EP0812228A1

EP0812228A1 - Process for sensing the surface of an object that contacts a contact ground during the practice of a sport

Info

Publication number: EP0812228A1
Application number: EP96904705A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Rüdiger Schrott
Original assignee: Reiser Schrott GbR
Current assignee: Reiser Schrott GbR
Priority date: 1995-02-21
Filing date: 1996-02-21
Publication date: 1997-12-17
Anticipated expiration: 2016-02-21
Also published as: MX9706214A; DE19680090D2; DE59606217D1; CA2213485A1; KR19980702381A; BR9607460A; CN1175907A; EP0812228B1; HUP9802818A2; JPH11500333A; DE19505826A1; AU709741B2; WO1996025986A1; CZ263897A3; ATE198052T1; AU4874396A

Abstract

A process and device are disclosed for recording and evaluating recorded traces of heat generated between an object (person 4, ball 5) and a contact ground (playing field 2, 9 or field limits 3, 11) during the practice of a sport.

Description

Method for detecting the contact area of an object at home with a contact surface

State of the art

The invention is based on a method for detecting the contact surface of an object present in sports (ball, player, tire, skid or the like) with a contact surface (floor, table surface, field boundary or the like) according to the preamble of the main claim.

A preferred area of application of the generic method is, in particular in tennis, the determination of the contact area of balls with the contact base, for example the floor covering or a net edge. During a tennis game, it is sometimes necessary to be able to make precise positions on the contact surface of the ball on the contact surface. It is important to determine, for example, whether the rebound point (contact surface or impression) of the ball on the ground is still in the field, whether it touches an outer line or whether it lies outside the field. It is also desirable to be able to determine any previous contact of the ball with the net edge.

According to the prior art, the touch coordinates of the ball on the contact surface are determined by arbitrators or line judges. However, this method has the disadvantage that it is imprecise with the risk of wrong decisions. It is also known to locate the ball with optical or electromagnetic monitoring devices.

In a known device for detecting the position of a ball (DE 42 33 341), a detector / transmitter unit is arranged in the ball, the receiver / transmitter elements being arranged at different points in the vicinity of the line. The ball is located by evaluating the reflections of the pulses emitted by active elements on the receivers. This device for detecting the position of the ball has the disadvantage that structural or structural changes to the ball or playing field are required. The ball is also monitored for itself instead of the contact surface of the ball on the contact surface.

In another known ball location system (WO 89/00066), which is preferably used in tennis, a predetermined line is used to monitor the passage of a ball. In this case, transmitters and / or receivers emitting electromagnetic waves, which evaluate a signal reflected by the ball, are attached either below or above on the floor of the tennis court. The tennis ball must have special magnetic properties. This system also requires structural changes to the ball and structural changes to the playing field. Here too the ball and not the contact surface of the ball on the contact surface is monitored.

Another disadvantage of these known systems is that the line to be monitored, in particular a field boundary line, is regarded as an idealized geometrical straight line. Their actual course, on the other hand, often deviates considerably from a straight line by relocating one and the same floor covering. These deviations cannot be taken into account by the known systems or can only be taken into account at great expense.

Another disadvantage of these known systems is that the result is influenced by runtime errors due to the sometimes very high ball speeds.

Another disadvantage is that the receiving and transmitting systems can be negatively influenced by the person hitting the ball and that a combination with independent television recordings is hardly possible.

The invention and its advantages

The method according to the invention or the device according to the invention with the characterizing features of the main claim or claim 7 has the advantage that the position of the object, for example ball, is not explicitly determined, but rather the contact surface of the object present during sport with the contact ground is detected becomes. Here, the method according to the invention makes use of the heat traces resulting from the frictional heat when the object present in sport comes into contact with the contact base. The method according to the invention measures the temperature difference between the heat trace and the contact base, captures this, records it and evaluates it, whereby this contact area can be shown on a screen.

Since the method according to the invention does not determine the position of the object present in sports, but rather records and evaluates the heat trace imprints, any contact surfaces - in particular the most diverse, for example circular, oval tennis ball imprints or traces of car tires in curves, etc. - can be detected. In this way, a person running on the contact ground or their ground marks can be recorded.

An advantage of the method according to the invention is that the detected contact surfaces can be placed in relation to the markings located on the contact base, in particular boundary lines, or their relative position to one another can be determined. The prerequisite for this is that the markings or lines are also included in the method according to the invention. This is given by the mandatory color-different design of the markings and lines in the normal case, since different colors have different radiation and heat radiation reflection values and are therefore also detected by the method according to the invention. If this is not sufficient, it is possible to provide the corresponding markings with metal powder, in particular aluminum powder, or with lacquers or the like which are visible in the infrared range. to treat. Both treatment methods are very simple and require minimal effort.

Another advantage of the invention is that neither the object present in sport nor the contact ground would have to be changed constructively or structurally. Another advantage of the invention is that there are no inaccuracies in the measurement due to the relatively high speed at which the object present in sports moves.

Another advantage of the invention is that accurate measurements are possible due to the relatively slow cooling of the heat traces. After cooling, a new measurement can take place at this point, while the previous measurement is also saved for later display. This makes it possible to compare measurements that were taken at different times in the same place. For example, the paths chosen by a tennis player and how far these paths deviate from an ideal path, etc.

Another advantage of the invention is that the geometrical accuracy of the surface course and the surface extension of the markings and lines, in particular of boundary lines, on the contact base are irrelevant for the contact surfaces to be detected.

A further advantage of the invention is that no paralax errors can occur due to the two-dimensional consideration of the contact base with the heat traces on it, which permits exact position determination in relation to contact base markings. In this respect, the degree of freedom for the arrangement of the measuring device above the contact base is relatively large.

The recorded heat traces are also made visible in real time.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the object present in sports is a ball, the contact base being the floor covering and / or a net or a net enclosure. The main sports here are tennis, ice hockey, table tennis, but also billiards, preferably with a total contact area that can be detected with a small number of thermographs and in which a relatively high speed of the object takes place, with sometimes confusing or difficult to understand individual situations. While in tennis the borderline cases are particularly critical as to whether the ball was still inside the field or touched the line or whether it was just outside the line, other types of ball games, such as handball and football, may be interesting to measure, whether the ball deflected by the goalkeeper was already behind the goal line or not yet. The reason for contact in the latter case would be, for example, the goalkeeper's glove, whereby the heat trace that emerges can be recorded, although it is only present for an extremely short time.

According to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, the object present in sports is a tire located on a vehicle, the contact base being the surface of a road or the like. The problems of capturing individual situations in such a type of sport, such as car racing, consist primarily in the fact that it is usually a long distance, regardless of whether it is a four-wheel vehicle, i.e. racing car or the like, or a two-wheel vehicle, acts like a motorcycle or bicycle. The measuring points will be provided primarily in areas where borderline situations arise, such as a necessary braking or a drift due to a curve, or a sudden increase in ground friction when accelerating after a curve or when cornering. Such measurements in borderline situations can be used on the one hand for analyzing accidents, but also for training on how to demonstrate Optimal solutions. However, such recordings are particularly interesting if they can be combined with television recordings in which critical individual situations can be explained to the viewer by superimposing the normal television image with the recording by the thermograph. Especially in car races, it is not possible for the viewer to assess the quality differences of the top drivers when cornering or the like at the given high speeds. Even if the television picture were digitized and recorded in slow motion, these differences are hardly noticeable. If, on the other hand, the thermographic recordings of different vehicles are compared, the viewer can very quickly determine the qualitative differences, both from the viewer's interest and to learn from them.

According to another alternative embodiment of the invention, the object present during sport is at least one runner located on a winter sports device, the contact base being a mostly frozen floor covering (ice). In such sports, such as tobogganing and bobsleighing, there are also extremely high speeds, for example up to 150 km / h, and this on a track usually formed as an ice tube. At these high speeds, the ideal line naturally plays a decisive role. Any deviation from this ideal line means milliseconds of loss of time, which can then cost victory. Here too, due to the length of the web, the measuring device of the heat track will be arranged in areas where the risk of deviating from an ideal track is greatest. Here, too, the measurement and recording of the track chosen by the athlete can take place for training reasons, but also for the information of spectators, preferably the Television. Such thermographs can be arranged at locations that are otherwise not accessible to viewers. Here too, as with most other sports, the application of the invention can increase the popularity of the respective sport, because the viewer can put himself in the role of the athlete in a completely different way than is possible with normal television recordings. In addition to the above-mentioned recording of the track, it is also possible to record or record at which points the athlete braked and the athlete can judge for himself whether this braking was necessary or not.

According to a further alternative advantageous embodiment of the invention, the object present during sport is a ski, the contact ground being a snow slope. Of course, such a slope can also be icy or, in most cases, it is. Especially with the shorter downhill runs, it is possible to record the heat traces left by the ski on the slopes with relatively few thermographs. Again, this recording method can be used for training purposes and can be of great advantage. Above all, however, it can give television viewers the opportunity to compare the quality of various top athletes. By means of the invention it is possible to determine whether the skier generates too much frictional loss on descent by pushing too often, or whether he can achieve a better ideal line and higher speeds by skillfully distributing weight or otherwise distributing the swing. It can also be determined which driving styles are particularly risky and involve a risk of injury. The invention also makes it possible to determine what pressure the ski jumper applies when leaving the chance and how this may affect the flight length. According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, signs visible in or on the contact base are made visible in the infrared range. Apart from the fact that any comparative values that should otherwise be invisible to the viewer can be made recognizable as a result, this method can also be used in advertising, so that advertisements not recognizable by the normal eye by superimposing the recording by means of thermographs become visible on the TV screen.

According to an essential embodiment of the invention, as already mentioned above, the recorded heat traces can be made accessible to the public, which can be done both via the projection onto large screens and via the television transmission accessible to the public. The invention overcomes the prejudice not only to make the recordings of heat traces in sports accessible to the public, but above all to also connect them to the recording process via television cameras. This is done in particular by overdrawing or overlapping data recorded on the one hand by a thermograph and on the other hand by a television camera.

Further advantages and advantageous embodiments of the invention can be found in the following description of the drawing and the claims. drawing

Several embodiments of the object of the invention are shown in the drawing and described in more detail below. Show it:

Fig. 1 shows the application of the invention in a

Tennis facility;

2 is a top view of a tennis court,

3 ball and ground contact in plan view,

Fig. 4 the application in a bobsleigh track and

Fig. 5 shows the application on a racetrack.

Description of the embodiments

In Fig. 1 the application of the invention for tennis is shown and that as a greatly simplified perspective view. On a tennis court 1, a playing field 2 is defined in the usual way by boundary lines 3. The players 4, represented in a highly simplified manner, play with a ball 5, which can be hit accordingly via a tennis net 6 and the known rules of tennis are to be observed. A referee 8 sits on a referee platform 7 and monitors compliance with the rules and can intervene accordingly in the game. He is usually assisted by line judges who have to observe whether the ball 5 was still inside the field 2 or just touched the line or whether it came outside the field. This observation is known to be very difficult because the ball, especially when can have an extraordinarily high speed, so that in borderline cases even a practiced line judge has problems determining whether the ball was still on the boundary line 3 or already outside the field 2. Thus, the line judge can also observe whether the ball is specified when the ball is specified still in an intermediate field 9 or its boundary line 11 or whether he had already landed in the remaining field 2. Even a television camera is barely able to capture the actual impact point at these high speeds.

According to the invention, cameras 12 are arranged approximately in the middle of the respective halves of the field and at a sufficient height, which are held here on cantilever constructions 13. These cameras work with infrared and can also have a digital or other recording option. In any case, this recording can be played back on a screen device 14, which can be a television set. The referee 8 is equipped on his referee platform 7 with a corresponding more specially designed screen device 15, with which the respective recording is recorded and can therefore be repeated at any time. This recording therefore not only serves the referee 8 to control player errors in relation to the ball touching the ground, but the recording can also be reproduced by the viewer at any time during television broadcasts, for example in connection with an advertisement.

As shown in FIG. 2, the two cameras 12 are each arranged in the middle of the two halves of the playing fields 2, the contact with the ball being detectable through these central measuring points. The infrared image automatically shows the location of frictional heat and stores it. The frictional heat of the contact surface is already after a few seconds dissolved. The speed of the ball has no influence on the result, since only the remaining frictional heat is recorded and not the ball itself. The measuring accuracy is in the range of one millimeter.

In Fig. 3 a tennis ball is shown in the top view for comparison on the left in the picture and a possible contact surface of the same on the field on the right in the picture. This contact surface is oval because, firstly, the ball is flattened when it hits and secondly, a certain distance glides over the ground. An inelastic object would be a line.

The second exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4 is the ice channel 16 of a bobsled run, in which two different tracks 17 and 18 of bobsled have been recorded by thermal cameras and can thus be reproduced at a later time in the manner shown. Here it can be clearly seen that the track 18 runs largely in the ideal line, whereas the track 17 shows that the corresponding bob was driven out somewhat and therefore not only has a longer roadway, which costs time, but also possibly a higher friction heat. Here, too, there is the particular advantage that such track recordings can be subsequently shown and also superimposed on television recordings, in order to give the athlete the opportunity to criticize and to explain to the viewer why one or the other has not won .

In the third exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a racing car 19 is traveling on a racetrack 21 on which its tires leave heat marks 22. As can be clearly seen here, these heat traces have changes 23 which are due to braking, drifting or accelerating are, which can result in a different frictional heat development. In this way, both the track record and the other vehicle-related records show defects and advantages of driving behavior. For example, a trace of heat is interrupted the moment the vehicle lifts off the ground.

All the features that can be gathered from the description, the claims and the drawing can be essential to the invention both individually and in any combination with one another.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 tennis court

2 playing field

3 boundary lines

4 players

5 ball

6 tennis net

7 Referee podium

8 referees

9 intermediate field

10

11 boundary line of 9

12 camera

13 cantilever constructions

14 display device

15 referee device

16 ice channel

17 tracks

18 tracks

19 racing cars

20th

21 racetrack

22 traces of heat

23 change from 22

Claims

Expectations

Method for detecting the contact surface of an object present in sports (ball 5, player 4, tire, skid or the like) with a contact base (floor 2, 9, table surface, field boundary 3, 11, or the like), characterized in that the contact the heat traces (17, 22, 23) of the object (4, 5, 19) used in sport with the contact ground (2, 9) are recorded, recorded, evaluated and shown by measuring the temperature difference or radiation difference between the heat trace and the contact ground.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the object present in sports is a ball (5) or the like (puck, ball, etc.) or a person (4) and that the contact base of the flooring (2, 9) and / or is a network (6) or a network enclosure.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the object present during sport is a tire located on a vehicle (19) and that the contact ground of the road surface (21) or the like. is.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the object present in sports is at least one skid located on a winter sports device and that the contact base is a mostly frozen ground (ice).

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the object present in sports is a ski and that the contact ground is a snow slope.

6. The method according to claim 1 to 6, characterized in that in or on the contact surface mounted in the infrared visible signs are made recognizable.

7. Device for carrying out the method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the heat track (17, 18) arising when the object (4, 5, 19) comes into contact with the contact base (2, 3, 9, 11) , 22, 23) by measuring the temperature difference between the heat trace and the base of contact by at least one thermograph (12, thermal imaging device) is recorded and recorded to a thermal imaging system, stored, evaluated and shown on a screen.

8. Device for performing the method according to claim 7, characterized in that the recorded heat traces can be made accessible to the public.