JP3806138B2 - Baseball pitching system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a baseball pitching system, and more particularly, to a baseball pitching system in which a ball is thrown from a pitcher's mound toward a home base to enjoy a virtual game.

  A baseball batting center, which is a practice facility for a user to hit a ball fired from a ball throwing device with a bat, is widely used. Furthermore, many proposals have been made for devices in a batting center. In contrast, facilities for throwing balls are rarely seen. The reason for this is not clear, but it seems that the batting center hits the player with the same realistic feeling as the actual match despite the machine being the opponent. However, in the case of a system for throwing a ball (hereinafter referred to as “pitching system”), the actual catcher does not catch the ball, and the actual batter does not hit it, so it is as realistic as the actual game. It is presumed that the lack of a feeling is the reason why it is not popular. Certainly the public interest in pitchers is certainly not lower than batters. This is because the leading role in a baseball game is a pitcher, and those who play baseball want to experience the pitcher once standing on the mound.

On the other hand, several proposals have been made for devices relating to pitching.
For example, in a proposed pitching practice device, a shock absorber that absorbs the impact of a ball installed behind the home base, a video device that projects an image on the surface of the shock absorber, and an image of the video device are moved. Alternatively, the operation unit to be lit, the photoelectric device that detects the position where the pitched ball has passed, the speed gun that measures the speed of the ball, the determination of the strike ball obtained by the passing position of the photoelectric device, and the speed gun The structure provided with the display apparatus which displays the ball speed to be displayed is described. (See Patent Document 1)
In addition, in a proposed amusement device, a display device in which an impact-resistant transparent plate is arranged in front of the display surface, and a position where a flying object such as a ball or a thrown object reaches the display surface or around the display surface is detected. And a display control means for changing the display contents to be displayed on the display device in accordance with the projectile arrival position detected by the means. (See Patent Document 2)
Further, in a proposed pitching game machine, an image display means for displaying an image as a pitching target, a ball detection means for detecting a ball thrown toward the pitching target displayed by the image display means, and a ball detection means Describes a configuration including image control means for controlling the display image of the image display means based on the ball detected by the player. (See Patent Document 3)
Further, in a proposed virtual game device, in relation to the game, position detecting means for detecting the passing position of the ball, and a reversing action, a catching action on the ball, or Based on the detection means from the storage means for storing the moving picture information of multiple patterns such as escape operation, the projection means for projecting the moving picture information from the storage means on the screen arranged in the moving direction of the ball, and the position detection means And a control means for reading out the moving picture information of the optimum pattern from the storage means, sending the moving picture information to the projection means, and projecting it on the screen. (See Patent Document 4)
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-155992 JP 2000-153011 A JP 2002-136629 A JP-A-11-299947

  However, in Patent Documents 1 to 4, since the ball thrown from the pitcher's mound is not caught on the home base side, an attractive sports business that attracts many customers can be developed. It is not configured as such.

First, in Patent Document 1, as described in paragraph No. 0022 and FIG. 3, the image position of the mitt is moved by the switch of the operation unit installed in the pitcher's mound, and the paragraph numbers 0023 and As shown in FIG. 4, the batter image is selected to the left and right, and the standing position is set. However, since the ball that was thrown is not caught as in an actual game, a sense of reality is obtained. Absent. In Patent Document 2, as described in Paragraph No. 0042 and FIG. 15, it is designed to compete how to make the batter out according to the position where the ball hits. Because it does not catch the pitched ball like this, there is no realism. In Patent Document 3, as described in paragraphs 0016 and 0019 and FIG. 1, the projection projector includes a batter, a catcher, an umpire, a missed zone, a throwing win zone, a pitch count, and a strikeout taken. It is configured to generate sound effects such as the hitting sound and cheering of the audience, but in the end, it is a display that only competes for the number of strikeouts, as shown in FIG. Because it does not catch the ball that was thrown as in the game of, it is not possible to get a sense of reality. Further, in Patent Document 4, as described in paragraph 0008, the pitched ball is configured to collide with the screen / panel 3, but does not catch the pitched ball as in an actual game. So I can not get a sense of reality. Therefore, it is difficult to develop an attractive sports business that attracts many customers even if such a pitching system with a little presence is installed in a batting center or other facilities.
Second, Patent Documents 1 to 4 do not consider measures for waiting time when there are many customers. For example, if a pitching system is installed at a place where people gather, such as shopping centers, department stores, and sightseeing spots, customers will be forced to wait casually until their turn is reached unless measures are taken for waiting time. . For this reason, it is difficult to develop an attractive sports business that attracts many customers.

  The present invention realizes a pitching system that captures the pitched ball to give a realistic feeling reminiscent of an actual baseball game, and is installed in a batting center or other facility. The goal is to develop an attractive sports business that attracts many customers.

  The pitching system of the present invention is a position detection means (in the embodiment, FIG. 28, FIG. 39) that detects a horizontal position and a vertical position of a ball thrown from the pitcher's mound toward the home base and outputs a position detection signal. , And the CPU 33 in FIG. 44) and the back of a plate (in the embodiment, corresponding to the screen plate 25 in FIGS. 3, 40, 41, etc.) disposed substantially vertically behind the home base. An excitation signal that generates a magnetic force at an arbitrary position in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction on the front surface of the plate is input to the provided electromagnet (corresponding to the electromagnet 26c in FIG. 15 in the embodiment). The mitt device having a permanent magnet by the generated magnetic force (in the embodiment, corresponding to the mitt 27 in FIG. And a ball catching means for catching the pitched ball by moving the mitt device to the position of the magnetic force that changes according to the position detection signal output from the position detection means. .

In the pitching system of the present invention, when a ball is caught by the catching means, a throwing judging means for judging the pitching content of the ball based on the catching position (in the embodiment, FIG. 28, FIG. 39, And (corresponding to the CPU 33 in FIG. 44).
Further, in this case, the game further includes a game progression unit (in the embodiment, corresponding to the CPU 33 in FIGS. 28, 39, and 44) that advances a virtual baseball game according to the determination result of the pitch determination unit. It may be configured.

  Further, in the pitching system of the present invention, reservation accepting means (in the embodiment, the reservation accepting in FIG. 1) accepts a pitching reservation via a wireless communication terminal (corresponding to the mobile phone 600 in FIG. 1 in the embodiment). And transmission means for predicting the time when the pitching will end based on the progress of the virtual baseball game in the pitching room and transmitting the predicted end time (in the embodiment, FIG. 28 and FIG. 44). A communication management unit (corresponding to the central management system 200 of FIG. 1 in the embodiment), which notifies the scheduled end time received from the transmission unit to the reserved wireless communication terminal You may make it the structure further provided.

  According to the pitching system of the present invention, a pitching system that captures the pitched ball and has a realistic feeling reminiscent of an actual baseball game can be realized in a batting center or other facility. By installing, it is possible to develop an attractive sports business that attracts many customers.

Hereinafter, first to fourth embodiments of a pitching system according to the present invention will be described.
First, the pitching system of each embodiment is demonstrated with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a pitching system in each embodiment. This pitching system is installed in, for example, shopping centers, department stores, batting centers, baseball fields, golf courses, gyms, and other facilities.
In FIG. 1, a pitching room (PR) 100 is a facility for playing a virtual baseball game by throwing a ball, and even a single system can constitute a system, but in this embodiment, eight PR ( 1) to PR (8). A central management center (CMS) 200 serving as a communication management unit is configured to communicate with each PR 100, a reservation receiving unit (RCP) 300 serving as a reservation receiving unit, and a base station controller (BSC) 400 such as wireless communication such as a wireless LAN. The entire pitching system is managed while transmitting and receiving commands and data by wired communication using fiber or the like. The RCP 300 accepts a pitching reservation from a customer and transmits it to the CMS 200, and also receives a time when a pitch is possible from the CMS 200 and notifies the applicant. The RCP 300 is an unattended reservation accepting unit, and the applicant makes a pitching reservation by automatically transmitting the telephone number of the mobile phone by the infrared communication function (or Bluetooth communication device) of the mobile phone (wireless communication terminal). The time at which pitching notified from the RCP 300 is possible is also displayed on the display unit of the mobile phone. The BSC 400 controls a plurality of base stations (BS) 500 and relays communication between the mobile phone 600 and the CMS 200 in the radio area of each BS 500 (the circle area indicated by the dotted line in the figure).
Note that the RCP 300 may be configured to be incorporated in the CMS 200. Further, instead of applying with a customer's mobile phone, an application may be made with a dedicated wireless communication terminal lent by this pitching system, and the CMS 200 may be configured to communicate with each of those wireless communication terminals.

  Each PR 100 has a box-type structure having a height of about 3 m, a width of about 3 m, and a depth of about 25 m to 30 m, and is constructed by a construction method similar to that of a prefabricated house or a temporary house, for example. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the appearance of each PR 100. 2 (1) is a front view, FIG. 2 (2) is a right side view, and FIG. 2 (3) is a left side view. At the customer entrance shown in FIG. 2 (2), a door sensor 1 for receiving infrared rays from the customer's mobile phone is provided on the door 2. Further, a door sensor 1 that receives infrared rays from the staff's mobile phone is also provided in the door 3 at the entrance for the staff shown in FIG.

Next, a first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX in FIG. 2 (3), and shows the internal configuration of the PR 100 in the first embodiment. The right side of FIG. 3 is the pitcher's mound side for throwing the ball, and the left side is the home side. The height of the ceiling 4 is constant, but the height of the floor 5 is about 38 cm higher on the pitcher's mound side than on the home side.
On the pitchers mound side, a mound side system 6 and the like are installed, and on the home side, a home side system 20 and the like are provided. The mound-side system 6 and the home-side system 20 perform high-speed wireless communication by a wireless LAN or the like by the antenna 6a and the antenna 20a provided near the ceiling 4, respectively. Note that high-speed communication may be performed by wired communication using an optical fiber or the like. The mound-side system 6 includes a switch unit and a display unit. The space from the mound side to the front of the screen plate 25 is brightened by illumination, but the pitch from the rear of the screen plate 25 to the PR100 staff door 3 is usually thrown except when inspected by the staff. The lights are turned off so that there is no hindrance.

  In PR100, not only general customers but also contracted professional baseball players or working baseball players can be used. In the case of a general customer, the time limit for one pitch and the number of pitches for one batter are set in advance, and if the pitch is not thrown after the predetermined pitch start time, It becomes a judgment. In this embodiment, a time limit of 16 seconds and a pitch of eight balls (three strikes, four balls, and one foul) are set for one batter. Further, the pitcher's mound is provided with a plate 7, and a plate sensor that detects that the pitcher has stepped on and generates a detection signal is provided below the plate 7. On the home side, a home base 8 is provided to face the plate 7. The distance from the position A of the rear edge of the plate 7 to the position B of the rear edge of the home base 8 is about 18.44 m. Although not shown in the drawing, a pitching sensor that detects the pitching by the pitcher by infrared rays is provided on both side walls in the vicinity of the plate 7.

  Five gates 9 to 13 each having a rectangular frame are provided at five locations between the pitcher's mound plate 7 and the home base 8. Of these gates, the gates 10 and 11 are movably mounted on guide rails (not shown) provided on the ceiling 4 and the floor 5 so that the positions D and E of the gates can be adjusted. It has become. Further, the gates 12 and 13 are provided in a fixed state at the front edge position F and the rear edge position B of the home base 8, respectively. Further, between the gate 9 and the gate 10, the projector 23 whose image projection is controlled by wireless communication of the home side system 20 and the position of the angle of view of the projector 23 are adjusted by wireless communication of the home side system 20. An angle-of-view adjusting device 24 is provided. Further, a protective board 9a for protecting the projector 23 from a ball to be thrown is provided at the lower part of the gate 9 on the pitchers mound side. Note that the projector 23 in this case is not a type that projects an image in a dark place as in a theater, but a data projector that projects an image in a bright place as in a presentation.

  A screen plate 25 for projecting an image projected from the projector 23 is provided behind the home base 8. The screen plate 25 has a structure that has sufficient rigidity and strength to withstand the impact of the ball thrown from the pitcher's mound. For example, the screen plate 25 is made of polycarbonate mixed with glass fibers. A screen made of white resin or cloth having an appropriate rough surface is detachably attached to the front surface of the screen plate 25, that is, the surface on which the image is projected from the projector 23, so that a clear image can be projected. It has become. Hereinafter, the screen plate 25 is referred to as means for projecting an image including the screen. Further, the screen plate 25 is provided with an impact sensor (not shown) for detecting the magnitude of impact of the ball.

  At a predetermined distance from the rear surface of the screen plate 25, there is provided an electromagnet plate 26 in which 198 electromagnets and a drive unit (not shown) for applying an exciting current to each electromagnet are mounted on a polycarbonate plate. A mitt 27 for catching the pitched ball is held on the vertical front surface of the screen plate 25 facing the electromagnet plate 26 in a state where it can move to the position of the excited electromagnet. The detailed structure of the mitt 27 will be described later. An electromagnet plate 26 including a drive unit (not shown) and a mitt 27 constitute a ball catching device as a planar linear motor.

The predetermined distance between the rear surface of the screen plate 25 and the front surface of the electromagnet plate 26 is maintained at such a distance that the rear surface of the screen plate 25 does not contact the front surface of the electromagnet plate 26 due to an impact when the mitt 27 catches the ball. . Therefore, although it depends on the thickness of the screen plate 25 and the magnetic force of the electromagnet 26c, the distance is about 5 mm in this embodiment. The screen plate 25 and the electromagnet plate 26 have a structure that can move a certain distance by a guide rail (not shown) provided on the ceiling 4 and the floor 5 so that an actual catcher can catch a ball.
Further, in the vicinity of the floor 5 of the screen plate 25 and the electromagnet plate 26, a ball returning device 28 is provided at a position slightly on the left side of the home base 8 when viewed from the mound side. The detailed structure and function of the ball returning device 28 will be described later.

The position between the home-side system 20 further behind the electromagnet plate 26 is controlled by the home-side system 20 that receives the control signal transmitted from the mound-side system 6 or by direct control from the mound-side system 6. A video camera 19 (imaging means) and a camera control unit 30 (imaging movement means), which are slow motion cameras that perform high-speed imaging, are provided.
FIG. 4 is a view of the arrangement of the video camera 19 and the camera control unit 30 as viewed from above. The camera control unit 30 can move in the range of about 140 cm to about 175 cm in the vertical direction. The video camera 19 can move left and right within a range of about 145 cm in the horizontal direction, as indicated by arrows, along the guide rail 30a on the upper surface of the camera control unit 30. On the screen plate 25 corresponding to the imaging range of the video camera 19, as shown in a horizontal sectional view, a polycarbonate transparent window 25 b is provided at a predetermined position on the left and right with the home base 8 as the center, approximately 45 cm long and approximately horizontal. It is formed in a range of 25 cm.

  The video camera 19 has the angle of view adjusted to face the pitcher mound at the viewing angle indicated by the dotted line through the window 25b, and can image a ball thrown from the pitcher mound. That is, the video camera 19 can adjust the position in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction so that the positions of the eyes of the right batter and the left batter of various heights are obtained. Accordingly, an image of the trajectory and rotation of the ball thrown from the pitcher's mound is picked up by the video camera 19 in slow motion. The captured image of the ball is transmitted to the mound system 6 and displayed on the display unit. With this video camera 19, the contracted professional baseball player or the member of the baseball team analyzes the appearance of the balls he has thrown into the eyes of the right and left batters of various heights, as well as his own throwing form. You can practice throwing while checking.

  As a modification of the embodiment, the video camera 19 can be used by a general customer, and a moving image or a still image of the customer's throwing form is captured, and the image is transmitted to the mound-side system 6. The image may be displayed on the display unit and downloaded to the customer's mobile phone according to the customer's request.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a screen image 25a viewed from the position of the pitcher's mound plate 7 through the rectangular inner frames 12a and 13a of the gates 12 and 13, and a lower portion of the image. Below the screen image 25a, there are a mitt 27, a mitt accommodating portion 29 for accommodating the mitt 27, and a ball return device 28. This screen image 25a is an image of a guide for pitching, and is an image for obtaining a sense of reality of an actual baseball game together with an image of a catcher described later. The guide image includes an image 25ia indicating a determination result according to the arrival position of the ball, a bat image 25ib indicating whether the virtual batter is right-handed or left-handed, and a ball type ( In the figure, a sign image 25ic indicating a curve CV) and a dangerous ball image 25id corresponding to the range where the batter's head is located are displayed.

  The image 25 ia showing the determination result is divided into seven horizontal blocks and nine vertical blocks, and characters are displayed according to the position of the pitched ball. These letters include S for strike, B1 to B5 for ball, 1, 2 for single hit (1 strike), 2 for 3 strike, 3 for strike, H for home run, and F for foul. is there. Although not shown in the drawing, there are sections such as Getz (W Play), sacrifice fly, and infield goro depending on the progress of the virtual game. In image 25ia, the width of the central three vertical strike zones, the length of the batter, and the vertical strike zone that varies depending on the style of striking, that is, the range from the batter's kneecap to the base of the heel assumed at that time, and Depending on the range of the shape of the home base 8, a three-dimensional space of a strike zone located on the home base 8 is formed. In FIG. 5, for B1 to B5 indicating balls, the determination result is a strike. When the arrival position of the ball is in this section, it means that the batter swings idle. Each section is displayed in a color corresponding to the determination result.

  All the parts where nothing is displayed are ball determinations, but the top and bottom seven horizontal sections are displayed in a specific color, determined to be a wild pitch, and the mitt 27 does not catch the ball. . Therefore, no electromagnet is provided in the wild pitch section. However, in order to return the thrown ball, an electromagnet is provided in some sections. This will be described later.

  When the virtual batter changes or the outcount changes, the determination result shown in each section changes except for the top and bottom seven sections. Furthermore, even in the case of the same virtual batter, the determination result changes each time the pitcher throws according to the strike and the ball count. For example, when the ball reaches the B1 division, the batter swings idle, but this division changes to 1 (single hit) in the guide image at the next pitch. In other words, when the same course is continuously thrown, it is impossible to continuously skip the same course, assuming that the trajectory of the previous ball is stored as an afterimage on the batter's head. That is, the display changes so as to obtain a realistic feeling of the actual game.

  In the dangerous ball image 25id, a character “Off the field” is displayed. When the ball hits this part, a penalty is imposed. For example, the pitching is ended at that time. Note that a part of the range of the image 25id includes the transparent window 25b of the screen plate 25 shown in FIG. 4, so that the image of the batter is not the guide image shown in FIG. 5 but the image of the catcher and the image of the umpire. Is projected on the transparent window 25b. For this reason, a clear image cannot be shown like the other parts of the screen plate 25, but the video camera 19 side is turned off and darkened, so that the image of the batter's head is shown thinly. Can do. In order to display a clear image on the window 25b, a door made of a white board that can be manually or electrically opened and closed may be attached to the window 25b on the video camera 19 side.

  In FIG. 3, near the ceiling 4 above the door 2 on the pitcher's mound side, there are a video camera 31 that performs imaging by the control of the mound side system 6, and the angle of view of the video camera 31 by the control of the mound side system 6. A camera control unit 32 for adjusting the position is provided. The video camera 31 is configured by a digital camera using a MOS (Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) type imaging device so that an arbitrary portion of the imaging screen can be randomly selected and read using an XY address. ing.

  FIG. 6 shows a screen image 25a projected from the projector 23 from the pitcher's mound to the screen plate 25 on the home base side through the rectangular inner frames 10a, 11a, 12a and 13a of the gates 10, 11, 12 and 13. The image itself is omitted). Optical elements Ox1, Ox2, Ox3, and Ox4 are provided in the upper frame of each gate. Similarly, optical elements Oy1, Oy2, Oy3, and Oy4 are provided in the left frame of each gate. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of Ox1, which is an optical element of the gate 10, along the line XX in FIG. The cross-sectional view is the same for the configuration of Oy1, which is the optical element of the gate 10, and the configuration of the cross-sectional views is the same for the optical elements in the other gates 11, 12, and 13. Therefore, the configuration of the optical element will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 7, the optical element Ox1 is composed of a light reflecting means such as a metal or plastic mirror M1, or a glass mirror or prism. With this configuration, the band-like light that is an image of the surface of the inner frame 10a on the lower side of the gate 10 is reflected by the mirror M1, and its optical path is changed by 90 degrees in the direction of the video camera 31, and the optical system of the video camera 31 is changed. It passes through and is coupled to the MOS image sensor. Similarly, the band-like light from the other gates is imaged on the image sensor of the video camera 31. A cylindrical lens L1 that converges the band-shaped light may be provided after the mirror M1, as indicated by a dotted line.

  As a result, the picked-up image 31d formed on the image pickup device of the video camera 31 is strip-shaped from the gates 10, 11, 12, and 13 together with the image id of the screen image 25a on the home base side as shown in FIG. Igx1, igx2, igx3, igx4, igy1, igy2, igy3, and igy4. FIG. 8 shows only the image indicating the determination result in the screen image id, but the image of the rectangular frame in each gate, which is the other image shown in FIG. 5, the mitt 27 on the home base side, the mitt Images of the storage unit 29 and the ball return device 28 are also included in the captured image 31d of the video camera 31. When the ball is thrown, in order to detect the ball thrown from the imaging screen of the MOS type image pickup device of the video camera 31, igx <b> 1 that is a band-like optical image is initially read by the readout control by the mound side system 6. And the image of the area of igy1 is read out.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing signal processing for detecting the horizontal position of the ball passing through the gate 10 using a band-like optical image of igx1. Note that the signal processing for detecting the position in the vertical direction and the signal processing for detection at other gates are the same, and thus the drawings and description are omitted. The surface of the inner frame is black or a color close to black, and there is a brightness difference with the color of the ball close to white. Therefore, the band-shaped light from each gate is not a white thin frame image as shown in FIG. 6 and an imaging screen described later, but a dark color image. In this embodiment, the flying position of the ball is clearly defined. For the purpose of explanation, signal processing for detecting the flight position of the ball, assuming that the surface of the inner frame is white and the color of the ball is black will be described.

  In the region of the strip-shaped optical image igx1 shown in FIG. 9A, the imaging signal of one vertical line y0 at the substantially center in the vertical direction can block the strip-shaped light when the ball is not passing. Therefore, the imaging signal has a high level (white) signal waveform as shown in FIG. When the ball passes through the rectangular frame of the gate 10, band-like light is shielded by the ball, so in the process of passing the ball, the imaging signal of y0 is (b), (c), (d), As shown in (e) and (f), the ball passing position has a low level (black) signal waveform. Among these, the waveform of (d) has shown the timing when the center of the ball | bowl passed the inside of the frame corresponding to the imaging signal of y0. Therefore, the time t1 when the ball passes through the gate 10 and the horizontal position coordinate x1 of the ball at that time are detected.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 9, as shown in FIG. 9 (2), a rectangular image ibx of the ball that shields the strip-shaped optical image igx1 and a rectangular image iby of the ball that shields the strip-shaped optical image igy1 In addition, the horizontal position x1, the vertical position y1, the position z1 from the position of the mitt 27, and the time t1 passing through the gate 10 can be obtained. That is, the position and time of the three-dimensional space of the flying ball can be obtained from the two-dimensional captured image. The coordinates (x1, y1, z1) of P1 are transmitted to the home-side system 20, and the position of the mitt 27 is controlled by the electromagnetic plate 26. Thereafter, the position and time of the ball passing through the gates 11, 12, and 13 are detected according to the flight of the ball.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing three-dimensional coordinates and time indicating the flight position when the ball passes through each gate. In this way, the flight position that passes through each gate is transmitted to the home system 20, and the position of the mitt 27 is sequentially controlled by the electromagnet plate 26. Furthermore, the speed v1 of the ball between the gate 10 and the gate 11 can be simply calculated by the following equation using the data (x1, y1, z1), t1 and the data (x2, y2, z2), t2 at P1. Can be measured.
v1 = (z1-z2) / (t2-t1)
Similarly, the speed v2 of the ball between the gate 11 and the gate 12 and the speed v3 of the ball between the gate 12 and the gate 13 can be easily measured by the following arithmetic expression.
v2 = (z2-z3) / (t3-t2)
v3 = (z3-z4) / (t4-t3)

  Note that in the process until the ball that passed through an arbitrary gate reaches the next gate, a circular image bi of the ball directly picked up by the video camera 31 is formed, so that by image processing such as optical flow, It is possible to continuously detect the position of the flying ball. However, in this embodiment, high-speed signal processing is executed by the XY address configuration of the MOS image sensor. As described above, since the MOS type image pickup device can read out an arbitrary area of the image pickup screen, for example, as shown in FIG. 9B, after detecting the position coordinate P1 (x1, y1) of the ball, Until the next gate is reached, a predetermined area centered on the position is set, the pixel signal of the set area (this is called the prediction range), and the horizontal and vertical directions of the next gate Only the pixel signal of the band-shaped optical image is read out, and the center position of the prediction range is transmitted to the home system 20.

  That is, after the ball has started to be thrown, only the pixel signals in the areas of the band-like optical images igx1 and igy1 from the gate 10 are read, and after the position of the ball passing through the gate 10 is detected, the predicted range of the ball Then, after reading out only the pixel signals in the areas of the band-shaped optical images igx2 and igy2 from the gate 11 and detecting the position of the ball passing through the gate 11, the predicted range of the ball and the band-shaped optical image igx3 from the gate 12 are detected. And after detecting the position of the ball passing through the gate 12, only the pixel signal of the predicted range of the ball and the band-like optical images igx4 and igy4 are read out. After detecting the position of the ball passing through the gate 13, the pixel signal of the predicted range of the ball Read the only.

  If the mirrors are also arranged in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction on the frame of the gate 9, it is possible to detect the flight position and the passage time of the ball passing through the gate 9. Further, as the number of gates for position detection increases, the number of flight detections increases. However, since the flight position immediately after the ball is thrown and the flight position when approaching the home base 8 are considerably different, the mitt 27 described later can be moved at high speed. The three-dimensional position coordinates at the four locations of the gates 10 to 13 are detected, and the flying positions are detected between the gates while predicting the horizontal position and the vertical position of the ball.

  FIG. 9 (3) is a diagram showing a predicted range Ak in which the ball exists. The prediction range Ak is set, and the two-dimensional coordinates (x, y) of the center position are transmitted to the home system 20. After transmitting the coordinates (x, y) of the center position of the prediction range Ak, the pixels of the prediction range Ak are read, the actual ball position Pk is detected, and the position of the next prediction range Ak is corrected. Therefore, transmission is not delayed by image processing for ball detection. Even when the position of the ball is detected in the predicted range Ak, it is not necessary to read out all the pixels in the range. For example, even if the XY address of the prediction range Ak is composed of 4096 pixels corresponding to 64 × 64 pixels, all the pixels are read in order to detect the position of a simple circular ball. There is no need. For example, every 16th address is specified, and 16 pixels are read out with 4 × 4 XY addresses. As a result, the time of 1/256 is shortened as compared with the case where all the pixels in this range are read out, so that it is possible to detect the ball by faster image processing. Therefore, even if the process of detecting the position of the ball in the prediction range is performed after transmitting the center coordinates of the prediction range to the home side system 20, the time from prediction to correction can be shortened. As a result, the home-side system 20 can receive position detection signals for controlling the position of the mitt 27 almost continuously.

  Further, the captured image immediately before the ball is thrown is stored in the RAM 35 as a still image, and when the prediction range Ak is set, the still image corresponding to the prediction range Ak is subtracted from the captured image, and then the flight takes place. Only the moving image of the ball can be extracted. In this case, the flying position of the ball can be detected by extremely high-speed image processing.

  Furthermore, when the predicted range of the ball is determined, the video camera 19 that is a slow motion camera that performs high-speed imaging is used to obtain a straight ball or a change from the captured image of the hand holding the ball immediately before the ball leaves the pitcher's hand. You may make it recognize that it is a sphere and reflect the recognition result on determination of a prediction range. For example, when the captured image of the hand holding the ball is a curve, the prediction range is weighted so as to draw a locus of the curve.

  FIG. 12 shows the case where data Pk (xk, yk, zk), tk representing the three-dimensional position and time of the ball until the pitched ball is caught by the mitt 27 is stored in the RAM. FIG. 3 is a diagram in which the position and time of a ball are associated with the imaging screen of the video camera 31. Based on this data stored in the RAM, the trajectory of the pitched ball can be determined. Incidentally, the trajectory of the ball in FIG. 12 represents a case where the left-throwing pitcher throws a curve.

  Before the pitching starts, the guide image shown in FIG. 5 is projected as a screen image 25a from the projector 23 onto the screen plate 25. After the pitching starts, the catcher image and the umpire image are used instead of the guide image. And batter images are displayed. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing only the catcher image 25ai1 with the umpire image and the batter image omitted. An image having a mitt image 25ai2 is displayed on the left hand of the catcher image 25ai1. As described above, the flight position passing through each gate is transmitted to the home-side system 20, and the position of the mitt 27 is sequentially controlled by the electromagnetic plate 26. The catcher image 25ai1 and the position of the mitt 27 are synchronized with the position of the mitt 27. The mitt image 25ai2 moves. Further, the ball caught by the mitt 27 is returned to the pitchers mound side. Hereinafter, the catch control, the return ball control, and the image control of the catcher image will be described.

  First, a ball catching device that catches a pitched ball will be described. 14 (1) is a front view of the mitt 27, and FIG. 14 (2) shows the mitt 27 along the line XX in FIG. 14 (1), and the screen plate 25 and the electromagnetic plate 26 at that position. FIG. The mitt 27 is provided with a cylindrical member 27a made of reinforced plastic such as polycarbonate or polypropylene mixed with glass fiber, and openings having a diameter of about 12 cm and about 15 mm are formed on the front side and the rear side of the cylindrical member 27a, respectively. ing. A durable bag member 27b made of leather or tent cloth is accommodated in the tubular member 27a. A stretchable membrane 27c is formed on the front surface of the bag member 27b, and an opening of about 15 mm is formed in the center portion on the rear surface of the bag member 27b, and a hole having a diameter of 1 to 2 mm is formed on the other portions. In the bag member 27b, a cylindrical elastic member 27e made of plastic or rubber having air in a minute cavity is accommodated in polyurethane or sponge mixed with rubber, and the central part thereof has an approximately 15 mm length. The hole penetrates. Further, a metal plate ring 27f and a spiral spring 27g are accommodated between the rear side of the bag member 27b and the rear inner surface of the cylindrical member 27a.

  On the rear outer surface of the cylindrical member 27a, two members each having a hole of about 15 mm formed in the center portion thereof by an elastic member 27h made of a disk-shaped polyurethane or the like and a disk-shaped permanent magnet 27m are respectively formed on the duralumin. Alternatively, the non-ferrous metal cylindrical member 27j having the same strength is housed and fixed. Furthermore, inside the cylindrical member 27j, a ball bearing 27k, a part of which is exposed to the outside, is embedded rotatably at a plurality of locations on the same circumference. The permanent magnet 27m is magnetized with an S pole on the rear side (left side in FIG. 14B) and an N pole on the opposite side. In this embodiment, in order to reduce cost and weight, the cylindrical member 27a and the cylindrical member 27j are configured as separate members. However, as is apparent from the structure shown in FIG. 14, the spring 27g and the elastic member 27h. If a metal plate ring is added between the two, a single cylindrical member can be used.

  On the other hand, the electromagnet plate 26 shown in FIG. 14 (2) is provided with an electromagnet 26c composed of a donut-shaped excitation coil 26a and a core 26b accommodated inside the donut-shaped excitation coil 26a. In a range where the ball is caught by the mitt 27 (hereinafter referred to as a catching range), the diameter of one electromagnet 26c corresponds to the diameter of the ball (about 7.2 cm), and the area of the four electromagnets 26c The structure corresponds to the area of the mitt 27. Further, when exciting currents are simultaneously supplied to the exciting coils 26a of the four electromagnets 26c from a driving circuit (driving means) (not shown), the surfaces of the four cores 26b on the screen plate 25 side are magnetized to N poles. Accordingly, an attractive force is generated between the north pole of the four electromagnets 26 c and the south pole of the permanent magnet 27 m of the mitt 27. In the catching range of the electromagnet plate 26, a total of 196 electromagnets 26c of 14 horizontal and 14 vertical are arranged, and in addition, two electromagnets 26c having a size corresponding to the diameter of the mitt 27 are arranged. Has been. Therefore, the position of the mitt 27 is maintained on the front surface of the screen plate 25 corresponding to the excited arbitrary electromagnet 26c.

  FIG. 15 shows the positions of the plurality of electromagnets 26 c arranged on the electromagnet plate 26 with dotted circles. In FIG. 15, the catching range corresponds to 49 sections of 7 horizontal and 7 vertical except for the uppermost row and the lowermost row among the sections in the guide image 25 ia shown in FIG. 5. That is, as shown in FIG. 15, the four electromagnets 26c are set as a set of electromagnet blocks, and the position of each electromagnet block is (x, y) according to the division of the x value in the horizontal direction and the y value in the vertical direction. Represent. Further, as shown in the electromagnet block of the section (1, 1), the arrangement of the four electromagnets 26c in each electromagnet block is represented by a, b, c, and d. Therefore, the position of each electromagnet 26c in each electromagnet block is represented by (x, y, a / b / c / d).

For example, in the catching range of FIG.
The electromagnet 26c in the upper left corner of the section (1,1) is (1,1, a)
The electromagnet 26c in the upper right corner of the section (7, 1) is (7, 1, b).
The electromagnet 26c in the lower left corner of the section (1,7) is (1,7, c)
The electromagnet 26c in the lower right corner of the section (7, 7) is (7, 7, d).
It is represented by

When simultaneously energizing the four electromagnets 26c, four of the same section may be excited or four may be excited across different sections. For example, in the case of the four electromagnets 26c shown by hatching in FIG. 15, the positions of the electromagnets 26c to be excited are the coordinates x and y of the section to which they belong and the array a in the section as follows in order from the left four. / B / c / d.
(1,6, b), (2,6, a), (1,6, d), (2,6, c)
(5, 6, a), (5, 6, b), (5, 6, c), (5, 6, d)
(6,1, d), (7,1, c), (6,2, b), (7,2, a)
Two electromagnets 26c having approximately the same size as the mitt 27 are disposed under the catching range where the 196 are disposed. One of the two is not visible in this figure, but is arranged at the position of the compartment corresponding to the mitt 27 accommodated in the mitt accommodating portion 29, and the other one is arranged at the position of the compartment above it. ing. Therefore, the section of the electromagnet 26c corresponding to the mitt accommodating portion 29 is represented by (4, 9), and the section of the electromagnet 26c immediately above is represented by (4, 8).

  When the ball is not caught, none of the electromagnets 26 c is excited, and the mitt 27 is located in the mitt accommodating portion 29. When the pitcher is ready for pitching, the electromagnet 26c (4, 8) is first excited, and the mitt 27 rises from the mitt housing 29 to the position of the electromagnet 26c (4, 8). Thereafter, the electromagnets 26c (4, 7, a), (4, 7, b), (4, 7, c), (4, 7, d) are excited in units of four, and then the electromagnets 26c ( 4, 6, a), (4, 6, b), (4, 6, c), (4, 6, d) are excited, and then the electromagnets 26c (4, 5, a), (4, 5 , B), (4, 5, c), (4, 5, d) are excited, and then the electromagnets 26c (4, 4, a), (4, 4, b), (4, 4, c). , (4, 4, d) are excited. As a result, the mitt 27 is held in the section (4, 4) at the center position of the catching range. In this state, prepare for pitching from the pitcher. When the mitt 27 is moved from the four electromagnets 26c to the adjacent four electromagnets 26c, the four electromagnets 26c that have been excited so far are reversely excited, and the four adjacent electromagnets 26c are Energize. This not only demagnetizes the four electromagnets 26 c that have been excited so far, but also moves the mitt 27 to the adjacent four electromagnets 26 c at high speed by the repulsive force of reverse excitation.

Since the flying position of the pitched ball is transmitted from the mound-side system 6 to the home-side system 20 at a high speed as described above, the home-side system 20 uses four electromagnets 26c corresponding to the received ball flying position. Control to excite in units. Therefore, the mitt 27 can move the front surface of the screen plate 25 at a high speed according to the flying position of the ball and catch the ball. In FIG. 15, the exciting currents supplied to the four electromagnets 26c are set to the same current value, and the position of the mitt 27 can be controlled at an interval of half the diameter of the reaching ball. In this embodiment, the position of the mitt 27 is further finely controlled by weighting the excitation current supplied to the four electromagnets 26c. In the four electromagnets 26c represented by (x, y, a / b / c / d), the weighting coefficients k11, k12, and the excitation current supplied to the upper left, upper right, lower left, and lower right electromagnets 26c, respectively. k21 and k22 are multiplied to obtain excitation currents k11 · i, k12 · i, k21 · i, and k22 · i. Further, the magnetic force generated in each electromagnet 26c by these exciting currents is represented by mf11, mf12, mf21, and mf22. In this case, the following conditions shall be satisfied.
mf11 + mf12 + mf21 + mf22 = MF (constant value)
0 <k11, k12, k21, k22 <4
In accordance with the values of the weighting coefficients k11, k12, k21, and k22, magnetic force gradients are generated in the four electromagnets 26c, and the position of the mitt 27 is shifted in accordance with the magnetic force gradients. However, since the total magnetic force generated in the four electromagnets 26c is always a constant value MF, the mitt 27 is always attracted to the electromagnet 26c by a constant magnetic force at any position on the screen plate 25.

In the case of the excitation current shown in FIG. 15, k11 = k12 = k21 = k22 = 1, and the magnetic force in the four electromagnets 26c is uniform (mf11 = mf12 = mf21 = mf22). However, for example, when the positions of the four electromagnets 26c are the following positions as shown by hatching,
(6,1, d), (7,1, c), (6,2, b), (7,2, a)
When the weighting coefficients are k11 = 1, k12 = 1.5, k21 = 0.5, and k22 = 1, the magnetic force of the electromagnet 26c (7,1, c) is large, and the electromagnet 26c (6,2, b) Since the magnetic force is reduced, the center position of the mitt 27 is shifted from the center of the four electromagnets 26c to the electromagnet 26c (7, 1, c) side. Accordingly, when the home-side system 20 receives the flying position of the pitched ball from the mound-side system 6, the home-side system 20 determines four electromagnets 26c to be excited according to the flying position, and further sets the weighting coefficient of each electromagnet 26c. Calculate and control the position of the mitt 27.

  FIG. 16 is a view showing a cross section of the mitt 27 after catching the ball. At the moment when the ball 80 is caught, the ball 80 is further indented than in the state shown in FIG. 16, further deforming the elastic member 27e, pressing the spring 27g, and further expanding the emblem of the bag member 27b. It is in a state. In this state, the impact of the caught ball 80 is that the air in the cavity of the elastic member 27e is pushed out of the small hole 27d on the rear side of the bag member 27b and deforms, and the spring 27g is pressed. Is absorbed by. Furthermore, in the case of a ball thrown from a professional grade pitcher close to 150 km / h, the screen plate 25 may bend slightly backward. However, the back surface does not come into contact with the surface of the electromagnet plate 26 due to the bending of the screen plate 25, and the electromagnet plate 26 is not subjected to the impact of the ball. After the ball is caught, the ball 80 is returned to the position shown in FIG. 16 by the restoring force of the spring 26g and the elastic member 27e, but the spring force of the spring 27g is not pushed out of the mitt 27. The elasticity of the elastic member 27e is set. Assuming a ball exceeding 150 km thrown from a professional baseball pitcher, an oil damper is provided in advance in the vicinity of the guide rails on the ceiling 4 and floor 5 holding the screen plate 25, and the ball 80 The impact may be further reduced.

  FIG. 16 (1) shows the mitt 27 at the position where the ball 80 is caught. For example, in FIG. 15, the ball 80 is positioned at four hatched electromagnets 26c (5, 6, a), (5, 6, b), (5, 6, c), (5, 6, d). Represents the state of catching the ball. After catching the ball at this position, the four electromagnets 26c (4, 7, a), (4, 7, b), (4, 7, c), (4, 7, d) are excited and the next One electromagnet 26c (4, 8) is excited to move the mitt 27 catching the ball 80, and finally the electromagnet 26c (4, 9) is excited to place the mitt 27 in the mitt housing 29. After the accommodation, the excitation of the electromagnet 26c is stopped. FIG. 16 (2) shows the state of the mitt 27 at the position of the electromagnet 26c (4, 9). In this position, a hole (reference numeral is omitted) having a diameter of about 15 mm is formed in the central portion of the core 26b of the screen plate 25, the electromagnet plate 26, and the electromagnet 26c. The electromagnet plate 26 is provided with a plunger 261 as a ball discharge mechanism for discharging the ball 80 from the mitt 27. The plunger 261 includes an exciting coil 261a, a soft iron movable rod 261b having a diameter of about 13 to 14 mm, and a drive circuit (not shown). When the exciting current of the exciting coil 261a of the plunger 261 is not supplied, the movable bar 261b is inserted into the holes of the core 26b, the electromagnetic plate 26, and the screen plate 25 as shown in FIG. The tip of the screen plate 25 does not protrude from the front surface.

17 and 18 are diagrams for explaining the operation of the plunger 261 that pushes out the ball 80. When a DC exciting current is supplied to the exciting coil 261a of the plunger 261, as shown in FIG. 17, the movable rod 261b penetrates the permanent magnet 27m of the mitt 27 and the hole of the elastic member 27h, and the center of the spring 27g and the ring 27f. Passing through the hole, it penetrates the hole of the elastic member 27 e, approaches the bag member containing the ball 80, and finally pushes the ball 80 out of the mitt 27. A spherical recess 29 a for receiving the ball 80 pushed out from the mitt 27 is formed in the mitt accommodating portion 29. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 18, the ball 80 pushed out from the mitt 27 by the movable rod 261 b is received in the recess 29 a of the mitt accommodating portion 29. The movable rod 261b that has pushed the ball 80 out of the mitt 27 is returned to its original position when an exciting current in the reverse direction is supplied to the exciting coil 261a.
Instead of the plunger 261, the ball discharge mechanism may be configured by a direct current motor, a gear that decelerates the rotation of the direct current motor, and a ball screw that engages with the gear and converts the rotation of the gear into a linear motion.

As shown in FIG. 15, the ball 80 received by the mitt storage portion 29 rolls in an inclined groove and is stored in the ball return device 28. 19 to 21 are diagrams showing the configuration and operation of the ball return device 28. FIG. 19 (1) is a view showing a side surface and a partial cross section of the ball returning device 28, and FIG. 19 (2) is a plan view seen from above. The ball return device 28 is an electronic device controlled by the base 71, the ball return arm 72, the plate-like spring member 73, the rotating portion 74, the relay gear portion 75, the stepping motor 76, the proximity sensor 77, the elastic member 78, and the home side system 20. A circuit (not shown) is configured. The return ball arm 72 is about the length of the arm from the elbow to the hand of an adult, and is attached to the base 71 so as to be rotatable in the direction of the pitchers mound by a shaft 72a. Further, as shown in the partial cross section of the figure, the return ball arm 72 is formed with a spherical recess 72b so that the ball rolled out from the mitt storage portion 29 can be accommodated. A hole 72c is formed at the center of the recess 72b, and the proximity sensor 77 detects the presence or absence of a ball in the recess 72b. The protrusion 72d formed at the tip of the return ball arm 72 is in a state where the spring member 73 is bent downward by engaging with the cam 74a of the rotating portion 74. The rotating unit 74 rotates according to the rotation of the stepping motor 76 decelerated by the mechanism of the gear 74b and the relay gear unit 75.

FIG. 19 (3) is a diagram showing the state in which the protrusion 72d of the return ball arm 72 is engaged with the cam 74a of the rotating portion 74, developed in a plane for easy understanding. The states of FIGS. 19 (1) and (2) correspond to the position of the circled number 1 in FIG. 19 (3). In this state, the ball that has rolled out from the mitt accommodating portion 29 is accommodated in the recess 72 b of the return ball arm 72 and detected by the proximity sensor 77. After the ball is accommodated, the stepping motor 76 is driven by the control of the home system 20, and the rotating unit 74 rotates through the relay gear unit 75. The rotation direction is a counterclockwise direction in FIG. This direction is a state in which the rotating unit 74 represented by a plane moves in the direction of the dotted arrow in FIG. When the protrusion 72d reaches the position of the round numeral 2 by the movement of the rotating portion 74, the shape of the cam 74a is opened vertically upward, so that the protrusion 72d is released from the engagement. As a result, the spring member 73 bent downward by the return ball arm 72 is released at once, and the return ball arm 72 is suddenly rotated in the direction of the pitchers mound by the repulsive force of the spring.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an operation in which the return ball arm 72 throws the ball 80 in the direction of the pitchers mound due to the rapid rotation. After the ball 80 is thrown, the return ball arm 72 that has been rapidly rotated is stopped by the elastic member 78 to absorb the impact, and returns to the rotating portion 74 again. The rotating part 74 is rotated even after the protrusion 72d of the return ball arm 72 is released, and the protrusion 72d of the return ball arm 72 returned to the rotating part 74 side is located on the upper surface of the rotating part 74. Strictly speaking, the return ball arm 72 vibrates on the spring member 73, and the projection 72 d is positioned on the upper surface of the rotating portion 74 after the vibration has converged. Thereafter, the stepping motor 76 driven by the control of the home side system 20 stops the rotating unit 74 at a position where the position of the circled numeral 3 in FIG. Accordingly, the protrusion 72d is engaged with the cam 74a of the rotating portion 74 again. FIG. 21 is a view showing a state in which the protrusion 72d of the return ball arm 72 after returning the ball is engaged with the cam of the rotating unit 74 again. The proximity sensor 77 detects a state in which the protrusion 72 d of the return ball arm 72 is engaged with the cam of the rotating unit 74.

FIG. 22 is a modified example of the embodiment, in which a spiral spring 79 is provided on the lower side of the ball housing portion 72 b of the return ball arm 72. The spring 79 reinforces the spring member 73. However, if the spring 79 has a structure having an appropriate elastic coefficient, the ball 79 can be returned only by the spring 79 instead of the spring member 73.

  In this embodiment, the level of the pitching technology can be set to the basic level, the intermediate level, and the advanced level for general customers by the switch operation of the mound side system 6, and the contracted professional baseball or professional baseball Special levels can be set for players. When the beginner level or the advanced level is set, the guide image shown in FIG. 5 is projected from the projector 23 onto the screen plate 25 and displayed before the pitching. When the pitch starts, catcher, batter, and umpire images are displayed. Furthermore, when the thrown ball is hit by a batter image, an image of a flying ball and an image of a fielder chasing it are displayed in place of these images on the home side.

  In addition, if the advanced level is set, after the guide image is displayed before throwing, the ball type to be thrown by hand signs, such as straight, curve, shoot, fork, knuckle, palm, etc. A catcher image and a course image requesting the flight position of the ball passing on the home base are displayed. If a special level is set, the pitcher is free for the type and course of the ball to be thrown. The batter image in this case is selected by a pitcher switch operation. This selection will be described later. When the image of the catcher is displayed, the catcher image also performs a catching preparation operation in synchronization with the movement of the mitt 27 for catching the ball.

Next, taking the case where the advanced level is selected as an example, an image of the catcher that performs the catching preparation operation in synchronization with the movement of the mitt 27 for catching the pitched ball will be described.
When the pitcher is ready for pitching, in the arrangement of the electromagnets 26c shown in FIG. 15, the electromagnets 26c (4, 8) and (4, 7) are excited in the mitt 27 accommodated in the mitt accommodating portion 29. Next, the four electromagnets 26c of the blocks (4, 6), (4, 5), and (4, 4) shown in FIG. Move to position. Thereafter, images of catchers, batters, and umpires are displayed on the screen plate 25. However, in the following drawings, the batter and umpire images are omitted and only the operation of the catcher image is described.

  FIG. 23 is a catcher image 25ai1 as a reference image displayed on the screen plate 25. A mitt 27 is located at the position of the mitt image 25ai2. The display color of the mitt image 25ai2 is set in advance to substantially the same color as the color of the mitt 27, for example, brown. Accordingly, when viewed from the pitcher's mound, the presence of the mitt 27 is not conscious. In the example of FIG. 23, the ball type to be thrown by the hand sign of the catcher image 25ai1 is required. Further, the position of the ball passing on the home base is requested by the course image 25ai3 of square hatching. By the way, in this catcher image, the left pitcher is required to throw in a hatched section with a curve.

  FIG. 24 shows a state in which the ball 80 is caught by the movement of the mitt 27 when the ball is thrown according to the requested ball type and course, and the catcher's movement is synchronized with the movement of the mitt 27. The state where the image 25ai1 and the mitt image 25ai2 are moved to perform the catching preparation operation is shown. FIG. 25 and FIG. 26 perform the ball catching preparation operation in synchronization with the movement of the mitt 27 that catches the pitched ball 80 and the movement of the mitt 27 at the other hatching positions shown in FIG. A catcher image 25ai1 and a mitt image 25ai2 are shown.

  As is apparent from FIGS. 24 to 26, it is the mitt 27 that actually caught the ball 80, but the pitcher picks up the ball 80 as if it were a mitt image 25ai2 by the catching operation of the image 25ai1. Looks like. In either case, when the ball is caught, a pseudo ball catching sound such as “Baburn” or “Burn” is generated in accordance with the catch. In addition, a strike, a ball, a foul, and the like are shown by an operation of an unillustrated umpire image, and a pseudo sound thereof is generated. Further, when the ball is hit by the batter image, a pseudo hitting sound such as “Khan” or “Kakeen” is generated.

  After the ball 80 is caught by the mitt 27, the electromagnet 26c shown in FIG. 15 is excited one after another, and finally the electromagnet 26c (4, 9) is excited, so that the mitt 27 holding the ball 80 is Move to the mitt storage section 29. The image 25ai1 also moves the mitt image 25ai2 in synchronization with the movement of the mitt 27. Then, after the mitt 27 has moved to the position of the electromagnet 26c (4, 7), the mitt image 25ai2 is also stored in the electromagnet 26c (4, 7) even after the mitt 27 is further lowered and accommodated in the mitt accommodating portion 29. At the same time, the ball image is displayed in the mitt image 25ai2. Therefore, it appears to the pitcher that the ball 80 is held in the mitt image 25ai2 in the catcher image 25ai1.

  In the mitt accommodating portion 29, the caught ball 80 is returned toward the pitchers mound by the return device 28 as described above. In FIG. 3, the black circles indicated by the circled numbers represent the trajectory of the ball thrown from the pitcher's mound. The pitched ball flies at high speed with the round numbers 1, 2, and 3 and is caught by the mitt 27 with the round number 4. Next, the ball sent to the ball returning device 28 is returned with the circled number 5, gently draws a predetermined trajectory, reaches the circled number 6, and finally is caught by the pitcher again with the circled number 7. Even in the case of this return ball, the image performs a return ball operation. That is, in synchronization with the actual ball being sent from the mitt container 29 to the ball return device 28, the image of the catcher that takes out the ball image in the mitt image with the right hand is displayed. After this, as shown in FIG. 27, in synchronization with the return of the ball 80 by the ball return device 28, the catcher image also performs the ball return operation to match the trajectory of the ball 80 thrown from the ball return device 28. The right hand of the catcher image moves. Therefore, it appears to the pitcher as if the ball 80 was returned by the image of the catcher.

  The configuration of the ball returning device is not limited to this embodiment. For example, the ball launching device provided in the batting center is provided at the position of the return ball device of the embodiment, the launch force is adjusted so that the ball can be gently launched, and the ball sent from the mitt housing portion 29 is returned. Such a configuration may be adopted.

Next, system configurations of the mound side system 6 and the home side system 20 will be described.
FIG. 28 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mound-side system 6. The CPU 33 is connected to the ROM 34, RAM 35, display unit 36, switch unit 37, video camera 31 and camera control unit 32, mobile phone communication unit 38, communication unit 39, and sensor interface 40 via the system bus. The entire system is controlled by sending and receiving commands and data. The ROM 34 stores a control program executed by the CPU 33, initial data, and the like. The RAM 35 is a work area for the CPU 33. The switch unit 37 inputs the level of the above-mentioned pitching technique and other conditions according to the operation by a pitcher that throws the ball. The display unit 36 displays the data set by the switch unit 37 and the data of the determination result of the pitched ball. These data are stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 35. The mobile phone communication unit 38 performs infrared communication (or Bluetooth communication) in the customer's mobile phone housing unit provided in the vicinity of the switch unit 37, and the result of pitching after the pitching is finished, other commands, Send and receive data information. As other information, for example, when the usage time of PR100 is set, when the pitching is completed within the usage time, the application for the next virtual game is continued, and the player pitches himself and is displayed on the display unit. There are applications to download downloaded images to mobile phones. The communication unit 39 transmits and receives commands and data between the home side system 20 and the CMS 200 shown in FIG. The sensor interface 40 receives detection signals from the door sensor 1, the plate sensor 41, and the pitching sensor 42 and inputs them to the CPU 33.

FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating data stored in the RAM 35 and displayed on the display unit 36. In FIG. 29, (1) shows a score board of a virtual baseball game. When the ball thrown by the pitcher is hit by a batter image and as a result the runner is home-in, the score is displayed on the opponent team's scoreboard. Also, if the pitch is good, the team will also score. When the opponent team scores 5 points or more, the pitcher changes, that is, the game ends. (2) shows data indicating the determination result of the pitched ball. S is a strike, B is a ball. O is the number of outs, K is the number of strikeouts, WK is the number of foreballs, BB is the number of wild pitches, BK is the number of balks, HP is the number of dead balls, H1, H2, H3, and HR are each single The number of hits, 2 strikes, 3 strikes, home runs, R is the total number of hits, N is the number of balls thrown, and TO is the match time. LEVEL of (3) indicates the level of the pitching technique in which one level from the basic level 1, the intermediate level 2, the advanced level 3, and the special level 4 is set by a switch operation. The speed of (4) is data of the pitching speed of the ball. The course (5) is good / bad data for the requested course. The determination result of (6) is data of the determination result of the pitched ball, and is data corresponding to any of the pitching results of (2). The impact level (IMPACT) of (7) indicates the impact level of the ball received from the home side system 20. (8) shows batter type data selected by the contract player. Among them, the style represents the batter's posture such as high hitting and low hitting. In addition, the movement represents the type that moves the body in the batter box and waits for the ball, and the static represents the type that stops and waits for the ball.
LEVEL and batter selection data are transmitted to the home system 20.

  FIG. 30 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the home side system 20. The CPU 51 is connected to the ball catching device 55, the ball returning device 28, the video camera 19, and the camera control unit 30 configured by the projector control unit 24, the electromagnet 26c, the mitt 27, and the like, and the ROM 52, via the system bus. The system is connected to the RAM 53, the communication unit 54, the sound system 56, and the sensor interface 58, and commands and data are exchanged with each unit to control the entire system. The projector control unit 24 is an interface that gives a control signal of the CPU 51 to the projector 23. The ROM 53 stores a control program executed by the CPU 51, initial data, and the like. The RAM 53 is a work area for the CPU 51. The communication unit 54 transmits and receives commands and data to and from the mound side system 6. The sound system 56 generates pseudo sound data such as a catching sound, a hitting sound, and an umpire sound. An image memory 57 connected to the projector 23 stores various images displayed on the screen plate 25. The sensor interface 58 receives detection signals from the impact sensor 59 provided on the screen plate 25 and the ball sensor 77 of the ball return device 55 and inputs them to the CPU 51.

  FIG. 31 shows data stored in the RAM 53. LEVEL in (1) is a setting level received from the mound-side system 6. The determination result of (2) is the determination result of the ball received from the mound-side system 6, and the umpire image, batter image, fielder image, and pseudo sound are determined by this. The impact degree (IMPACT) of (3) is the impact degree of the ball detected by the impact sensor 59 and transmitted to the mound-side system 6. (4) is the data of the selected batter received from the mound side system 6 and corresponds to the data of FIG. 29 (8).

  FIG. 32 shows the data of a guide frame image and other types of images stored in the image memory 55. The plurality of types of images include the reference image before throwing shown in FIG. 23, a plurality of catch images (1) to (n) corresponding to the position of the electromagnet 26c, a ball image (1) when returning, The image (2) of the flying ball at the time of leaning, a series of consecutive return ball images (1) to (m) shown in FIG. 27, a hit image by the right batter and the left batter, and a plurality of images combined with the reference image Sign images (1) to (j), a plurality of fielder images (1) to (k), and batter images (1) to (i) of various appearances are stored. The fielder's image is a series of moving images that follow the flying ball, but which fielder's image is selected is determined by the ball type requested by the sign of the catcher image and the ball thrown for the requested course. The In the guide image shown in FIG. 5, the character indicating the determination result changes every time it is thrown, so it is not included in the guide frame image, and is designated at any time according to an instruction from the mound-side system 6. Are combined with the guide frame image and projected onto the screen plate 25 by the projector 23.

Next, the operation of the pitching system in this embodiment will be described.
FIG. 33 is a flowchart of the main routine of the CPU 33 in the mound-side system 6. When there is a registration access from the CMS 200 in FIG. 1, the registration is received. In the case of general registration, the telephone number and registration number of the registrant's mobile phone are received and stored in the RAM 35 (step S105). In the case of registering a contract player, the flag CTF is set to 1 (step S106). Thereafter, a pitching process is performed (step S107). In the case of a general customer, when an end prediction request is received from the CMS 200, the end time is predicted based on the situation of the virtual baseball game currently being pitched (step S109), and the remaining time T is transmitted ( Step S110). As described above, in the case of a general customer, the time limit for one pitch is set to 16 seconds, and the number of pitches of eight balls is set for one batter, so this time limit is set for each pitch. Assuming that all pitches have been used and all strikers have taken three strikes, the match time TO is approximately one hour according to the following formula.
TO = 16 (seconds) × 8 (pieces) × 27 (persons) = 3456 (seconds) = 57.6 (minutes)
However, there are actually three strikeouts, a home run may be hit, and the opponent may score 5 points or more and the game may end without going to 9 times. Therefore, judging from the progress of the virtual baseball game, the end time is predicted and transmitted to the CMS 200.

  34 to 36 show the pitching process of the mound-side system 6. When a general customer emits infrared rays from the mobile phone toward the door sensor 1 of the PR 100, the CPU 33 receives the detection signal of the door sensor 1 via the sensor interface 40 when the CTF is 0 (general customer), and opens the door. When a lock request is received (step SA2), the telephone number and registration number of the mobile phone stored in the RAM 35 are collated with the data received from the door sensor 1, and it is determined that the customer is a registered customer (step SA3), or When unlocking of the door is requested from the cellular phone of the contract player (CTF = 1), the door is unlocked and inserted (step SA4). When the customer or contract player, that is, the pitcher operates the switch unit 37, sets the level, checks on the initial screen of the display unit 36, and turns on the start button (steps SA5 to SA8), the flag STF is set, A start signal including data of a set level is transmitted to the home side system 20. When a ball is supplied from the ball return device 28 of the home side system 20, processing is divided depending on whether the pitcher is a general customer or a contract player (steps SA9 to SA13).

  When the pitcher is a general customer, a timer with a time limit of 16 seconds is started, and when the time limit elapses, the ball is declared. If the plate switch is turned on within the time limit, a pitching signal is sent to the home system 20. Send. Next, when the start of pitching is detected, the position of the ball detected by the video camera 31 is transmitted to the home system 20. When it is detected that the vehicle has passed the home, the pitched ball is determined, and the determination result is transmitted to the home-side system 20, stored in the RAM 35, and displayed on the display unit 36 (steps SA14 to SA26). After this, the timer starts again when the ball returns. When the game ends, the data stored in the RAM 35 is transmitted to the CMS 200, and a predetermined end process is performed (steps SA27 to SA31b).

  On the other hand, if the pitcher is a contract player, the batter list is displayed on the display unit 36 (step SA32). That is, the batter selection list shown in FIG. 31 (4) is displayed. When the virtual batter is selected, the selection data is transmitted to the home side system 20, and when the plate switch is turned on and the start of the pitching is detected, a pitching signal is transmitted to the home side system 20, and the video camera 31 is sent. Is transmitted to the home-side system 20. When it is detected that the vehicle has passed through the home, the image of the rotation and locus of the ball captured by the video camera 19 in the home system 20 is received and displayed on the display unit 36 (steps SA33 to SA42). Next, when the ball is returned (step SA44), if a batter change is requested by operating the switch unit 37 (step SA45), the batter list is displayed again. When the pitching is finished, a predetermined finishing process is performed (steps SA43 and SA46).

  FIG. 37 is a flowchart of the CPU 51 in the home-side system 20. When a pitching start signal is received from the mound side system 6, the level contained therein is stored in the register LEVEL of the RAM 53, and in the case of level 4, that is, a special level by a contract player, the received virtual The batter data is determined, and camera control for controlling the camera control unit 30 and the video camera 19 is performed (steps SB2 to SB6). That is, it is determined whether the virtual batter is right-handed or left-handed, the left and right positions of the video camera 19 are set, and the height of the video camera 19 is set according to the height of the batter. If it is not level 4, a guide image is displayed by the projector 23 (step SB7).

  When a pitching signal is received, when the ball position is received, the mitt 27 is moved to perform catching control, and the image is changed in synchronization with the movement of the mitt 27. When the ball is caught, return ball control is performed (steps SB10 to SB14). If it is not level 4, when a determination result of the pitched ball is received, a catching sound and an umpire sound, or a simulated sound of a hitting ball sound or a spectator's voice are generated, and an impact sensor is transmitted via the sensor interface 58. When an impact is detected from 59, it is stored in the register IMPACT of the RAM 53 and transmitted to the mound side system 6 (steps SB15 to SB21). Thereafter, an image of a guide for the next pitch is displayed according to an instruction from the mound side system 6. On the other hand, in the case of level 4, the moving image of the ball captured by the video camera 19 is transmitted to the mound side system 6, and when the batter change instruction is issued from the mound side system 6, the data is determined. Display the corresponding image.

FIG. 38 is a flowchart of a CMS (Central Management System) 200.
When there is a pitching reservation, if it is a general reservation, the telephone number of the applicant's mobile phone is input, and if charging is required, charging processing is performed based on the registered telephone number. After the billing process or when billing is not necessary due to a coupon or the like, the reserved number RSV is incremented (steps SC2 to SC7). On the other hand, if the pitching reservation is a contract player, the ID is registered, the PR100 of an appropriate number (i) is designated, and the flag CTF (i) is set (steps SC8 to SC10). In the case of a general reservation, PRs that are not used by contracted players are sequentially specified in the eight PRs (pitching rooms), and the predicted end time PT (n) is requested from the designated number n PR100. The waiting time AT of one customer is calculated by subtracting the time FT (n) at which the previous pitching was completed from the predicted end time to obtain the required time T (n) at which the current pitching is being performed. Then, RSV, which is the number of customers waiting to be pitched, is multiplied by AT to determine and notify the waiting time WT of the applicant. In addition, the applicant's telephone number and waiting number RSV are registered in the list RIST of waiting customers (steps SC11 to SC23).

  For example, assuming that all eight PR100s are used by a general customer and the average required time from the start to the end of the pitch is 40 minutes, the waiting time of one reservation person obtained by the calculation of 40/8 = 5 is 5 minutes. If there are 20 customers waiting to be thrown including the present applicant, the waiting time of the present applicant is 100 minutes, that is, a waiting time of 1 hour and 40 minutes. This waiting time WT is transmitted to the applicant's mobile phone by infrared communication and displayed on the screen. The waiting time may be displayed on a display device provided in the RCP 300 of FIG.

  When the end of the game is received from PR100 of any number n (n = 1 to 8), an email is sent to RIST (1) that is the head of the waiting-for-throwing customer list RIST (), and PR100 of number n Notify that you can throw. Then, the reservation number RSV is decremented and RIST () is incremented (steps SC24 to SC28). That is, if an arbitrary waiting number is k, RIST (k) is moved up to RIST (k-1), and RIST (2), who is second in the waiting-for-throwing customer list, is the lead RIST (1). Updated to

  When the waiting time AT of one reservation person obtained by calculation elapses when neither the pitching reservation nor the game end is received from the PR 100, the customer to be notified in the pitch waiting customer list is obtained. A predetermined time is divided by AT to obtain a quotient q which is an integer part, and a customer corresponding to RIST (q + 1) is searched from RIST. If the corresponding customer is in the RIST, an email that is a predetermined time before is sent to the customer's telephone number (steps SC29 to SC33). For example, if the AT is 5 minutes and the notification is made 15 minutes before the time when the pitch can be made, q = 15/5 = 3. Can be thrown at "is sent.

  When the pitching system of the present invention is installed in a store such as a supermarket or a department store, or installed in a sports facility affiliated with such a store, the sales amount of goods or services (services) provided by the store Based on the above, it may be configured to further include a fee management system (fee management means) for issuing a pitch coupon coupon or the like for discounting a fee for a pitch. For example, one throwing coupon for 5000 yen sales, two throwing coupons for 10,000 yen sales, and 10 throwing coupons for 50000 yen sales to a mobile phone electronically Issue. Further, the fee management system may issue a gift certificate to the mobile phone of the customer in accordance with an excellent pitching result in the virtual baseball game of the pitching system. For example, a gift certificate of 5000 yen is issued electronically to a mobile phone when shutting out, a gift certificate of 10,000 yen for no-hit no-run, and a gift certificate of 50000 yen for a complete game.

As described above, the pitching system according to the first embodiment includes the screen plate 25 arranged substantially vertically behind the home base 8 and the direction of the screen plate 25 from the pitcher's mound side by a two-dimensional solid-state imaging device. Rectangular frames 10, 11, 12 that are vertically fixed to the ceiling 4, the floor 5, and the left and right walls at a plurality of positions in the pitching room between the video camera 31 to be imaged and the pitcher's mound and the screen plate 25. , 13 are provided in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction on the inner side on the left and the inner side on the left, and a video camera is used to map the horizontal and vertical stripes of the lower inner side and the right inner side of each frame facing each other. Shields the mirrors reflecting in the direction of 31 and the horizontal stripes and vertical stripes mapped by the horizontal and vertical mirrors at each position. When the video camera 31 captures the mapping of the ball, the CPU 33 detects the horizontal position, the vertical position, and the position in the direction of the screen plate 25 of the pitched ball, and is synchronized with the position of the ball detected by the CPU 31. And a projector 23 that displays an image of a catcher that performs a ball catching operation on the front surface of the screen plate. When the pitched ball passes through a predetermined three-dimensional space above the home base 8, the CPU 33 determines the pitching content of the ball and advances a virtual baseball game according to the determination result.
Therefore, by accurately determining the pitched ball, it is possible to get a sense of realism reminiscent of an actual baseball game. Therefore, by installing it in facilities such as a batting center, shopping center, and baseball field, It is possible to develop a solid sports business that will satisfy customers with high reputation.

In the pitching system of the first embodiment, the horizontal and vertical stripe regions of each frame are colored in a color different from the color of the white ball, that is, red, green, blue, and the like. It is a striped pattern.
Therefore, it is possible to reliably detect a state in which the mapping of the horizontal and vertical stripes colored in colors such as red, green, and blue is shielded by the ball passing through each frame.

Further, in the pitching system according to the first embodiment, the projector 23, prior to pitching, displays an image representing a determination result corresponding to the position of the ball passing through the three-dimensional space, that is, the strike (S) shown in FIG. Images of the ball (B), home run (H), etc. are displayed on the front surface of the screen plate 25, and after the start of pitching, the image of the catcher of FIG. As a modified example, even after the image of the catcher is displayed, an image representing the determination result may be displayed over the image.
Therefore, the pitcher determines the pitching motion based on the displayed determination result, so that a sense of realism reminiscent of an actual baseball game can be obtained.
Further, the projector 23 displays an umpire image representing the determination result and an image of a batter swinging the bat on the front surface of the screen plate 25 corresponding to the position of the ball that has passed through the three-dimensional space.
Therefore, a realistic feeling reminiscent of an actual baseball game can be obtained.

In addition, the pitching system of the first embodiment includes a video camera 19 that is an imaging means for imaging a ball thrown from the pitcher's mound behind the home base 8, and the height of the video camera 19 from the home base 8. It further includes a camera control unit 30 that is an imaging movement unit that moves the left and right positions of the video camera 19 with respect to the home base 8 according to a setting operation in the switch unit 37 of the mound-side system 6. Then, a moving image of the flying ball is captured and transmitted to the mound side system 6. The system 6 stores the moving image in the RAM 35 and displays it on the display unit 36 that is a display device on the mound side.
Therefore, the pitcher can analyze the course and change of the ball he has thrown in detail and check his form. Alternatively, the video camera 19 can download a moving image or a still image of the figure that the customer has pitched from the system 6 to the mobile phone by capturing the pitching motion of the customer.

In addition, the pitching system according to the first embodiment includes an RCP 300 as a reservation receiving unit that receives a pitching reservation via the mobile phone 600, and a CMS 200 that performs wireless communication with the reserved mobile phone 600. . The CPU 33 of the mound-side system 6 predicts the time when the pitching will end based on the progress of the virtual baseball game and transmits the predicted end time to the CMS 200. The CMS 200 stage receives the predicted end time received from the CPU 33. Based on this, a time when a pitch can be thrown is notified to the reserved mobile phone 600 by e-mail.
Therefore, even if there are many customers who have booked a pitch, there is no need to wait for a long time until the pitching order arrives, and other actions can be completed during the waiting time until the time of the pitch is planned. Therefore, it is possible to develop a sports business that can satisfy many customers by eliminating the mental pain of customers.

Furthermore, the pitching system according to the first embodiment discounts a fee for a pitch based on the amount of sales at a store that provides the product or service, and the product or service according to an excellent pitch result in a virtual baseball game. And a fee management system for discounting the fee.
Therefore, by installing this pitching system in a store such as a shopping center or a department store, it is possible to develop a sports business that contributes to the sales of the store by the privilege given to the customer.

As a modification of the pitching system of the first embodiment, if a store that provides goods or services is a chain store, and there are pitching systems in various parts of the country, a discount ticket or a free ticket for throwing as a gift card, It can also be given to acquaintances who like baseball and clients on the job.
Therefore, according to the pitching system of this modification, a wide range of sports business can be developed nationwide.

In the pitching system of the first embodiment, two frames 13 and 14 out of the four rectangular frames 10, 11, 12, and 13 in the pitching room correspond to the front edge and the rear edge of the home base 8. When the video camera 31 captures a mapping of a ball that shields the mapping of the horizontal and vertical stripe areas in the frames 13 and 14 reflected by the horizontal and vertical mirrors, the CPU 33 Is a solid in a vertical range that is set in advance, that is, a range from the knee up to the bottom of the heel of the image of the batter displayed on the front surface of the screen board 25, with the range of the home base 8 being a horizontal section. The trajectory of the ball passing through the space and the speed of the ball passing from the front edge to the rear edge of the home base 8 are determined.
Therefore, according to this pitching system, the pitched ball can be determined with high accuracy.

In addition, the pitching system of the first embodiment includes the horizontal position, the vertical position, and the position of the home base direction of the ball thrown from the pitcher's mound toward the home base 8, that is, the position of the ball in the three-dimensional space. And a mitt 27 for catching a ball thrown from the pitcher's mound behind the home base 8 in accordance with the position detection signal output from the video camera 31. When a ball is caught by the ball catching device composed of other components and the ball catching device, the pitching content of the ball is determined based on the ball catching position, and a virtual baseball game is performed according to the determination result And a CPU 33 for proceeding.
Therefore, according to this pitching system, since the pitched ball is caught by the mitt 27, an attractive sports business that attracts many customers can be developed by installing it in a batting center or other facilities.

The pitching system according to the first embodiment selects an image of a catcher that performs a catching operation in synchronization with the catching operation of the mitt 27 based on the position detection signal output from the video camera 31, and 27 is provided with a projector 23 that projects on the front surface of a screen plate 25 provided behind 27.
Therefore, according to this pitching system, since the image of the catcher seems to catch the pitched ball, a sense of realism reminiscent of an actual baseball game can be obtained.

Further, in the pitching system of the first embodiment, a plurality of electromagnets 26c provided on the back surface of the electromagnet plate 26 spaced apart from the back surface of the screen plate 25 that withstands the impact of the ball thrown from the pitchers mound at a predetermined interval; And a drive circuit that supplies a drive current to the electromagnet 26c according to a position detection signal output from the video camera 31, and the mitt 27 holds the ball by reducing the impact of the permanent magnet 27m and the pitched ball. It has an elastic member 27e such as urethane and a spring 27g to move the position of the front surface of the screen plate 25 corresponding to the electromagnet 26c to which the drive current is supplied by the drive circuit.
Therefore, due to the interaction of the magnetic force between the electromagnet 26c and the permanent magnet 27m, the mitt 27 moves at high speed on the vertical front surface of the screen plate 25, and the flying ball can be reliably caught.

Further, the pitching system of the first embodiment rotates in the direction of the pitcher's mound and the inclined groove of the mitt housing portion 29 for guiding the ball caught by the mitt 27 to a predetermined position near the home base 8. A return ball arm 72 that is elastic in the vertical direction by the spring member 73 and that accommodates the ball guided by the inclined groove of the mitt storage portion 29 at a predetermined position, and the return ball arm 72 and the spring member according to a drive signal 73 is provided with a ball return device 28 that bends 73 downward and throws the ball accommodated in the ball return arm 72 toward the pitchers mound.
Alternatively, as a modified example of the first embodiment, a cylindrical member having an opening in the direction of the pitcher's mound, a spring member provided inside the cylindrical member, and an inclined groove of the mitt accommodating portion 29, the tube is formed from the opening. When the ball is accommodated inside the member, the spring member is compressed to the inside of the cylindrical member, and the mechanism is configured to release the compression at once and return the accommodated ball toward the pitchers mound. It may be.
In addition to the first embodiment and the modified example, the configuration of the ball returning device is that the ball is temporarily caught by the mitt 27 of the first embodiment, and then directly pitchers by the repulsive force of the spring 27g of the mitt 27. The structure which returns to a mound side may be sufficient.
Therefore, a ball thrown from the pitcher mound can be automatically returned to the pitcher without using a complicated mechanism such as a conveyor. Further, since the pitched ball is immediately returned to the pitcher, only one ball is required, which is effective in reducing the cost of the system.
Further, in this case, since the image of the catcher that performs the returning ball operation in synchronization with the throwing operation of the returning device 28 is projected from the projector 23 to the front surface of the screen plate 25, the image of the catcher returns as if the image of the catcher returned. As you can see, you get a sense of realism reminiscent of an actual baseball game.

In the first embodiment, the projector 23 is controlled by the CPU 51 of the home-side system 20, but is configured to be connected to the system bus of the mound-side system 6 and controlled by the CPU 33 of the mound-side system 6. May be.
Furthermore, in the first embodiment and the second and third embodiments described later, the mound-side system 6 and the home-side system 20 transmit and receive commands and data at high speed by wireless communication or wired communication. Of course, it can be constructed as one system. In this case, the entire system is managed by one high-performance CPU. Alternatively, the entire system can be managed by a CPU of the control system, and position detection and other arithmetic processing can be performed at high speed by a CPU dedicated to arithmetic processing.

  Next, a pitching system according to the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 39 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX in FIG. 2 (3), and shows the internal configuration of the PR 100 in the second embodiment. In FIG. 39, the same components as those shown in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals. Also in the second embodiment, a screen 81 for displaying an image projected from the projector 23 is provided, but the mitt 27 as in the first embodiment is not provided. Since the image from the projector 23 is projected and projected on the screen 81, the front surface thereof is white as in the first embodiment. However, the screen 81 in this case is made of a thick fabric material made of polyester. Further, the electromagnet plate 26 having the electromagnet 26c as in the first embodiment is not provided. The screen 81 is integrated in close contact with the surface of an impact buffer plate 82 encapsulating urethane, which is an elastic material mixed with glass fiber or rubber, in a removable state. The shock absorbing plate 82 is attached to guide rails (not shown) provided on the ceiling 4 and the floor 5. The guide rail is provided with shock damper oil dampers 83 at positions corresponding to the four corners of the left, right, top and bottom of the shock buffer plate 82. Further, an impact sensor (not shown) similar to that of the first embodiment is provided at a predetermined position of the impact buffer plate 82.

  The configuration of the mound side system 6 is the same as the system configuration of the first embodiment shown in FIG. On the other hand, in the system 20 of the first embodiment, the ball catching device 55 is not provided and the video camera 19 and the camera control device 30 are not provided in the system configuration of the first embodiment shown in FIG. The other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment. Therefore, the drawing of the system configuration of the home side system 20 in the second embodiment is omitted. Since the video camera 19 and the camera control device 30 are not provided, the second embodiment is not a system used by professional baseball players and professional baseball players, but a system exclusively used by general customers.

  In other words, in the second embodiment, any one of the beginner level, the intermediate level, and the advanced level can be set by the switch unit 37 for the pitching technology level of the mound side system 6. Therefore, the operation of the mound-side system 6 of the second embodiment does not include the flowchart of FIG. 36 in the first embodiment. Moreover, in the home side system 20 of 2nd Embodiment, the process of step SB4, SB5, SB6, SB15, SB22, and step SB23 is not included in the flowchart of 1st Embodiment shown in FIG. Also, in the central management system 200 of the second embodiment, the processes of steps SC8, SC9, SC10, and step SC12 are not included in the flowchart of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 29, a black circle indicated by a circled number represents the trajectory of the ball thrown from the pitcher's mound. The thrown ball flies at high speed with the circle numbers 1, 2, and 3 and collides with the screen 81 with the circle number 4. In this case, as in the first embodiment, an image of a catcher that performs a catching preparation operation in synchronization with the flying position of the ball is projected from the projector 23 on the screen 81. However, unlike the first embodiment, since there is no mitt that actually catches the ball, the ball that collided with the screen 81 is subjected to the restoring action of the urethane after the shock is absorbed by the distortion of the urethane of the shock absorbing plate 82. Rebounded at a moderate speed by the repulsive force. Therefore, the ball rebounded on the screen 81 falls on the floor 5 in front of the screen 81 as indicated by the circled numeral 5 in FIG. As shown in FIG. 29, the floor 5 where the balls fall is a slope that is lowered to the left side of the screen 81 when viewed from the screen 81 side and the pitcher mound. Further, in the gates 11, 12, and 13, a notch having a height of about 10 cm and a width of about 10 cm from the slope of the floor 5 is formed in the lower part of the wall side corresponding to the left side of the screen 81 as shown in the figure. Has been. For this reason, the dropped ball rolls on the slope of the floor 5 with the round numeral 6 and is accommodated in the ball return device 28. After this, as in the first embodiment, the ball sent to the ball returning device 28 is returned by the round numeral 7, gently draws a predetermined trajectory and reaches the round numeral 8, and finally the round numeral 9 Then the pitcher catches the ball again. In the case of this return ball, as in the case of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 27, the right hand of the image of the catcher moves in accordance with the trajectory of the ball 80 thrown from the return ball device 28.

  As described above, the pitching system in the second embodiment is a simplification of the pitching system in the first embodiment, and can be constructed at a lower cost than in the first embodiment. In the second embodiment, the ball colliding with the screen 81 falls on the floor 5, but in the catcher image projected onto the screen 81 by the projector 23, the ball image is displayed in the mitt image after the ball collision. The Therefore, even after the actual ball falls, it appears that the pitched ball is caught by the pitcher.

  Further, as a modification of the second embodiment, as an image projected and projected from the projector 23 onto the screen 81, a batter image and an umpire image are displayed in the same manner as in the first embodiment, but a catcher image is not displayed. In this case, an actual human catcher catches the ball thrown in front of the screen 81. That is, a virtual baseball game is enjoyed by two customers or three or more customers. In this case, in the mound-side system 6, the CPU 33 reads the sign instruction issued from the actual catcher from the screen imaged by the video camera 31, and throws based on the sign instruction and the position of the mitt held. Determine the ball that was played. For this purpose, the catcher uses a glove for the right hand with a conspicuous color at the position of the nail.

  As described above, according to the pitching system of the second embodiment, the ball thrown by the mitt 27 as in the first embodiment is not caught, but the thrown ball looks as if the image of the catcher is Since it seems to catch a ball and to return a ball that has been caught, it feels like a real baseball game.

Next, a pitching system according to a third embodiment will be described.
In the third embodiment, as in the first and second embodiments, the image of the catcher, the image of the batter, and the image of the umpire that perform the catching preparation operation on the pitched ball are displayed by the projector. A projector is arranged behind the home base. An image projected from the projector is displayed from behind on a screen plate provided at a position in front of the projector. A wire mesh is provided in front of the screen plate, and a transparent thick vinyl curtain is attached to the surface thereof, that is, the surface on the pitcher mound side. The wire mesh used is an inexpensive houndstooth mesh used in outdoor parking lots and the like. About another structure, it is the same as 1st Embodiment.

  From the pitcher mound side, the wire mesh can be seen through the transparent vinyl curtain, but since there is a screen with an image displayed behind the wire mesh, the wire mesh is almost inconspicuous from the pitcher mound 18 meters away by the light from the back. . This is because the outline of the wire mesh is irregularly reflected by light from the rear and looks thinner than the actual one. That is, the same applies to vertical and horizontal grid-like fences, not limited to a staggered wire mesh, but the degree of recognition of the contour differs considerably when light is received from the front and when light is received from the rear. .

As described above, according to the pitching system of the third embodiment, the ball thrown by the mitt 27 is not caught as in the first embodiment, but is thrown in the same manner as in the second embodiment. The ball looks as if the image of the catcher is catching the ball, and the ball that is caught is returned, so that a realistic feeling reminiscent of an actual baseball game is obtained.
In addition, according to the pitching system of the third embodiment, even if a ball is received, it is not easily damaged, and a houndstooth net having appropriate elasticity is used from behind. The wire mesh can be made inconspicuous by applying light. However, since the transparent thick vinyl curtain attached to the wire mesh is gradually damaged, it is necessary to replace it periodically.

Next, a pitching system according to a fourth embodiment will be described.
40 and 41 are cross-sectional views taken along lines XX and YY in FIG. 2 (3), respectively, and show the internal configuration of the PR 100 in the fourth embodiment. 40 and 41, the projector 23 has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3, but is installed in a state of being inclined at a position closer to the floor 5 than in the first embodiment. Further, it is installed in a sturdy box 23a for protection from a thrown ball and a returned ball, and an image is projected from the opening (not shown) of the box 23a onto the front surface of the screen plate 25. Yes. The positions of the mound-side video camera 31 and the home-side screen plate 25 and the mitt 27, and the positions of the pitcher's mound plate 7 and the home base 8 are the same as in the first embodiment. In addition, although the video camera 19 etc. are provided behind the screen board 25 similarly to 1st Embodiment shown in FIG. 4, since description overlaps, it is abbreviate | omitting in FIG. 40 and FIG. .

40 and 41, ten sx1 to sx10 that are areas directly colored on the floor 5 with a red stripe pattern or areas where a colored plate is fixed to the floor 5 are provided on the upper surface of the floor 5. 10 mirrors mx1 to mx10 are provided on the lower surface of the ceiling 4 corresponding to the position of each stripe pattern, and the optical image of each corresponding red stripe pattern in the horizontal direction is directed to the video camera 31 by each mirror. It is structured to be reflected. Similarly, corresponding to the positions of the striped patterns sx1 to sx10 on the floor surface and the mirrors mx1 to mx10 on the ceiling surface, the left side wall surface as viewed from the mound side has a red striped pattern directly on the wall. 10 sy1 to sy10 areas that are colored areas or areas where colored plates are fixed to the wall are provided, and 10 mirrors my1 to my10 are provided on the surface of the right wall. Thus, the optical image of each corresponding red stripe pattern in the vertical direction is reflected toward the video camera 31. That is, as in the first embodiment, the corresponding side optical image is reflected by the mirror toward the video camera 31, and the horizontal and vertical striped optical images at each position are all captured by the video camera 31. In the first embodiment, the mirrors are provided at four positions up to the rear edge of the home base 8, but in the fourth embodiment, the mirrors are provided at ten positions. In addition, a striped area and a mirror are provided on the rear side of the home base 8.
The angle of the reflecting surface in each mirror may be fixed, but may be adjustable. Further, the arrangement of the striped region and the mirror may be reversed from the arrangement of FIGS. 40 and 41. The point is that the video camera 31 can capture all the striped light images in the horizontal and vertical directions at each position.

  Here, assuming that the combination of each stripe pattern and each mirror in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction is represented by the gates g1 to g10 for convenience, g8 is arranged at the position of the front edge of the home base 8. The distance between the position of g8 and the position of g9 is just 1 m, and the position of g9 is slightly over 1 m from the surface of the screen 25, that is, the surface on which the image of the projector 23 is projected. Further, g8 to g7 are just 1 m, and thereafter g7 to g1 are arranged at intervals of just 1 m, respectively. g10 is arranged at the position of the rear edge of the home base 8. That is, g1 to g9 excluding the position of g10 are arranged at an interval of exactly 1 m. g1 to g9 are arranged to detect the flying position of the pitched ball, and g10 is arranged together with g9 to judge the ball that has passed through the three-dimensional space above the home base 8.

  As in the first embodiment, the screen 25 is made of polycarbonate mixed with glass fibers, and the surface is detachably attached with a white resin or cloth for clearly displaying an image from the projector 23. However, unlike the case of the first embodiment, a shock absorber 25a having a spring and a bearing (not shown) is provided between the screen plate 25 and the floor 5 and the ceiling 4 at the position shown in FIG. Yes. Even when the screen plate 25 receives an impact of a ball, the shock absorber 25a absorbs the impact. Further, 196 electromagnets are directly attached to the back surface of the screen plate 25. Similarly to the case of the first embodiment, the mitt 27 moves on the surface of the screen plate 25 in accordance with the excitation of the electromagnet. FIG. 42 is a diagram showing the structure of the mitt 27 and the attachment position of the electromagnet. 42 (1) is a front view of the mitt 27, and FIG. 42 (2) shows the mitt 27 along the line XX of FIG. 42 (1), a part of the screen plate 25 at that position, and an electromagnet. It is sectional drawing which shows this structure. The electromagnet is the same as the structure of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 14B except that the electromagnet is attached to the back surface of the screen plate 25. Further, the structure of the mitt 27 is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 14, and the same constituent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals. However, in the mitt 27 according to the fourth embodiment, the permanent magnet 27m and the elastic member 27h are fixed to the cylindrical member 27a by a locking means (not shown) such as a screw or a crimping pin. Further, the surface of the permanent magnet 27m in contact with the surface of the screen plate 25 is subjected to surface processing for reducing the friction coefficient. For example, a low friction coefficient resin member having the same shape as the permanent magnet 27m is bonded.

  FIG. 43 is a diagram illustrating an image 31 d captured by the video camera 31. Similar to the first embodiment, the video camera 31 includes a MOS-type image sensor that can select and read an arbitrary portion of the imaging screen at random using an XY address. An image 25ai1 of the catcher imaged on the screen plate 25 by the projector 23 is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. Optical images of the horizontal red stripe patterns sx1 to sx9 reflected by the mirrors mx1 to mx9 shown in FIGS. 40 and 41, and the red horizontal stripe patterns sy1 to sy9 reflected by the mirrors my1 to my9. The captured images of the optical images are in the form of red images ix1 to ix9 in the horizontal direction and red images iy1 to iy9 in the vertical direction. Note that the images of the striped patterns x10 and y10 provided at the position of the rear edge of the home base 8 are omitted in FIG. 43 for convenience of explanation.

  FIG. 44 is a diagram showing a system configuration in the fourth embodiment. In the first embodiment, the system on the mound side and the system on the home side are configured to communicate with each other by radio. In the fourth embodiment, the entire PR 100 is configured by the system 6 installed on the mound side shown in FIG. Is configured to control. That is, as shown in FIG. 44, the CPU 33 is installed on the home side, such as the projector control unit 24, the return ball control unit 28, the sound system 56, and the ball catching device 57, which are connected to the dedicated system bus. Control components directly. The projector control unit 24 is an interface that gives a control signal from the CPU 33 to the projector 23. Other components connected to the system bus and controlled by the CPU 33 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and are therefore denoted by the same reference numerals, and descriptions of these functions and operations are omitted. Further, the communication process with the central management system (CMS) is also the same as that in the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 45 is a flowchart of the main routine of the CPU 33 in the fourth embodiment. This flowchart is a configuration in which a ball catching process (step S111) is newly added after the pitching process of step S107 in the flowchart of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 33. The same. However, in the initialization in step S101, scan preparation processing is performed for detecting the position of the flying ball at a higher speed than in the first embodiment.

  46 (1) and 46 (2) are enlarged views of any one image ixk and iyk having a red stripe pattern in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction in the image 31d shown in FIG. It is. As shown in FIG. 46, the horizontal striped pattern image ixk exists in the range of coordinates (x1, y1), (x2, y2), (x3, y3), (x4, y4). The vertical striped pattern image ixk exists in the range of coordinates (x5, y5), (x6, y6), (x7, y7), (x8, y8). The CPU 33 performs a scan preparation process so as to select and read out one line of pixels in the horizontal direction and one line of pixels in the vertical direction within these ranges.

FIG. 47 is a flowchart of the scan preparation process executed by the CPU 33. The variable n is set to 1 (step SD1), and the loop process from step SD2 to step SD7 is performed while incrementing the value of n. In this loop processing, a horizontal striped image ixn designated by n is detected (step SD2), and the horizontal scan position is calculated (step SD3). In the case of FIG. 45 (1) where n = k, the scan position of one line from the horizontal coordinates hxk1 to hxk2 in the vertical y coordinate hyk is calculated by the following calculation formula.
hyk = (y1 + y2 + y3 + y4) / 4
hxk1 = (x1 + x3) / 2
hxk2 = (x2 + x4) / 2
Next, the vertical striped image iyn designated by n is detected (step SD4), and the vertical scan position is calculated (step SD5). In the case of FIG. 45 (2) where n = k, the scan position of one line from the vertical coordinates vyk1 to vyk2 in the horizontal x-coordinate vxk is calculated by the following arithmetic expression.
vxk = (x5 + x6 + x7 + x8) / 4
vyk1 = (y5 + y6) / 2
vyk2 = (y7 + y8) / 2
Next, the value of n is incremented (step SD6), and it is determined whether or not the value of n exceeds 9 (step SD7). When the value of n is 9 or less, the process proceeds to step SD2 and the loop process up to step SD7 is repeated. In step SD7, if the value of n exceeds 9, that is, the horizontal and vertical one-line scan positions are calculated for all the horizontal and vertical red striped images at the nine positions. When is completed, the calculated scan position is stored and set in the RAM 35 (step SD8).

As a result, when the pitched ball passes through the positions of the gate g1 to the gate g9, the horizontal and vertical ones are blocked by the balls that block the light images of the red stripe pattern in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction at the respective positions. The ball image overlaps the line image. Therefore, the horizontal and vertical positions of the ball passing through any gate gk can be detected. Furthermore, since the distance from the front edge of the pitcher's mound plate 7 to the front edge of the home base 8 is 18 m, the ball g1 is placed at a position 11 m from the front edge of the plate 7, and the gate g1 To the gate g9 are arranged at an interval of 1 m. As a result, it is also possible to detect the position in the depth direction passing through each gate arranged at 1 m intervals. Accordingly, as in the case of the first embodiment, the three-dimensional position of the pitched ball can be detected by the two-dimensional MOS image sensor of the video camera 31. Furthermore, since the position of the ball can be detected simply by reading out one line image in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, the position of the ball can be detected at an extremely high speed.
As a modified example of the fourth embodiment, the position of the ball may be detected by increasing the position of the gate, for example, at an interval of 50 cm. The position of the ball may be detected at intervals. Furthermore, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the interval between the gates is not equal, but the interval becomes smaller as the distance from the home base 8 is closer. For example, it is possible to detect the flight position of the ball at different intervals such as 2 m, 1 m, 50 cm, and 25 cm.

  A ball thrown at a speed of 144 km per hour passes a distance of 1 m in a time of 40 ms. Therefore, the movement of the mitt 27 that moves the surface of the screen plate 25 and catches the ball by detecting the three-dimensional position of the ball every time 40 ms elapses after passing through the gate g1. Control and control of the image of the catcher imaged on the surface of the screen plate 25 in synchronization with the movement of the mitt 27 can be processed at a very high speed. In the case of the fourth embodiment, the ball position interpolation processing as in the first embodiment is not required by the gates g1 to g9 arranged at 1 m intervals at nine positions. Of course, as in the case of the first embodiment, it is also possible to predict and interpolate the position of the ball up to the next gate based on the position of the ball detected at the position of each gate. In short, the most appropriate gate arrangement may be selected according to the performance of the video camera 31 and the CPU 33.

  FIG. 48 is a flowchart of the ball catching process in step S111 of FIG. After the ball is thrown, an animation image of the catcher, umpire, and batter is displayed (step SE1), and a catch control (step SE2) that gives a control signal to the electromagnet according to the detected position of the ball, and The animation image is changed (step SE3). And it is discriminate | determined whether catching was carried out by the mitt 27 (step SE4), and when catching is not carried out, the loop process from step SE2 to step SE4 is repeated. When the ball is caught in step SE4, return ball control is performed (step SE5). Next, it is determined whether or not the set LEVEL is 4 (special level) (step SE6). When the LEVEL is 4, the process returns to the main flowchart, but the LEVEL is any one of 1 to 3. In this case, a simulated sound such as a ball catching sound, an umpire call, or a hit ball sound is generated according to the result of the thrown ball (step SE7), and the animation image is changed at the same time. (Step SE8). Further, it is determined whether or not the impact of the ball has been detected (step SE9), and when detected, the degree of impact is stored in the RAM 35 (step SE10).

As described above, according to the fourth embodiment, the screen plate 25 disposed substantially vertically behind the home base 8 and the direction of the screen plate 25 from the pitcher's mound side in the two-dimensional CMOS type solid-state imaging. At the nine positions of the pitching room between the video camera 31 picked up by the element and the pitcher's mound and the screen plate 25, it is provided on the ceiling 4 and one wall side, and on the opposite floor 5 and the other wall side. Horizontal and vertical mirrors mx1 to mx9 and my1 to my9 that reflect the mapping of horizontal stripes and vertical stripes of red-colored regions sx1 to sx9 and sy1 to sy9 in the direction of the video camera 31, and positions Mapping of horizontal and vertical stripes reflected by horizontal and vertical mirrors in When the video camera 31 captures a map of the ball that shines, the CPU 33 detects the horizontal position, the vertical position, and the position of the screen plate 25 in the direction of the thrown ball, and synchronizes with the position of the ball detected by the CPU 33. And a projector 23 that displays an image of a catcher that performs a ball catching operation on the front surface of the screen plate 25, and the CPU 33 is assumed to be a predetermined three-dimensional space above the home base 8, that is, the pitch of the pitched ball. When passing through a three-dimensional space having a horizontal cross section in the range of the home base 8 in the range from above the knee of the batter to the base of the heel, the pitching content of the ball is determined, and the virtual content is determined according to the determination result. Advance the baseball game.
Therefore, as in the first embodiment, by accurately determining the pitched ball, a realistic feeling reminiscent of an actual baseball game can be obtained, so that a batting center, a shopping center, a baseball field, etc. By installing it in the facility, it is possible to develop a solid sports business that will satisfy and satisfy many customers.

  Further, according to the fourth embodiment, it is only necessary to read out one line of pixels in the horizontal and vertical directions at each position in the direction of the screen plate 25 by the XY address type CMOS solid-state imaging device. The process for detecting the three-dimensional flight position of the ball at each position becomes extremely fast. For example, as in the case of the fourth embodiment, when detecting a ball from the position of the pitcher's mound plate 7 to 11 m, that is, the position of 9 m from the catching position of the mitt 27, 9 m, 7 m, 6 m, 5m, 4.5m, 4m, 3.5m, 3m, 2.5m, 2m, 1.75m, 1.5m, 1.25m, 1m, 0.75m, 0.5m, 0.25m A configuration is possible in which the interval at which the position of the ball is detected becomes smaller as it approaches the ball position. A ball thrown at a speed of 144 km per hour passes a distance of 0.25 m in a time of 10 ms, but the processing time for reading out one line of pixels in the horizontal and vertical directions and detecting the position of the ball is commercially available. Even if a normal image pickup device and CPU are used, 1 ms is sufficient, so that even a ball thrown by a professional baseball pitcher can be controlled to be caught sufficiently.

  In addition, the structure in each said embodiment is only an example of this invention. Other embodiments that can be conceived by engineers having ordinary knowledge in the technical field of the present invention based on the above embodiments are also included in the present invention. That is, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and viewpoint of the present invention.

The figure which shows the structure of the pitching system in 1st Embodiment of this invention. (1) is a figure which shows the external appearance of the pitching room in FIG. 1, (2) is the right view, (3) is the left view. The figure which shows the internal structure of the pitching room of the cross section along the XX line of FIG. The figure which shows arrangement | positioning of the video camera and camera control part of a home side. The figure which looked at the home side from pitcher mound. The figure which shows the image of the screen of the home side seen through the some gate. The figure which shows the structure of the optical element of a gate. The figure which shows the image imaged by the video camera of the mound side. The figure which shows the signal processing which detects the position of the ball to fly. The figure which shows the image which detects the position of the ball to fly. The figure which shows a series of images which detected the position of the ball to fly. The figure which shows the continuous image which detected the position of the ball to fly. The figure which shows the image of the catcher displayed on the screen. (1) is a front view which shows the structure of a mitt, (2) is sectional drawing along the XX line of (1). The figure which shows the structure of an electromagnet plate, a mitt, a mitt accommodating part, and a ball return apparatus. (1) is a cross-sectional view of a mitt that catches a ball, a screen, and an electromagnet plate, and (2) is a diagram in which a mitt that catches a ball is accommodated in a mitt accommodating portion. Sectional drawing before pushing out a ball from a mitt. Sectional drawing after pushing a ball out of a mitt. (1) is a front view showing a configuration of a ball returning device, (2) is a plan view of the ball returning device, and (3) is a diagram in which the cam structure of the ball returning device is developed in a plane. The figure which shows the ball return apparatus which throws a ball | bowl. The figure which shows the ball return apparatus after returning a ball. The figure which shows the ball return apparatus in the modification of 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the image of the catcher displayed on the screen. The figure which shows the image of the catcher which catches a ball. The figure which shows the image of the catcher which catches a ball. The figure which shows the image of the catcher which catches a ball. The figure which shows the image of the catcher which returns a ball. The block diagram which shows the structure of a mound side system. The figure which shows the content of the data memorize | stored in a mound side system. The block diagram which shows the structure of a home side system. The figure which shows the content of the data memorize | stored in a home side system. The figure which shows the image memorize | stored in the image memory of the home side system. The flowchart of the main routine of a mound side system. The flowchart of the pitching process in FIG. The flowchart of the pitching process in FIG. The flowchart of the pitching process in FIG. Home system flowchart The flowchart of a central management system. The figure which shows the internal structure of the pitching room in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the internal structure of the pitching room in 4th Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the internal structure of the pitching room in 4th Embodiment. The figure which shows the structure of the mitt in 4th Embodiment, and the attachment position of an electromagnet. The figure which shows the picked-up image of the video camera in 4th Embodiment. The block diagram which shows the system configuration | structure in 4th Embodiment. The main flowchart of CPU in 4th Embodiment. The figure which shows the image which the striped pattern in FIG. 43 expanded. 10 is a flowchart of scan preparation processing in the fourth embodiment. The flowchart of the catching process in 4th Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

10, 11, 12, 13 Gate 19 Video camera 23 Projector 25 Screen plate 26 Electromagnet plate 27 Mit 28 Return device 30 Camera control unit 31 Video camera 33 CPU
100 Pitching Room 200 Central Management System 300 Reservation Accepting Unit 600 Mobile Phone 25ai1 Catcher Image 25ai2 Mitt Image sx1 to sx10 Horizontal Stripe Pattern sy1 to sy10 Vertical Stripe Pattern mx1 to mx10 Horizontal Mirror mx1 to mx10 Vertical Direction mirror

Claims (11)

In a pitching room accommodating a pitcher's mound and a home base, a pitching system for enjoying a virtual baseball game by throwing a ball from the pitcher's mound toward the home base,
Position detecting means for detecting a horizontal position and a vertical position of a ball thrown from the pitchers mound toward the home base and outputting a position detection signal;
An excitation signal that generates a magnetic force at an arbitrary position in the horizontal and vertical directions on the front surface of the plate is input to the electromagnet provided on the back surface of the plate disposed substantially vertically behind the home base. The mitt device having a permanent magnet is attracted to the front surface of the plate by the generated magnetic force, and the mitt device is moved to the position of the magnetic force that changes according to the position detection signal output from the position detection means. Catching means for catching the ball,
A pitching system characterized by comprising:   The pitching system according to claim 1, further comprising a pitching determination unit that determines a pitching content of the ball based on the pitching position when the ball is caught by the ball catching unit.   The pitching system according to claim 2, further comprising a game progress unit that advances a virtual baseball game in accordance with a determination result of the pitch determination unit.   The electromagnet includes a plurality of electromagnets arranged in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction on the back surface of the plate, and the ball catching unit inputs at least an excitation signal according to a position detection signal output from the position detection unit. The pitching system according to claim 1, wherein the mitt apparatus is moved while switching one electromagnet.   Ball guiding means for guiding the ball caught by the ball catching means to a predetermined position near the home base; and ball returning means for returning the ball guided by the ball guiding means in the direction of the pitchers mound. The pitching system according to claim 1, further comprising a pitching system.   The return ball means has at one end an accommodating portion for accommodating the ball guided by the ball guiding means at the predetermined position, and the other end is attached to a shaft provided on a predetermined fixing member, An arm member rotatable in the direction of the pitcher's mound by the shaft, and one end portion is fixed to the fixing member in the vicinity of the other end portion of the arm member, and the other end portion is below the arm member. A spring member which is provided in contact with the side and has elasticity in the vertical direction with the one end as a fulcrum, and a protrusion formed in the housing portion of the arm member in accordance with a drive signal to engage the spring After bending the member downward, the bending of the spring member is released all at once, and the arm member is rotated in the direction of the pitchers mound by the elastic repulsive force of the spring member, and is accommodated in the accommodating portion. The picked ball Pitch system according to claim 5, characterized in that it comprises a mechanism control means for Henkyu the direction of Preachers mound, the.   The return ball means includes a cylindrical member having an opening in the direction of the pitcher's mound, a spring member provided inside the cylindrical member, and a ball guiding means from the opening to the inside of the cylindrical member by the ball guiding means. And a mechanism control means for compressing the spring member to the inner side of the cylindrical member when housed and returning the housed ball toward the pitchers mound by releasing the compression at once. The pitching system according to claim 5.   2. An image display means for displaying an image of a catcher that performs a catching operation on the front surface of the plate in synchronization with a catching operation of the mitt device that moves on the front surface of the plate. Pitching system described in   The image sensor further includes an imaging unit that images the direction of the home base plate from the pitcher's mound side with a two-dimensional solid-state imaging device, and the position detection unit detects a position detection signal based on an image of the ball imaged by the imaging unit. The pitching system according to claim 1, wherein:   Horizontal stripes on the floor side or the ceiling side and the other wall side that are provided on the ceiling side or the floor side or one wall side at a plurality of positions of the pitching room between the pitchers mound and the screen plate A horizontal and vertical light reflecting means for reflecting a map of the stripe-shaped and vertical stripe-shaped areas in the direction of the imaging means, and the horizontal stripe shape reflected by the horizontal and vertical light reflecting means at each position When the image pickup means picks up a mapping of the ball that blocks the mapping of the vertical stripe region, the position detection means detects the horizontal position and the vertical position of the ball at each position of the reflection means, and 10. The pitching system according to claim 9, wherein a position detection signal is output.   Reservation accepting means for accepting a pitching reservation via a wireless communication terminal, a transmitting means for predicting a time when a pitching will end based on the progress of a virtual baseball game in the pitching room, and transmitting a predicted end time; The pitching system according to claim 1, further comprising: a communication management unit that notifies the wireless communication terminal of the predicted end time transmitted from the transmission unit.