KR20150136463A - Method and apparatus for calculating speed of dart pin and computer-readable medium thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

According to an embodiment of the present invention, disclosed is an electronic dart game device capable of measuring the speed of dart pins. The device may comprise: an optical sensor part arranged to detect one or more points on a moving path of the dart pins; a dart target hit by dart pins; a sensing part arranged to detect whether the dart pins hit the dart target; a display configured to output the measured speed of the dart pins; and a control part to calculate the speed of the dart pins partially based on data during two or more points of time including a point of time when the optical sensor part detects the dart pins.

Description

≪ Desc / Clms Page number 1 > METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CALCULATING SPEED OF DART PIN AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM THEREOF FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001]

The present invention relates to a dart game device, and more particularly to a device for measuring the speed of a dart pin.

In general, a dart means "small arrow", and the score is given by throwing an arrow-shaped dart pin to the target of the centrifugal number with a number. Darts have the advantage of being able to enjoy darts in the form of arrowheads, and anyone, anywhere, anytime, with a dart target. In recent years, the development of a variety of game methods and scoring methodology has evolved into a world-class leisure, enjoying the game easily and without a man or woman.

In general, dart players must participate in the game at the same time and place to enjoy darts. However, according to the development of communication technology, participants participating in a dart game at a remote place so that participants of the dart game can participate in the game beyond time and space restrictions, and can transmit their play result or play process remotely through the communication network Dart game devices have been developed. These electronic dart game devices electrically sense the point where the dart target is hit, and can automatically score and provide the score to the player.

Such a dart game generally does not measure and utilize the projected speed in spite of the fact that it is a game of throwing a projectile (for example, a dart pin) unlike another projection game (for example, baseball).

Thus, in order to enhance the entertainment aspect in playing a dart game, there may be a need in the art to measure and utilize the speed of the projected dart pin.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been devised in response to the above-described background art, and is intended to measure the speed of a dart pin in a dart game apparatus and utilize it.

The present invention measures the projection speed of a dart pin and utilizes it to determine whether to compare the average speed of the dart pin with the speed of the corresponding player in playing the dart game and the correlation information of the speed and the accuracy rate of the specific score area of the dart target To provide the player with new types of information in playing dart games, such as.

The present invention is able to provide more variety of dart game modes by utilizing the projected speed of the dart pins so as to allow the player to enjoy an enhanced dart game with an entertainment aspect.

An electronic dart game device capable of measuring the speed of a dart pin according to an embodiment of the present invention for realizing the above-mentioned problems is disclosed. The apparatus comprising: an optical sensor section arranged to sense at least one point in the travel path of the dart pin, a dart target to which the dart pin is hitting, a sensing section to sense whether the dart pin has hit the target dart target, And a controller configured to calculate a speed of the dart pin based at least in part on two or more viewpoint data including a display configured to output a speed of the dart pin, and a time at which the optical sensor senses the dart pin .

Also disclosed is a method for measuring the speed of a dart pin in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The method includes sensing at least one point in the travel path of the dart pin with an optical sensor, sensing that the dart pin is hit by a dart target, and including when the optical sensor senses the dart pin And calculating the speed of the dart pin based at least in part on the at least two point of view data.

Additionally, a computer-readable medium storing instructions for a computer to measure the speed of a dart pin in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. Instructions for causing the computer to detect at least one point in the path of movement of the dart pin by the optical sensor, instructions for causing the computer to detect that the dart pin is hit on the dart target, And to cause the computer to calculate the speed of the dart pin based, at least in part, on more than one point of view data including the point at which the optical sensor senses the dart pin.

The present invention can provide a dart game device that measures the speed of a dart pin in a dart game device and utilizes it.

The present invention measures the projection speed of a dart pin and utilizes it to determine whether to compare the average speed of the dart pin with the speed of the corresponding player in playing the dart game and the correlation information of the speed and the accuracy rate of the specific score area of the dart target A new type of information can be provided to the player in playing a dart game,

The present invention can provide a wider variety of dart game modes by utilizing the projection speed of the dart pins, allowing the player to enjoy enhanced dart games with an entertainment aspect.

1 shows a block diagram of a dart game apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 shows a perspective view of a dart game device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 shows a conceptual diagram of a dart game network including a plurality of dart game devices and a server according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 shows a conceptual diagram of a photosensor section associated with an embodiment of the present invention.
5 illustrates a method of measuring the speed of a dart pin according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 illustrates a method of measuring the speed of a dart pin according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 illustrates a method of measuring the speed of a dart pin according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 illustrates a method of measuring the speed of a dart pin according to another embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 9 shows a flow diagram of a method for measuring the velocity of a dart pin in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

Various embodiments are now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to refer to like elements. In this specification, various explanations are given in order to provide an understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, that such embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are provided in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing the embodiments.

The terms "component," "module," system, "and the like, as used herein, refer to a computer-related entity, hardware, firmware, software, combination of software and hardware, or execution of software. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to, a process executing on a processor, a processor, an object, an executing thread, a program, and / or a computer. For example, both an application running on a computing device and a computing device may be a component. One or more components may reside within a processor and / or thread of execution, one component may be localized within one computer, or it may be distributed between two or more computers. Further, such components may execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored therein. The components may be, for example, a signal (e.g., a local system, data from one component interacting with another component in a distributed system, and / or data over a network, such as the Internet, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > and / or < / RTI >

The description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features presented herein.

The terms "dart" and "dart pin ", as used herein, are often used interchangeably. Further, the terms "player" and "user ", as used herein, are also often used interchangeably. In addition, the terms "point" and "region ", as used herein, are also often used interchangeably.

1 is a block diagram of a dart game apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The dart game apparatus 100 according to one aspect of the present invention includes a dart target 110, a sensing unit 120, a player input unit 130, an output unit 140, a camera unit 150a, A network connection unit 160, a player recognition unit 170, a memory 180, a control unit 190, and the like. The components shown in Fig. 1 are not essential, so that a dart game device having more or fewer components may be implemented. Hereinafter, the components will be described in order.

The dart target 110 may include a scoreboard in which a bullseye is located in the center and a concentric circle centered on bullseye and a scoreboard divided into straight lines extending radially from the bullseye and having individual scores assigned thereto. A plurality of holes through which the tip of the dart can be inserted may be disposed on the score board.

The dart target 110 may include a display 142 as described below to variably vary the score placement of the dart target 110 and the shape of the scored regions. In this case, the dart target 110 may include a light-transmitting touch pad stacked on the display 142, and may have the form of a touch screen.

The sensing unit 120 can sense the play of the dart game player performed on the dart target 110. [ The sensing unit 120 may be able to evaluate the play of the actual game player. The sensing unit 120 can sense whether the dart pin thrown by the game player hits the dart target 110 or hits the area where the dart pin is hit. The sensing unit 120 may electrically convert the score corresponding to the area where the dart pins are plugged and transmit the score to the control unit 190. [ Alternatively, the sensing unit 120 may transmit an electrical signal corresponding to the area where the dart pins are plugged to the control unit 190, and the score corresponding to the electrical signal may be calculated by the control unit 190.

The player input unit 130 receives a player's input for controlling the dart game apparatus 100. [ The player input unit 130 may include a key pad, a dome switch, a touch pad (static / static), a jog wheel, a jog switch, and the like. The player input unit 130 may also include cameras 151a, ..., 153a or a microphone. Additionally, the player input 130 may also include a short range communication module (not shown) as described below. In an embodiment of the present invention, the player input unit 130 may include a local communication module (not shown) of the network connection unit 160. When the player input unit 130 includes a local communication module of the network connection unit 160, the player input unit 130 may be configured to receive the user input input by the external console device. Bluetooth, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), infrared data association (IrDA), Ultra Wideband (UWB), ZigBee, and the like can be used as a short range communication technology. For example, when the player input unit 130 performs near field communication using infrared communication, the external console device may be an infrared remote controller. Alternatively, when the player input unit 130 performs short-range communication using the Bluetooth function, the external console device may be a mobile device including a Bluetooth module. The mobile device including the Bluetooth module may be, for example, a smart phone including a Bluetooth module.

The player can select a dart game method, a matchmaking request, a match approval, the number of dart game players, a dart game play method, and the like through the player input unit 130. For example, the player can input the number of dart game players, the dart game play method (zero-one game, cricket game, count-up game, etc.), the dart game method (one- Offline matchmaking requests and match approvals can be selected.

The player input unit 130 receives a voice or an action through a camera 151a, ..., 153a or a microphone of the player by sensing a key operation or a touch input of the player and converting the received voice or action into an input signal . For this purpose, known Speech Recognition or Motion Recognition techniques may be used.

The output unit 140 is for generating an output related to a visual, auditory or tactile sense. The output unit 140 may include an audio output unit 141, a display 142, an illumination unit 143, and the like.

The sound output module 141 can output audio data received from the network connection unit 160 or stored in the memory 180 in a game sound effect, a game operation guide, a game method description, and the like. The sound output module 141 also outputs an acoustic signal related to a function (e.g., a game sound effect) performed in the dart game device 100. [ The sound output module 141 can also output a sound from a game player or a third party using another dart game device 320 (see FIG. 3) received via the network connection unit 160. [ The sound output module 141 may include a receiver, a speaker, a buzzer, and the like. Additionally, as described below, when the dart game device 100 measures the speed of the projected dart pin, information and / or rewards for such speed are output as audio information by the sound output module 41 It is possible.

The display 142 displays (outputs) information to be processed in the dart game device 100. For example, when the dart game device 100 is in the game play mode guidance mode, the display 142 may output a selectable game play mode. Additionally, when the dart game device 100 receives an offline matchmaking request, the display 142 may output a list of players waiting for matchmaking. In addition, when the dart game device 100 is playing a game, the display 142 may display a score sensed through the sensing unit 120, a game using another dart game device received through the network connection unit 160 It is possible to output a video image of a player or a third party.

In addition, when the dart game device 100 measures the speed of the dart pin, the display 142 displays the speed information of the measured dart pin, or displays the dart speed of the player and the dart pin speed information of the other player, Or the speed of the dart pin and the accuracy of the accuracy of the dart target with respect to the specific score area.

The display 142 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT LCD), an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), a flexible display ), And a three-dimensional display (3D display). Some of these displays may be transparent or light transmissive so that they can be seen through. This can be referred to as a transparent display, and a typical example of the transparent display is TOLED (Transparent OLED) or the like.

In one embodiment of the invention, there may be more than one display 142, depending on the implementation of the dart game device 100. [ For example, in the dart game apparatus 100, a plurality of displays may be spaced apart or arranged integrally on one surface, and may be disposed on different surfaces, respectively. For example, the display 142 may include a display disposed at the top of the dart target 110, a display disposed at the bottom of the dart target 110, or may include one of the displays . However, the position in which the above-described display is disposed is only an example, and the display may be placed at various positions for design needs or visual effects.

The touch sensor may be configured to convert a change in capacitance, such as a pressure applied to a specific portion of the display 142 or a specific portion of the display 142, to an electrical input signal. The touch sensor can be configured to detect not only the position and area to be touched but also the pressure at the time of touch. If there is a touch input to the touch sensor, the corresponding signal (s) is sent to the touch controller. The touch controller processes the signal (s) and then transmits the corresponding data to the controller 190. Thus, the control unit 190 can recognize which area of the display 142 is touched or the like.

The lighting unit 143 outputs a signal for notifying the occurrence of an event of the dart game apparatus 100. [ Examples of events that occur in the dart game device 100 include identification of the dart game player, hit of the dart, change of the dart game player, and end of the game. The illumination unit 143 may include an LED (Light Emission Diode) to inform the user of the occurrence of an event through the blinking of the LED. The LEDs may be disposed on the backside of the dart target 110, and may be blinked according to a blinking pattern stored in advance according to the occurrence of an event. For example, one or more LEDs may be assigned to each portion of the dart target 110. The assigned LEDs may be disposed on the back side of the dart target 110 and in a direction toward the outside of the dart game device 100. [ When the LEDs illuminate light, the light emitted by the LEDs may pass through the dart target 110, which is transparent or translucent, to deliver a visual output to the user. Alternatively, the light illuminated by the LED may transmit a visual output to a user through a gap present in the dart target 110.

The output unit 140 may output a signal for informing occurrence of an event in a form other than a video signal or an audio signal, for example, a vibration. 1, the output section 140 may include an acoustic output section 141, a display 142, and an illumination section 143. In this case, For example, the output unit 140 may output information on the speed of the measured dart pin and / or a reward thereof in various ways.

The camera unit 150a includes a plurality of cameras 151a to 153a and image frames processed by the cameras 151a to 153a are stored in the memory 180 or transmitted to the network connection unit 160. [ Lt; / RTI > The camera unit 150a may be composed of one camera or two or more cameras depending on the use environment.

The optical sensor unit 150b includes one or more optical sensors 151b and 153b and the optical sensors 151b and 153b are disposed on one or more of the movement paths 520 of the dart pins 510 May be arranged to sense the dart pin 510 at points 530, 540.

The network connection unit 160 includes one or more modules that enable wireless communication between the dart game apparatus 100 and the wired / wireless communication system or between the dart game apparatus 100 and the network in which the dart game apparatus 100 is located . In an embodiment of the present invention, the network connection unit 160 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The network connection unit 160 may include a wired / wireless Internet module for network connection. WLAN (Wi-Fi), Wibro (Wireless broadband), Wimax (World Interoperability for Microwave Access), HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) and the like can be used as wireless Internet technologies. Wired Internet technologies include XDSL (Digital Subscriber Line), FTTH (Fiber to the home), and PLC (Power Line Communication).

The network connection unit 160 may transmit data to and receive data from an electronic device including a short distance communication module located in a relatively short distance from the dart game device 100, including a short distance communication module. Bluetooth, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), infrared data association (IrDA), Ultra Wideband (UWB), ZigBee, and the like can be used as a short range communication technology. In an embodiment of the present invention, the network connection unit 160 can detect the connection state of the network and the transmission / reception speed of the network. Data received via the network connection 160 may be output via the output 140, stored via the memory 180, or transmitted to other electronic devices in the vicinity via the local communication module.

In addition, when the dart game device 100 measures the speed of the dart pin, the information on the dart pin may be transmitted to the player's mobile or PC based on the identification information of the player by the network connection unit 160 or the like.

The player recognition unit 170 can recognize the unique information of the player at a distance using radio waves by using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology, which is a kind of the short distance communication technology. For example, a user may have a card containing an RFID module, a mobile terminal, or a unique dart game equipment, e.g., a personal dart equipment that he owns. Information identifying the user (for example, a personal ID of a user registered in a database server (see FIG. 2), an identification code, etc.) may be recorded in the RFID module held by the player. The dart game device 100 identifies a dart game player playing with the dart game device 100 by identifying the RFID module possessed by the user and stores the database for the identified dart game player Update, or accumulate new data. In an embodiment of the present invention, the player recognition section 170 may be incorporated in the player input section 130. [

In addition to the RFID technology, the player recognition unit 170 may include various technologies (e.g., a local communication technology such as Bluetooth, etc.) capable of transmitting and receiving user's unique information in a contact / non-contact manner. The player recognition unit 170 includes a biometric data identification module for identifying biometric data (voice, fingerprint, face) of the player in cooperation with a microphone, a touch pad, a camera unit 150a and the like of the user input unit 130 .

The memory 180 may store a program for the operation of the control unit 190 and temporarily or permanently store input / output data (e.g., a phone book, a message, a still image, The memory 180 may store data on vibration and sound of various patterns outputted when a touch is input on the touch screen. The memory 180 may be a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a multimedia card micro type, a card type memory (e.g., SD or XD memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), SRAM (Static Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), PROM A disk, and / or an optical disk. The dart game device 100 may operate in association with a web storage that performs the storage function of the memory 180 on the Internet.

In one aspect of the present invention, the memory 180 may store at least a portion of the photographed data photographed of at least two of the movement paths of the dart pins. In addition, the memory 180 may delete, from the stored photographing data, photographing data that is not loaded by another component such as the control unit 190 or another device after a predetermined time.

The controller 190 typically controls the overall operation of the dart game device 100. For example, in the case of a dart game, the score sensed through the sensing unit 120 is aggregated for each game participant, and the aggregated score is transmitted / received to / from another dart game apparatus 200 connected via a network, Record game wins / losses, scores according to the result. The control unit 190 may perform a pattern recognition process for recognizing an operation input, a handwriting input, and the like, which are performed on the touch screen or the camera, as characters or images. In addition, the controller may perform speech recognition using a STT (Speech-to-Text) function that can recognize a voice input through the microphone as a character.

In one aspect of the present invention, the control unit 190 controls the time point at which the dart pin 510 reaches the points 530 and 540 at which the optical sensor unit 150b senses the path 520 of the dart pin and / The speed of the dart pin can be calculated based on the distance between the point and each point hitting the point 110 or the distance between each point and the target.

As shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 190 can communicate with all of the above-mentioned other components, and can organically control their operations.

The various embodiments described herein may be embodied in a recording medium readable by a computer or similar device using, for example, software, hardware, or a combination thereof. According to a hardware implementation, the embodiments described herein may be implemented as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays May be implemented using at least one of a processor, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, and other electronic units for performing other functions. In some cases, The described embodiments may be implemented by the controller 190 itself. According to a software implementation, embodiments such as the procedures and functions described herein may be implemented with separate software modules. Each of which may perform one or more of the functions and operations described herein. Written in a suitable programming language Software code may be implemented in a software application that is stored in memory 180 and may be executed by control 190.

Figure 2 shows a perspective view of a dart game device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

2, the dart game apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be formed by mounting the components shown in FIG. 1 in the housing H. A dart target 110, a display 142, an illumination unit 143, an acoustic output unit 141, a camera unit 150a, a user recognition unit 160, and the like may be disposed on a front surface of the dart game apparatus 100 have. The optical sensor unit 150b may be disposed on a side surface of the dart target 110. [

The dart target 110 may be positioned such that it is centered at a location that matches the rules of the dart game (e.g., 5 feet 8 inches from the ground). The lighting units 143-1 and 143-2 and 143-3 may be disposed in various parts of the dart game apparatus 100 to transmit various and varied visual effects to the players of the dart game apparatus 100. [ For example, the illumination unit 143-1 may be disposed at a side portion of the dart target 110 and may serve to illuminate the dart target 110 with illumination. The lighting unit 143-1 can also output a preset lighting effect according to the event of the dart game. In addition, the illumination unit 143-1 can output lighting effects of various colors.

The illumination portion 143-2 may extend in the vertical direction along the protrusion of the front surface of the housing H. Like the lighting unit 143-1 described above, the lighting unit 143-2 can output a preset lighting effect according to an event of a dart game, and can output lighting effects of various colors.

The illumination unit 143-3 may be disposed on a side portion of the user recognition unit 170. [ The lighting unit 143-3 can output a preset lighting effect according to an event of the dart game, and can output lighting effects of various colors. In particular, the illumination unit 143-3 may output a lighting effect for an event related to the user recognition unit 170. [

Alternatively, the dart game device 100 may be selectively connected to the dart game device 100 and may include a dart plate P extending in the horizontal direction. The dart plate P may further include an illumination unit 143-4. The dart plate P may be integrally coupled to the dart game apparatus 100 or may be detachably attached thereto.

When the dart plate P is integrally or selectively attached to the dart game device 100, the dart plate P can be electrically connected to the dart game device 100. [ The illumination section 143-4 of the dart game device 100 may be disposed along the outer periphery of the dart plate P as shown in Fig. The dart plate P may be extended at one end to the position where the throw line should be positioned according to the distance of the throw line from the dart target according to the rules of the game. The illumination unit 143-4 may be disposed at a position corresponding to the throw line.

Although not shown in FIG. 2, the illumination unit (not shown) may be disposed on the backside of the dart target 110 to illuminate the lighting effect in the direction of the user (player). The illumination unit (not shown) may include a combination of different illumination elements assigned according to each segment making up the dart target.

The housing H of the dart game device 100 may include a display 142 disposed in a user orientation. The display 142 displays information necessary for the user (for example, an aggregated score, information of the player in play, a score required to clear the game, information of the opponent player not in play, Speed information, comparison information on the speed of the dart pin, etc.). The display 142 can display a visual effect according to an event as the dart game progresses. For example, if the user consecutively matches the bullseye of the dart target 100 to the three dart draw opportunities, the display 142 may display a pre-stored video corresponding to the event. The moving picture may be stored in the memory 180 of the dart game apparatus 100 or received from the server through the network connection unit 160. [

The display 142 can be operated in conjunction with the illumination units 143-1, 143-2, 143-3, and 143-4 and the sound output unit 141 to provide the user with visual and auditory effects have. In other words, when a predetermined event occurs, the display 142, the illumination units 143-1, 143-2, 143-3, and 143-4, and the sound output unit 141 can display a lighting effect, And a sound effect can be output together.

In FIG. 2, the display 142 is shown disposed at the bottom of the dart target 110, but the number and location of the display 142 may vary widely.

The user input unit 130 may be configured as a key pad button, as shown in FIG. However, as described above, the user input unit 130 may be configured in various ways including a touch screen. The user can operate a key button of the user input unit 130 to select a game mode, an offline matching request, and a match approval.

The sound output unit 141 may also be disposed on the front surface of the housing H of the dart game apparatus 100 to output sound. The number of the sound output unit 141 and the position in which it is disposed may also be variously changed.

The camera unit 150a may be mounted on the upper portion of the housing H of the dart game apparatus 100, as shown in FIG. The position where the camera unit 150a is disposed may be variable. The camera unit 150a may include one or more cameras 151a, 152a, ..., 153a capable of shooting a dart target 110 and a throw line. The image photographed through the camera unit 150a may be transmitted to the memory 180. [ Or the image photographed through the camera unit 150a may be transmitted to the server or another dart game apparatus through the network connection unit 160. [ According to an embodiment of the present invention, only a part of the moving images captured by the camera unit 150a may be finally stored in the memory 180 or may be transmitted to the server or the like via the network connection unit 160. [

The light sensor unit 150b may be mounted on the (positive) side and / or the upper and lower sides of the dart target in the housing H of the dart game apparatus 100, as shown in Fig. The optical sensor unit 150b may be variably disposed at a position where the dart pin 510 can be sensed in the movement path 520 of the dart pin.

2, the user recognition unit 170 may be disposed on the front surface of the housing H of the dart game apparatus 100 and may include a short distance communication module. The user can complete the user authentication by bringing a card for recognizing the user near the user recognition unit 170. [

2 and the above description of the external appearance of the dart game apparatus 100 are merely given as examples for explanation, the dart game apparatus 100 according to the present invention is limited by the appearance shown in Fig. 2 It is not.

FIG. 3 shows a conceptual diagram of a dart game network including a plurality of dart game devices and a server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3, the dart game apparatus 310 used by the first player P1 is connected to one or more servers (a media server (MS), a relay server (RS), a game server (GS) Lt; / RTI >

A plurality of players can enjoy the game in the same space at the same time using the same first dart game device 310. [ However, if the first player P1 and the second player P2 located at a remote location are to participate in the game, the second dart game device 320 may be used to connect one or more servers (media servers The relay server RS, and the game server GS) to transmit and receive information to and from the first dart game device 310. [0050]

The first dart game device 310 and the second dart game device 320 transmit and receive information via one or more servers (a media server (MS), a relay server (RS), a game server (GS) Dot game devices 310 and 320 can directly transmit and receive information.

The game may be played at a different time at the same time as the two players P1 and P2 play or the two players P1 and P2 may play at different places at different times and the play contents may be stored in the DB server DB The game may be performed in a manner of determining win or loss or ranking. In one aspect of the invention, one or more different number of players may participate in a game.

The media server MS may store the game play moving pictures of the game participants P1 and P2 stored using the cameras or microphones stored in the dart game devices 310 and 320. [ In one aspect of the present invention, a media server (MS) may be included in a DB server (DB).

The relay server (RS) can connect or relay data communication between the plurality of dart game devices (310, 320). The relay server RS may allow a plurality of dart game devices 310 and 320 located at a remote place to form a communication network to form a peer-to-peer (P2P) network.

The game server GS exchanges information between the dart game devices 310 and 320 (the score obtained by each game participant, the speed information of the dart pin, the information for communicating with each game participant) It is possible to transmit an advantage or warning based on the game rules through the devices 310 and 320 or to transmit and receive information necessary for other game progress and to control the dart game devices 310 and 320. [ The game server GS can collect the game win, the score of each game participant 310, 320, the average speed information of the dart pins, and the like to transmit to the DB server.

The DB server can store personal information of each of the game participants 310 and 320, win / loss of a game, dart pin speed information and ranking information, score information of each game, or a replay movie by game. The DB server can store the information by each user. The DB server can assign a unique code to each user and manage user-specific information using the unique code. The unique code can be stored in an RFID module (an RFID module or an RFID module stored in a mobile terminal) owned by each user. Accordingly, the dart game devices 310 and 320 can identify each game participant through the included user authentication unit 170. The DB server may also assign a unique code for identification to each of the dart game devices 310 and 320 and manage the game data for each of the identification codes assigned to the dart game devices 310 and 320.

In an aspect of the present invention, a player can connect to a web server (WS) using a mobile (mobile device, cellular phone, PDA, PDP, etc. electronic device 300 with embedded mobile communication function) The web server WS may be connected to the mobile 300 and / or the PC 400 using the Internet or an intranet. In addition, the web server WS may be connected to the dart game devices 310 and 320 as well. The web server WS may be connected to a DB server (DB), and may provide the game data stored in the DB server to the player.

Hereinafter, the rules of a typical dart game and the stats of the players associated therewith will be described.

A dart game that can be performed by the dart game apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a 01 game (zero circle game), a cricket game, a count-up game, .

01 game progresses by alternating between two teams (or two players), throwing darts to a dart target one round at a time. One round includes three dart draws. The objective of the game is to have the sum of the points of each round reach the target score (score of 100 or 1000 units, which generally ends at 01, such as 301, 501, 701, 901, 1101, 1501, etc.). The target score and play round may be arbitrarily adjustable depending on the number of participating players.

The cricket game, like the 01 game, will perform a round by throwing three darts in the first round. In the case of a STANDARD cricket game, it can be done using only the fire area in the center of the dart target and the 20, 19, 18, 17, 16 and 15 point areas. If you mark the cricket number 3, it will be marked with your position. If you hit more than 4 marks, the score corresponding to the number will be added to compete the score. Here, the double area and the triple area of the dart target can be calculated as 2 marks and 3 marks, respectively. If the opponent of the player also marks the cricket number 3 while the cricket number is marked with his or her position, the cricket number is considered to be closed, and the score may not be added any more. The object of the game may be to obtain a high score until the end of the stipulation round, or to close all of the cricket numbers and achieve a higher score than the opponent.

A count-up game is a game that will win if you earn high points within a given round.

In addition to the above-mentioned games, various types of games can be played by the dart game device 100, and the play mode of the dart game device 100 is not limited by the game method described above. For example, by measuring the speed of a dart pin and utilizing it, additional game methods in various ways can be created. For example, a game method may be created in which a point is added to a player who draws a dart pin with a speed value that most matches a predetermined speed value. Alternatively, in addition to the general game method described above, the average speed of the dart pins of the prominent dart game players is calculated and stored, and then the average speed of the dart pins of the general player is compared with the speed of a specific one of the prominent players By outputting the data, the entertainment aspect of the dart game can be further strengthened.

In one aspect of the present invention, the player's stat can be defined according to the game rule independently of the count-up game, the cricket game, and the win or loss of the 01 game.

For example, Points Per Dart (PPD) can be calculated in a 01 game by dividing the total score the player scored by the number of dart draws. Alternatively, the Marks Per Round (MPR) may be calculated by calculating the number of marks marked by the player per round. For example, in a cricket game, MPR is (3 + 1 + 2) when a player makes three dart draws in one round and hits 15 triples, 19 singles, and 20 doubles respectively in three dart draws. / 1 = 6.00 (MPR). In the following round, if the player makes three dart draws and each misses a mark, 18 doubles, and 20 singles, MPR will be (3 + 1 + 2 + 0 + 2+ 1) / 2 = 4.5 (MPR) .

These PPDs and MPRs can be stored as personal data or identification data of a player as stats of a player or a player. Alternatively, the average score of the player per game in the count-up game, the record of the player's highest score per game, and the like can also be stored as the player's stat.

The dart game device 100 can play the dart game and transfer the game record per player to the game server GS or the DB server DB in accordance with the mode. The game server GS or the DB server DB may calculate the player-specific PPD and / or MPR according to the game record and store it as a cumulative PPD and / or MPR stat of the player. In addition, the game server GS or the DB server DB can individually store the game record of the player. For example, in a 01 game, a count-up game, or a cricket game in which the player has played before, the player can record information about the segment portion of the dart hit on each dart draw. The game server GS or the DB server DB may store such player's cumulative (average) PPD and / or MPR data, top PPD and / or MPR data.

The game server GS or the DB server DB may be two physically separated servers. Alternatively, the game server GS and the DB server DB are one physically integrated server, and may be classified according to roles performed in the server. Also, as described above, one server can perform both roles of a game server GS and a DB server DB.

The game server GS or the DB server DB can store the player's individual stats and can give the player a rating (or class (class)) according to the stats. The rating and / or class (class) that may be awarded to the player in accordance with the PPD and / or MPR may be stored as personal data or personally identifiable information.

4 shows a conceptual diagram of a photosensor section associated with an embodiment of the present invention.

A light sensor is a sensor that judges whether an object exists on a sensing line through light. Examples of the type of the optical sensor include a reflective optical sensor 410 and a transmissive optical sensor 420.

The reflective optical sensor 410 has a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion. When the light is emitted from the sensor body 411, the sensor body 411 detects the light 412 reflected by the emitted light by colliding with the detection object 413 to detect the presence or absence of the detection object.

The transmission type optical sensor 420 includes a light emitting portion 421 and a light receiving portion 422. When light is emitted from the light emitting portion 421 and the detected object 424 is not present on the sensing line, the emitted light reaches the light receiving portion 422. However, when the sensing object 424 is present on the sensing line The light reaching the light receiving portion 422 is blocked 425, so that the transmission type optical sensor 420 can detect the presence or absence of the detection object.

5 illustrates a method of measuring the speed of a dart pin according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 5, the optical sensor unit 150b includes two optical sensors 151b and 152b. However, the optical sensor unit 150b is only an example, and two or more optical sensors may constitute the optical sensor unit 150b. The optical sensor of FIG. 5 is shown as a transmissive optical sensor 420, but may also be a reflective optical sensor 410.

5, the optical sensor unit 150b can detect the dart pins 510 at two points 540 and 530 of the movement path 520 of the dart pin 510. [ That is, the first optical sensor 151b and the second optical sensor 152b are disposed at predetermined first points 540 and 530 of the movement path 520 of the dart pins 510, respectively, 510). ≪ / RTI > The light sensor unit 150b may be disposed on the dart game apparatus 100 or may be arranged to communicate with the dart game apparatus 100 outside the dart game apparatus 100. [

In one aspect of the present invention, the predetermined points described above can be determined in consideration of various factors such as the identification information of the dart player, the arrival information of the dart pin, the user setting of the dart game apparatus, and the like.

The light emitted from the light emitting portion 151b-1 of the first photosensor enters the light receiving portion 151b-2. If the dart pin 510 exists on the first point 540 The light entering the light receiving portion 151b-2 is blocked, the presence of the dart pin can be grasped, and the point of time at which the dart pin passes can also be detected. Light emitted from the light emitting portion 152b-1 of the second optical sensor enters the light receiving portion 152b-2. When the dart pin 510 exists on the second point 530, the light receiving portion 152b- The presence of the dart pin can be grasped, and the point at which the dart pin passes can also be detected.

), 제 2 지점 통과 시점(

) 및 사전 설정된 제 1 지점 과 제 2 지점 사이의 거리(

)를 기초로 하여 다트 핀의 속력(

)은

으로 계산될 수 있다.The first point passing time point (

), The second point passing time point (

) And a distance between the predetermined first point and the second point (

The speed of the dart pin (

)silver

. ≪ / RTI >

6 is a more specific example of the embodiment of the present invention. In the dart game device 100 for measuring the velocity of the dart pins using two optical sensors, the optical sensor is mounted on the housing H of the dart game device 100 Fig. Generally, the housing (H) of the dart game device (100) protrudes in the player direction from the dart target (110). The optical sensor unit 150b is installed in the protruded housing H to detect the dart pins 510 at two points 540 and 530 on the movement path 520 of the dart pin between the player and the dart target 110 . The speed of the dart pin 510 can be calculated through the distance between the two point data and the two points.

FIG. 7 illustrates a method of measuring the speed of a dart pin according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 7, the optical sensor unit 150b is shown as a reflection type optical sensor 410, but this is merely one example, and the optical sensor unit 150b can also be configured as a transmission type optical sensor 420. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7, the optical sensor unit 150b can sense the dart pin 510 at one point 540 of the movement path 520 of the dart pin. The first optical sensor 151b may be arranged to sense the dart pin 510 at a point 540 of the movement path 520 of the dart pin. The light sensor unit 150b may be disposed on the dart game apparatus 100 or disposed outside the dart game apparatus 100 and arranged to communicate with the dart game apparatus 100. [

In one aspect of the present invention, when the light emitted from the first photosensor 151b reaches the dots pin 510, the light is received by the light-receiving unit of the first photosensor 151b. Therefore, the point of time when the dart pin 510 is present at the point 540 of the movement path 520 can be detected. The sensing unit 120 may sense when the dart pin 510 hits the dart target 110.

), 다트 핀(510)이 다트 표적(110)에 명중하는 시점(

) 및 사전 설정된 제 1 지점(540)과 다트 표적(110) 사이의 거리(

)를 기초로 하여 다트 핀(510)의 속력(

)은

으로 계산될 수 있다.The first point passing time point (

), A time point at which the dart pin 510 hits the dart target 110

And the distance between the preset first point 540 and the dart target 110

The speed of the dart pin 510

)silver

. ≪ / RTI >

8 is a more specific example of the embodiment of the present invention in which the optical sensor is installed in the housing H of the dart game device 100 in the dart game device 100 for measuring the velocity of the dart pin using the optical sensor FIG. Generally, the housing (H) of the dart game device (100) protrudes in the player direction from the dart target (110). The optical sensor unit 150b may be installed in the protruded housing H to sense the dart pin 510 at the point 540 on the movement path 520 of the dart pin between the player and the dart target 110. [ The sensing portion 120 of the dart target 110 may also sense the dart pin 510. [ The speed of the dart pin 510 can be calculated through the two point-in-time data and the distance between the two points. That is, through the data related to the time difference between the time when the dart pin 510 passes the point 540 and the time when the dart pin 510 reaches the dart target 110 and the sensing unit 120 senses the point 540, , The speed of the dart pin can be calculated.

Figure 9 shows a flowchart of a method for measuring the velocity of a dart pin in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

In one embodiment of the invention, the method may be performed, for example, by a dart game device. In addition, the dart game device may manage at least one group of dart game devices, and may communicate with the dart game device and / or the server through the transmitter and the receiver.

Also, each step of the flowchart shown in FIG. 9 is not essential and some steps may be omitted or added as needed.

The dart game apparatus 100 senses at least one point of the movement path 520 of the dart pin 510 through the optical sensor unit 150b (901). The sensing unit 120 senses whether the dart pin 510 hits the dart target 110 (902).

The control unit 190 controls the first and second time points when the optical sensor unit 150b senses the dart pins 510 and the first and second sensing points 540 and 540 sensed by the optical sensor unit 150b, The speed of the dart pin 510 may be calculated 903 by dividing the distance between the respective points by the elapsed time based on the distance between the dart pins 530 and 530.

The controller 190 controls the first sensing point of the optical sensor unit 150b sensing the dart pin 510 and the second sensing point of the sensing unit 120 sensing the hit of the dart pin 510, The speed of the dart pin 510 may be calculated 903 by dividing the distance between the dart board 540 and the dartboard 110 by the elapsed time.

For example, the control unit 190 may calculate the speed of the dart pin 510 based on the distance between each sensing point and two or more viewpoint data including the point at which the optical sensor senses the dart pin 510 (903) .

That is, as described above, the control unit 190 can calculate the speed of the dart pin based on two or more view data including a time when the optical sensor senses the dart pin.

The dart game device 100 may output 904 the calculated speed of the dart pins. As described above, outputting the speed of the calculated dart pin can be implemented in various ways. For example, a method of directly outputting the speed information of the dart pin (sound, image, image, etc.), a method of outputting comparison information between the speed information of the dart pin and other speed information, and / A method of outputting a reward effect responding to information, and the like.

In addition, the dart game device 100 may calculate the speed of the corresponding player loaded based on the average speed of the dart pin 510, the average speed of a known specific player, (905). ≪ / RTI >

In addition, the dart game apparatus 100 may generate correlation information or comparison information between the identification information of the player, rating information, class information, PPD information, MPR information, and measured dart pin speed information, have.

Further, the dart game apparatus 100 may generate information such as the relationship of the measured dart speed, accuracy rate, and posture, and store the information as statistical data. Such statistical data may be served to the user (906).

According to one aspect of the present invention, the technical features of steps 904 through 906 may be configured in various ways and / or in various orders based on user selection, setting of a dart game device, and the like.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced in the above description may include voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, Particles or particles, or any combination thereof.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, means, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in electronic hardware, (Which may be referred to herein as "software") or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the design constraints imposed on the particular application and the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

The various embodiments presented herein may be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and / or engineering techniques. The term "article of manufacture" includes a computer program, carrier, or media accessible from any computer-readable device. For example, the computer-readable medium can be a magnetic storage device (e.g., a hard disk, a floppy disk, a magnetic strip, etc.), an optical disk (e.g., CD, DVD, etc.), a smart card, But are not limited to, devices (e. G., EEPROM, cards, sticks, key drives, etc.). The various storage media presented herein also include one or more devices and / or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" includes, but is not limited to, a wireless channel and various other media capable of storing, holding, and / or transferring instruction (s) and / or data.

It will be appreciated that the particular order or hierarchy of steps in the presented processes is an example of exemplary approaches. It will be appreciated that, based on design priorities, certain orders or hierarchies of steps in processes may be rearranged within the scope of the present invention. The appended method claims provide elements of the various steps in a sample order, but are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

The description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features presented herein.

110; Dart target
150b; The optical sensor unit
510; Dart pin
520; Dart pin travel path
530; The second sensing point
540; The first sensing point

Claims (1)

As a dart game device,
An optical sensor unit arranged to detect at least one point of the movement path of the dart pin;
A dart target on which the dart pin is hit; And
A control unit for calculating a speed of the dart pin based at least in part on two or more view data including a time when the optical sensor unit senses the dart pin;
/ RTI >
Dart game device.

Images