the motion state of the ball in ball games.

It is a further object of the present invention to improve the system implementation to reduce the cost of analyzing the motion state of the ball.

It is a further object of the present invention to enable the process of analyzing the motion state of the ball not only indoors but also outdoors.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed. ≪ / RTI >

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a ball tracking apparatus including a reader for receiving a signal from an RFID tag through an antenna and a locus calculating unit for measuring a locus of a ball based on a signal received by the reader, Calculates the moving direction, the moving speed and the rotation of the ball based on the change in intensity of the signal received from the RFID tag according to the operation of the user, and determines the trajectory of the ball in consideration of the moving direction, the moving speed and the rotation.

The trajectory calculation unit can calculate the direction of the antenna in the moving direction at the time when the angle change of the vector indicating the direction of the antenna connected to the reader decreases below the threshold value.

The locus calculating unit can calculate the moving speed according to the attenuation rate of the signal received from the RFID tag at the time when the moving direction is calculated.

The trajectory calculation unit can detect the frequency and the width at which the signal received by the antenna vibrates by three axes that are orthogonal to each other and calculate the rotational direction and angular velocity of the ball by taking into account all of the results sensed for the three axes.

The trajectory calculation unit can determine the trajectory by simulating the values of the moving direction, the moving speed and the rotation, and estimate the impact point of the ball by considering at least one of the wind direction information, the wind amount information, and the course information together with the trajectory.

The trajectory calculation unit can calculate the impact force applied to the ball by sensing the change in the shape of the ball.

The direction of the antenna connected to the reader changes in such a direction that the signal from the RFID is received at the maximum intensity and the direction of the antenna can be changed by the mechanical movement of the housing in which the reader is seated.

The direction of the antenna connected to the reader changes such that the signal from the RFID is directed toward the direction of receiving the maximum intensity and the direction of the antenna is determined by the analysis result of the electrical signal when the antenna is implemented as a phased array antenna or a monopulse antenna It can change.

The ball tracking device may further include an output unit for providing information on the measured trajectory to a user, and a communication unit for transmitting information on the measured trajectory to an external device or an external server.

The ball tracking device may further include a memory for accumulating and storing results of analyzing the motion of the user from information on the measured trajectory.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a ball tracking method comprising: receiving a signal from an RFID tag through an antenna connected to a reader to recognize a user; And providing information about the measured trajectory to a user, wherein the measuring includes measuring a ball trajectory based on a change in intensity of a signal received from the RFID tag according to a user's operation, The moving speed, and the rotation of the ball, respectively, and determines the trajectory of the ball in consideration of the moving direction, the moving speed, and the rotation.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, the following effects can be expected.

First, the process of grasping the motion state of the ball is improved, and the user can be provided with highly accurate results.

Secondly, the implementation cost can be minimized while achieving improved performance, which reduces the financial burden on the user compared to the conventional one.

Third, by implementing a system that can operate indoors or outdoors, excellent effects are obtained in terms of user's convenience and experience.

The effects obtainable in the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned can be obtained from the description of the embodiments of the present invention described below by those skilled in the art Can be clearly understood and understood. In other words, undesirable effects of implementing the present invention can also be obtained by those skilled in the art from the embodiments of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. It is to be understood, however, that the technical features of the present invention are not limited to the specific drawings, and the features disclosed in the drawings may be combined with each other to constitute a new embodiment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional ball tracking system in connection with the proposed embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the operation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) associated with the embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a view showing the structure of a ball according to the proposed embodiment.
4 is a diagram showing a structure of a ball tracking device according to the proposed embodiment.
5 and 6 are views for explaining the ball direction calculation process according to the embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a view for explaining a ball velocity calculation process according to the embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a view for explaining a ball rotation calculation process according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a view for explaining an impact calculation process according to the embodiment of the present invention.
10 is a flowchart illustrating a ball tracking method according to the present embodiment.
11 is a flowchart illustrating a ball tracking method according to another embodiment of the present invention.
12 is a diagram showing an operating environment of the ball tracking device according to the proposed embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and similar parts are denoted by like reference characters throughout the specification.

The terms used in this specification will be briefly described and the present invention will be described in detail.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Also, in certain cases, there may be a term selected arbitrarily by the applicant, in which case the meaning thereof will be described in detail in the description of the corresponding invention. Therefore, the term used in the present invention should be defined based on the meaning of the term, not on the name of a simple term, but on the entire contents of the present invention.

When an element is referred to as " including " an element throughout the specification, it is to be understood that the element may include other elements as well, without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Also, the terms " part, " " module, " and the like described in the specification mean units for processing at least one function or operation, which may be implemented in hardware or software or a combination of hardware and software . In addition, when a part is referred to as being "connected" to another part throughout the specification, it includes not only "directly connected" but also "connected with other part in between".

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described by taking golf as an example, but the content of the present invention is not limited to golf, and it can be applied and utilized in various golf ball fields other than golf. The term "ball" also refers to a golf ball when describing golf as an example, but should be construed to mean a ball used in each ball game in the case of other ball games.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional ball tracking system in connection with the proposed embodiment. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a ball tracking system 10 of an indoor screen golf driving range for golf practice.

The conventional ball tracking system 10 tracks the trajectories 16 and 18 of the ball through one or more imaging means capable of high-speed shooting when the ball 14 moves according to a user's motion (e.g., swing) . For example, when a user hits a fixed ball 14 at a swing position 12 to move the ball, the ball tracking system 10 may be used to track the trajectory of the ball 14 to a user, (20) at high speed. In this process, the ball tracking system 10 may be configured to include a separate illumination 22 for facilitating high-speed shooting, wherein the illumination 22 operates the flash in a short time interval, ) To acquire multiple exposure images.

On the other hand, such a conventional ball tracking system 10 has various disadvantages. That is, since the conventional ball tracking system 10 must have a plurality of cameras 20 capable of high-speed shooting, the initial installation cost is excessive, and the movement of the ball 14 must be measured in various directions Therefore, the installation site is limited. Further, since a separate illumination 22 for enabling high-speed photographing is also required, it is almost impossible to use it in outdoor where the natural light by sun is dominant.

Hereinafter, an embodiment for improving the above-mentioned problems of the conventional ball tracking system 10 will be described, and a ball tracking apparatus and method using an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) method will be described in detail.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the operation of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) related to the proposed embodiment. Before explaining the proposed ball tracking device and method, the operation principle of RFID will be briefly described.

The RFID system includes an RFID tag 60 and a reader 50. The RFID tag 60 may be referred to as a transponder and the reader 50 may be referred to as an interrogator. The RFID tag 60 transmits identification information recorded in an internal integrated circuit through an antenna and the reader 50 receives a signal from the RFID tag 60 through an antenna connected to the reader 50. [

RFID systems can be classified according to power supply system and frequency band. A system in which the RFID tag 60 operates using an electromagnetic field generated by the reader 50 as a power source and does not have a separate power source is called a passive RFID and a separate power source is provided in the RFID tag 60 The system is referred to as an active RFID.

In the case of the passive type RFID, the RFID tag 60 waits for the signal of the reader 50 because it has no additional power source, and operates only when necessary. That is, the antenna connected to the RFID tag 60 receives the radio wave transmitted from the reader 50, uses the radio wave as a power source for the integrated circuit, and transmits the identification information to the reader 50 again using the power supplied by the reader 50 , This sequence of processes is called backscattering. The RFID tag 60 can be activated and transmitted with only a small amount of energy transmitted by the reader 50 through the backscattering process and the reader 50 can transmit the information of the RFID tag 60 through the antenna Reception.

In the case of active RFID, the RFID tag 60 has a difference in that it reads and communicates information by using a power source provided therein. There is also a semi-passive RFID system using the internal power of the RFID tag 60 to read the information of the integrated circuit and use the power of the reader 50 for the communication process.

The RFID system may be classified according to the frequency band used by the system in addition to the power supply system. An RFID system using a relatively low frequency band of 120 to 140 kHz efficiently operates at a communication distance of about 15 cm and an RFID system using a 13.56 MHz band supports a communication distance of about 15 m. Further, in the RFID system using the 868 to 956 MHz band and the RFID system using the 2.45 GHz band, communication distances up to about 10 m are supported, and in the RFID system using the ultra-high frequency band 5.6 GHz band, Support.

FIG. 3 is a view showing the structure of a ball supporting the above-mentioned contents.

In the ball 70 of the embodiment, the RFID tag 90 may be provided, and the RFID tag 90 may exchange information with an external reader. In FIG. 3, only one RFID tag 90 is included in the ball 70 for convenience of explanation. However, a plurality of RFID tags may be included in the ball 70. When a plurality of RFID tags are provided inside the ball 70, each RFID tag communicates separately from the reader.

In order to prevent an impact on the RFID tag 90 provided in the ball 70 due to the swing or movement of the user, a protective member 80 for protecting the RFID tag 90 is provided outside the RFID tag 90 May be provided.

4 is a diagram showing a structure of a ball tracking device according to the proposed embodiment. 4, an RFID tag 205 provided inside a ball 200, a reader 110 provided inside a ball tracking device 100, and an antenna 105 connected to a reader 110 constitute an RFID system and perform communication It is assumed that information is exchanged.

The ball tracking apparatus 100 according to the embodiment includes a reader 110, a locus calculating unit 120, a communication unit 130, an output unit 140, a memory 150, and a controller 160. The implementation of the ball tracking device 100 is not limited to including only the configurations shown in FIG. 4, and the ball tracking device 100 may be implemented to include many general configurations in addition to the configurations shown, Or may be implemented in the form of excluding. Hereinafter, each component included in the ball tracking device 100 will be described in detail with reference to the contents shown in FIG.

The reader 110 communicates with the RFID tag 205 inside the ball 200 via the antenna 105. [ When a plurality of RFID tags 205 are provided in the ball 200, the ball tracking device 100 may be provided with a plurality of readers corresponding to the respective RFID tags, 205, respectively. Alternatively, when the antenna 105 is configured as a three-axis antenna, the reader 110 may separately receive signals from the RFID tag 205 through the respective three axial directions.

Meanwhile, the antenna 105 connected to the reader 110 may be oriented in a predetermined direction to receive a signal received from the RFID tag 205 efficiently. At this time, the direction in which the antenna 105 is oriented can be changed according to the mechanical action of the housing 115 on which the reader 110 is seated. Alternatively, when the reader 110 is operated in conjunction with a phased array antenna or a monopulse antenna, the motion state is measured by analyzing the direction of the antenna array or the electrical signal instead of the mechanical operation of the housing 115 .

The operation of the monopulse antenna will be briefly described. The monopulse antenna operates by a method of analyzing a response signal (echo signal), which is transmitted by one pulse and reflected and received, through a plurality of channels. For example, a monopulse antenna is a method of tracking an object using the result of calculating a sum channel and a difference channel through two channels. In the case where the antenna 105 and the reader 110 operate in conjunction with such a monopulse antenna, the position, locus, and motion state of the ball can be obtained only by analyzing the electrical signal without the mechanical movement of the housing 115 while the antenna is fixed It is possible to track the user.

The trajectory calculation unit 120 grasps the motion state of the ball 200 based on the signal intensity of the signal received from the RFID tag 205 by the reader 110. [ The motion state of the ball can be represented by three parameters of the movement direction, the movement speed and the rotation. The three parameters are calculated by the direction calculation unit 122, the velocity calculation unit 124, and the rotation calculation unit 126, respectively .

The impact calculation unit 127 included in the locus calculation unit 120 can grasp the motion performance of the user based on the signal received by the reader 110. For example, by calculating the impact applied to the ball 200 You can calculate the strength and speed of your swing. Such motion performance may be accumulated in the memory 150, which will be described later, and may be managed as a user's game record.

The modeling unit 128 included in the locus calculation unit 120 estimates the locus of the ball 200 and the point of collision when the motion state of the ball 200 is grasped by three parameters. The modeling unit 128 performs simulation according to an internal algorithm or a program to estimate a trajectory and a collision point of the ball 200 and outputs surrounding environment information (for example, course information, terrain information , Weather information, wind information, etc.) of the ball 200 and the motion state of the ball 200 together.

The specific operation of the locus calculating unit 120 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 11. FIG.

The communication unit 130 performs communication between the ball tracking device 100 and an external device or an external server. The communication unit 130 may transmit, for example, a value, data, information, and the like stored in the ball tracking device 100 to an external device or an external server, or may receive a signal received from the outside. For example, the communication unit 130 may transmit information about the trajectory of the ball 200 to the portable terminal held by the user, information about the terrain of the golf course and the course from the external server, And may receive information about the weather, wind intensity, and wind direction from an external server.

The output unit 140 visually and audibly outputs the information processed by the ball tracking device 100. The output unit 140 may include a display unit to visually output information or data, and may be configured to include a speaker and output audibly.

The memory 150 stores values, data, programs, algorithms, applications, and the like that are processed in the ball tracking device 100. The memory 150 may store a program or an algorithm to be used in the calculation process for locating motion state of the ball by the locus calculation unit 120, and may store and record and manage the motion performance of the user. Alternatively, the memory 150 may store programs for operation of the ball tracking device 100.

The controller 160 controls the overall operation of the ball tracking device 100 using the above-described components. For example, the control unit 160 controls the trajectory calculation unit 120 to calculate the motion state of the ball 200 according to the signal received by the reader 110, or controls the trajectory calculation unit 120 May be output to the user via the output unit 140 or may be controlled to be transmitted to the outside through the communication unit 130. [

Hereinafter, the operation principle and the operation process of the ball tracking device 100 described with reference to FIG. 4 will be described in detail. Hereinafter, the ball direction calculation process, the ball speed calculation process, and the ball rotation process will be described in order. FIGS. 5 and 6 are views for explaining the ball direction calculation process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

5, the ball tracker can use the intensity of the RFID signal received by the reader to calculate the moving direction of the ball during the movement of the ball. 5, for example, the ball at the time point t exists at the position P1 before the movement. Then, the ball moves in accordance with the action (swing, etc.) of the user, and the ball exists at the position P2 at the point of time t '.

At this time, the ball tracking device grasps the moving direction of the ball at the position P0. First, the ball tracker sets P1 to the initial position of the ball at time t. The reader of the ball tracker receives the identification information transmitted from the RFID tag provided on the ball, and the initial position of the ball is determined by coupling between the RFID tag and the reader. The initial position of the ball is transmitted from the RFID tag Location. Then, when the ball moves to the P2 position according to the user's movement at the time point t ', the reader of the ball tracker recognizes that the strength of the signal received from the RFID tag at the initial position P1 decreases. On the other hand, since the RFID tag moves to the P2 position according to the movement of the ball, the reader receives the signal of the RFID tag at the highest intensity (or intensity) at the position P2 instead of P1. That is, the ball tracking device tracks the moving direction of the ball by directing the antenna towards a direction in which the intensity of the signal is detected the greatest in the process of continuously receiving signals from the RFID tag at predetermined intervals from the RFID tag, It is called gimbal feedback.

The orientation of the antenna of the ball tracking device changes according to the movement of the ball can be realized through the mechanical movement of the housing in which the reader is seated as described above. For example, the housing rotates in three axial directions on the space and can change the direction in which the antenna of the reader is oriented. The same result can be obtained by changing the direction of the phased array antenna instead of the mechanical movement of the housing. It goes without saying that the process of electrically analyzing the response signal using the monopulse antenna and estimating the process of changing the direction of the antenna according to the result can be similarly estimated. At this time, since the ball gradually moves away from the ball tracker as the ball moves, the maximum intensity of the signal received from the RFID tag will gradually decrease.

Next, in FIG. 6, a process of tracking the movement direction of the ball according to time will be described, following the embodiment shown in FIG. At the time point t0 in FIG. 6, the ball exists at the initial position q0, and the reader of the ball tracking device is coupled with the ball RFID at the position P0. At this time, the direction of the antenna of the ball tracker is represented by a vector v0.

Then, the ball moves according to the movement of the user, and the ball moves to positions q1, q2, q3, and q4 through time points t1, t2, t3, and t4. At this time, the ball tracker located at P0 changes the direction of the antenna to vectors v1, v2, v3, and v4 according to a series of processes described above with reference to FIG.

Note that in FIG. 6, the angular variation of the vector on the plane gradually decreases with time. That is, the angle formed by the vectors v1 and v2 is smaller than the angle formed by the vectors v0 and v1 on the x-y plane, and the angle between the vectors v2 and v3 is smaller than the angle formed by the vectors v1 and v2. This is because it tracks the movement of the ball at the fixed position P0, and after a sufficiently long time in the course of the ball's trajectory to its peak, the angular variation of the vector is reduced to close to zero even though time passes.

Of course, the ball will decrease again as it passes the peak of the trajectory, but the ball tracking device determines the direction of travel of the ball until the ball reaches the highest point of the trajectory. In other words, when the angle change of the vector indicating the direction of the antenna of the reader is reduced to less than the threshold value, the ball tracking device determines the direction in which the antenna is oriented at the point of time as the moving direction of the ball.

Next, the process of calculating the moving direction and the moving speed of the ball will be further described with reference to FIG. 7 is a graph showing a process of determining a moving direction of the ball, and a graph shown at the bottom of FIG. 7 is a graph showing a process of determining a moving speed of the ball.

First, the graph shown at the top of FIG. 7 will be described. The ball tracker sets the initial position of the ball with the ball and the RFID coupling before time t0. Then, when the ball moves at time t0, the direction of the antenna of the ball tracking device changes suddenly. On the other hand, according to the movement of the ball, the directional direction of the antenna is drastically reduced, and the direction of the antenna at the time point t _f is detected to be less than the threshold S _th . Accordingly, the ball tracking device determines the antenna directing direction at the time point t _f as the ball moving direction.

Next, the graph shown in the lower part of FIG. 7 will be described. The ball tracker is ball and RFID coupled before point t0 and the strength of the signal received from the ball's RFID tag is constant since there is no ball movement. Then, as the ball moves after point t0 and moves further away from the ball tracker, the intensity of the signal received from the ball's RFID tag is also gradually reduced. At this time, the ball-tracking device, determining the direction of movement of the ball at the time t _f, can be calculated at the time t _f the decay rate of the signal strength in the moving speed of the ball.

That is, by measuring the rate at which the signal strength decreases at a time t _f at which the ball's moving direction is determined per unit time, the ball tracking device can convert the measured ratio to the ball's moving speed.

Although the moving direction and the moving speed of the ball are determined according to the above-described procedure, the reliability of the ball may be low even if the ball's trajectory is estimated without considering the rotation of the ball. Hereinafter, the process of calculating the rotation of the ball will be described with reference to FIG.

8 (a) shows a rotation of the ball, and FIG. 8 (b) shows a case where a three-axis antenna connected to the reader of the ball tracking device senses a signal received from the ball RFID tag Results are shown.

8 (a) illustrates an example in which the rotation on the x-y plane (i.e., the rotation around the z axis) is dominant when the ball moves according to the user's motion. The orientation direction of the antenna connected to the reader is described. However, as the ball rotates, the direction of the antenna connected to the RFID tag in the ball also changes instantaneously. That is, the bottom graph of FIG. 7 is a graph that does not consider rotation, and actually, the signal intensity is vibrated at a high frequency in accordance with the rotation of the ball.

That is, when the ball rotates as shown in FIG. 8 (a), the direction of the antenna of the RFID tag changes along the x-y plane, and the rotation is detected by each axis of the three-axis antenna connected to the reader.

In FIG. 8 (b), the first axis of the antenna connected to the reader senses that the signal intensity vibrates according to the rotation of the ball and measures the vibration frequency. Since one vibration among the repeated vibrations corresponds to one rotation of the ball, if the vibration frequency (or vibration rate) per unit time is measured, the result can be converted to the degree of rotation of the ball. Likewise, the second axis of the antenna connected to the reader is orthogonal to the first axis, and the second axis also senses the signal intensity oscillating with the rotation of the ball and measures the oscillation frequency. When the first and second axes correspond to the x and y axes of FIG. 8A, respectively, since the ball rotates on the xy plane about the z axis, the vibration frequency of the ball in the first and second axes Will be measured similarly.

Since the third axis of the antenna corresponding to the z axis of FIG. 8 (a) also detects a change in signal intensity due to the rotation of the ball and the ball rotates about the z axis, the signal intensity on the z axis is very small Vibration.

The antenna of the ball tracking device can know the rotational axis of the ball by comprehensively analyzing the ratio of the vibration of the signal intensity in three axial directions, and calculate the rotational direction and the rotational angle of the ball. The rotation of the ball may be expressed by the rotational direction and angular velocity of the ball.

When the moving direction, the moving speed and the rotation of the ball are measured in accordance with the above-described procedure, the ball tracking device calculates the trajectory of the ball. The trajectory of the ball can be modeled through a simulation process using the above three parameters. On the other hand, the trajectory of the ball is a result of not considering the external factors involved in the movement of the ball. The ball tracking device is a modeling process that considers the wind direction, wind intensity (wind volume) To estimate the final point of impact of the ball.

FIG. 9 is a view for explaining an impact calculation process according to the embodiment of the present invention. In golf, for example, when the user swings to strike the ball, the user's momentary force is applied to the ball, and the shape of the ball changes rapidly. If the instantaneous changes in the external shape of the ball can be quantified, the swing of the user can be analyzed by impact impact, thereby enabling the user to analyze the motion performance.

The graph shown in FIG. 9 shows the high frequency vibration of the coupling signal due to the instantaneous external shape change of the ball as the user swings. The process of attenuating the graph shown in FIG. 9 is for a short time interval immediately after the ball is hit, and it should be understood that the time is different from the time shown in FIG. 7 and FIG.

The ball tracker measures the frequency at which the signal strength changes and calculates the decay rate of the vibrating signal intensity so that the calculated result can be converted to an impact force applied to the ball along with the user's swing. That is, in the case of fast and strong swing, the frequency at which the signal intensity changes is relatively high and the signal attenuation rate is low, while the slower and weaker the swing, the lower the frequency at which the signal intensity changes, and the lower the signal attenuation rate.

The ball tracking device calculates, stores, and manages the impact force of the user so that the user's motion can be accumulated and analyzed in a specific situation.

10 and 11 below are flowcharts illustrating the embodiments described in FIGS. 2 to 9 according to a time series flow. Therefore, it is needless to say that the above-described contents can be applied equally or similarly even if the detailed contents are omitted or not shown in FIG. 10 and FIG.

10 is a flowchart illustrating a ball tracking method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The ball tracking device receives a signal from the RFID tag provided in the ball and recognizes the initial position of the ball as the RFID coupling is completed (S1010).

Then, the physical parameters change while the ball moves according to the user's operation. The ball tracking device changes the intensity of the signal received from the tag, the position change where the signal of the maximum intensity is sensed, Various parameters are collected (S1020). The ball tracking device calculates the direction, speed, and rotation of the ball by calculating the collected parameters (S1030).

Then, the ball tracking device calculates the trajectory of the ball based on the calculated direction, speed, and rotation data (S1040). It is of course possible to calculate the point of impact of the ball in consideration of the external factors for the motion of the ball in addition to the trajectory of the ball.

11 is a flowchart illustrating a ball tracking method according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 illustrates a ball tracking method approaching the user of the ball tracking device.

The ball tracker first recognizes the user prior to the user's operation (S1110). The process of recognizing the user may be performed through a process of recognizing the RFID tag of the ball, and the user may be recognized by registering the RFID tag of the ball in the preview tracking device and coupling the ball with the ball tracking device .

Then, when the ball moves by the action of the user, the ball tracking device tracks the ball and calculates the trajectory according to the procedure described in FIG. 10, and the ball tracking device analyzes the user's motion through the result values calculated through the ball tracking (S1120).

The ball tracking device collects and stores the motion analysis result of the user (S1130), and may provide the analyzed result to the user at the request of the user (S1140). The process of managing and providing the user's motion analysis results can be understood as a process of analyzing the trajectory of the ball or the point of collision and outputting the result to the user. The result of the motion analysis of the user is outputted to an output unit Etc.) or transmitted to the user's portable terminal and provided to the user via the application on the portable terminal.

The user can steadily manage the record for the specific course through the application installed in the ball tracking device or the portable terminal of the user, thereby improving the performance.

Meanwhile, the ball tracking method described in FIGS. 10 and 11 can be implemented in a general-purpose digital computer that can be created as a program that can be executed in a computer and operates the program using a computer-readable medium. Further, the structure of the data used in the above-described method can be recorded on a computer-readable medium through various means. Recording media that record executable computer programs or code for carrying out the various methods of the present invention should not be understood to include transient objects such as carrier waves or signals. The computer-readable medium may comprise a storage medium such as a magnetic storage medium (e.g., ROM, floppy disk, hard disk, etc.), optical readable medium (e.g., CD ROM, DVD, etc.).

12 is a diagram showing an operating environment of the ball tracking device according to the proposed embodiment. 12 illustrates and describes a scenario to which the above-described contents can be applied.

The ball tracking device 100 senses the movement of the ball 200 according to the user's operation and places the ball 200 in a position to view the movement direction of the ball 200 in order to efficiently detect the movement of the ball 200 However, the present invention is not limited to such a position or a method. When the user swings to hit the ball 200, the ball 200 moves along the trajectory 1204 at position 1202. The ball tracking device 100 can detect the movement of the ball 200 and collect and calculate various physical parameters to analyze the trajectory of the ball 200 and provide it to the user.

As shown in FIG. 12, the proposed ball tracking device 100 is easy to install and operate even without additional means, which is advantageous in terms of portability, cost, and performance as compared with the conventional ball tracking system.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing description of the present invention is for illustrative purposes only and that those of ordinary skill in the art can readily understand that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the present invention. will be. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single entity may be distributed and implemented, and components described as being distributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the detailed description and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents are to be construed as being included within the scope of the present invention do.

10: Ball Tracking System 12: Swing Position
14: Ball 16, 18: Trajectory
20: camera 22: illumination
50: reader 60: RFID tag
70: ball 80: protective member
90: RFID tag 100: ball tracking device
200: view

Claims (11)

A ball tracker for receiving a signal from an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag provided on a moving ball and measuring a locus of the ball,
A reader for receiving a signal from the RFID tag through an antenna; And
And a locus calculating section for measuring a locus of the ball based on a signal received by the reader,
The trajectory calculation unit calculates a moving direction, a moving speed, and a rotation of the ball based on a change in intensity of a signal received from the RFID tag according to a user's operation, and calculates the trajectory by considering the moving direction, the traveling speed, Determining a locus of the ball,
Wherein the trajectory calculation unit calculates the direction of the antenna in the moving direction of the ball when the angle change of the vector indicating the direction of the antenna connected to the reader decreases to less than the threshold value,
The locus calculation unit analyzes the motion performance of the user by calculating an impact force applied to the ball, and the impact force is determined based on the frequency of the coupling signal and the decay rate of the signal intensity due to the instantaneous outer shape change of the ball The ball tracking device.
delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the trajectory calculation unit calculates the moving speed in accordance with an attenuation rate of a signal received from the RFID tag at a time point when the moving direction is calculated. The method according to claim 1,
The trajectory calculation unit detects the frequency and the width at which the signal received by the antenna vibrates for each of three axes orthogonal to each other and calculates the rotation direction and the angular velocity of the ball in consideration of all the sensed results of the three axes The ball tracking device, which is one. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the locus calculation unit determines the locus by simulating values of the movement direction, the movement speed, and the rotation, and determines at least one of the wind direction information, the wind amount information, and the course information together with the locus, Of the ball tracking device. delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the directional direction of the antenna connected to the reader changes so that a signal from the RFID is directed in a direction in which it is received at a maximum intensity,
Wherein the orientation of the antenna is changed by mechanical movement of the housing on which the reader is seated. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the directional direction of the antenna connected to the reader changes so that a signal from the RFID is directed in a direction in which it is received at a maximum intensity,
Wherein the direction of the antenna changes according to an analysis result of an electrical signal when the antenna is implemented as a phased array antenna or a monopulse antenna. The method according to claim 1,
The ball tracking device
An output unit for providing information on the measured trajectory to the user; And
And a communication unit for transmitting the information about the measured trajectory to an external device or an external server. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the ball tracking device further comprises a memory for accumulating and storing results of analyzing the movement of the user from information on the measured trajectory. A ball tracking method for measuring a locus of a ball by receiving a signal from an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag provided on a ball in which the ball tracking device moves,
Receiving a signal from the RFID tag through an antenna connected to a reader to recognize a user;
The trajectory of the ball is measured by the trajectory calculation unit of the ball tracking device based on a change in intensity of a signal received by the reader from the RFID tag according to an operation of the user; And
And providing information about the measured trajectory to the user,
The trajectory calculation unit calculates the movement direction, the movement speed, and the rotation of the ball based on a change in intensity of a signal received from the RFID tag according to a user's operation, , Determining a trajectory of the ball in consideration of the moving speed and the rotation,
Wherein the trajectory calculation unit calculates the direction of the antenna in the moving direction of the ball when the angle change of the vector indicating the direction of the antenna connected to the reader decreases to less than the threshold value,
The locus calculation unit analyzes the motion performance of the user by calculating an impact force applied to the ball, and the impact force is determined based on the frequency of the coupling signal and the decay rate of the signal intensity due to the instantaneous outer shape change of the ball To-view tracking method.

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