RU2688730C2 - Intelligent robot for table tennis - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: sports.SUBSTANCE: device relates to the field of table tennis simulators and is intended to increase the level of training of athletes by expanding the capabilities of the robot, obtained by the ability of the robot to change the height of the position of the feed head above the level of the table and the ability to track the athlete's position relative to the tennis table and reconfigure, depending on this, the parameters of the feeding head (its height at the level of the table, the slope in the vertical plane, the angle of rotation in the horizontal).EFFECT: device is designed to increase the level of training athletes.1 cl, 11 dwg

Description

The technical field to which the invention relates.

The invention relates to simulators training athletes playing table tennis

The level of technology

Known devices for training table tennis athletes who (devices) allow them (athletes) to imitate the game of table tennis without a live partner, while athletes can receive from the ball-feeding robot the flow as with strictly fixed parameters (spin the ball, impact speed, its strength, direction etc.), and with the parameters chosen for each filing randomly.

At the moment, despite a wide variety of manufacturers of devices for training tennis players, they can be divided into several groups.

1. Devices for giving balls of floor execution (Fig. 1). In these devices, the ball tank is located directly on the floor. The height of the ball in comparison with the level of the table (position 1, Fig. 1) is not adjustable or is adjusted one-time, before starting the mode of operation.

2. Devices for delivery of table-top balls (Fig. 2). In these devices, more mobile than the previous point and therefore more easily moved as needed to another room or to another tennis table, and the ball tank and the very end itself, the device delivering the ball is made in a single package.

Despite the differences in the performance of these devices, you can highlight the following:

1. With any (desktop or floor) version of the device tied to the edge of the tennis table.

2. In any (desktop or floor) version of the device, the ball throwing out head is at a rigidly fixed height above the surface of the tennis table.

3. In any (desktop or floor) version of the device, balls are thrown out according to a strictly defined program or with randomly chosen parameters (speed, ejection force, rotation), but the position of the athlete is completely ignored.

4. In any (desktop or floor) version of the device, there is a wired or wireless control panel that is included with the device, is tied to it directly, increases the cost of the device as a whole and determines the dependence of the device on the performance or even the presence of this control panel.

These shortcomings cause the relative predictability of the ejection of the ball and, accordingly, reduces the degree of preparation of the athlete for a particular game.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The objective of the invention is to create a tennis ball feeder which is capable along with the usual training mode, which provides for practicing the athlete's actions in standard situations arising over the entire surface of the gaming table, in full autonomy (depending on the athlete's location) to decide on the ball feed direction, its strength, the degree of twisting of the ball, the amplitude of the rebound, the area of hitting the ball on the side of the athlete.

For this, the device design provides for both the software ability to analyze the athlete’s location and the hardware capability to dynamically change the height of the device’s feed end relative to the surface of the game table. Accordingly, the tennis ball feeder, hereinafter referred to as the tennis robot, without changing the training mode can change the amplitude of the tennis ball rebound or the area of its fall on the athlete's side.

This feature makes it possible to produce the supply of a tennis ball from a point located both below the level of the tennis table (figure 3) or at the standard level for all tennis robots - at the level of the table (Fig. 4), and above the standard height (Fig. 5), that, in principle, distinguishes the proposed tennis ball feeder from the existing solutions. Also, given the fact that the design of the robot feed end provides for the ability to change the angle of inclination, it becomes possible to carry out the innings and strikes of a tennis ball absent from ordinary robots. In the accompanying drawings, possible variants are shown: supplying a tennis ball from under the table (Fig. 5a), a blow from under the table (Fig. 5b), feeding with a high rebound amplitude (Fig. 5c), a blow with a high rebound amplitude (Fig. 5d).

To implement the object of the invention, the device’s design includes sensors for analyzing the location of the athlete who, prior to the outburst, evaluates his location relative to the game table, its remoteness from the table and makes a decision about the direction of delivery, its strength, ball spin, i.e. in the process of training (in offline mode), the situation would be as close as possible to the actual game.

Description of the drawings

Attached to this description are the drawings in which successively depicted:

Figure 1 - feeder balls for table tennis floor performance.

Figure 2 - the feeder balls for table tennis tabletop performance.

Figure 3 - the lower position of the feed end of the robot

Figure 4 - the average position of the feed end of the robot

5 is the upper position of the feed end of the robot

Figa - filing tennis ball robot "from under the" table

Figb - blow "from under" the table

Figv - robot feed a tennis ball with a high amplitude rebound

Figg - hit with a high amplitude rebound

6 is a block device of the robot

Fig.7 - the organization control the location of the athlete at the tennis table

Fig.8 is a block device of the high-forming mechanism of the robot

Fig.9 - the robot in the minimum height position

Figure 10 - the robot in the maximum height position

11 - block device feed head

The implementation of the invention

The proposed device is a hardware-software complex and consists of the following parts:

1. Hardware

2. The software part

The hardware part includes a feed head throwing out tennis balls (pos. 1, fig. 6, hereinafter referred to as the feed head), a mechanism for changing the height of the feed head (poses 2, Fig. 6, hereinafter in the text is a high-forming mechanism), levers for changing the height of the feed heads (position 3, fig. 6), the mechanism feeding tennis balls to the supply head (position 4, fig. 6, hereinafter referred to as the ball-giving mechanism), flexible supply pipe for tennis balls to the supply head (position 5, fig. 6, hereinafter in the text - a ball line), a stand with ground stops (pos. 6, fig. 6, e Further in the text is a rack), a capacity for tennis balls (pos. 7, fig. 6), a program block located separately from the device (not indicated in the drawing), a control mechanism for tilting the feeding head in the horizontal and vertical plane (pos.8, fig. 6, hereinafter referred to as the control mechanism), the sensors for analyzing the location of the athlete (pos. 9, Fig. 9).

The software part includes a microcontroller with RAM and algorithms of device operation written into it in the following modes:

1. practicing strikes on a tennis ball with parameters that are not changed during the training period without regard to the location of the athlete,

2. practicing strikes on a tennis ball with parameters (impact force, direction of submission, direction of twisting) that change randomly in the course of a training session without regard to the location of the athlete,

3. practicing strikes on a tennis ball with parameters (impact force, direction of submission, direction of twisting) changeable during the training period depending on the location of the athlete,

4. practicing strikes on a tennis ball with parameters (force of impact, direction of submission, direction of twisting) changing randomly, but taking into account the location of the athlete,

5. practicing strikes on a tennis ball with parameters (impact force, feed direction, direction of twisting) with tuning for each stroke for the entire training cycle before it starts.

The software part of the robot provides for the possibility of using open source software for third-party developers, which will allow the end users of the robot to write algorithms for the operation of the device individually.

An additional feature of the device proposed for patenting this application is the absence of any specific control panel from which this device will be controlled and configured.

As a control panel, any device can be used, such as, for example, smartphones, tablet computers, etc., on which it will be possible to install a control (tuning) program. Communication between the device with the installed program and the software unit will work via wireless communication (Bluetooth, WiFi, etc.).

The operation of the device in the use cases for practicing strikes without analyzing the position of the athlete relative to the tennis table is organized as follows:

An athlete, or another person, from his mobile device connected to the program unit of the feeder via wireless communications (Bluetooth, WiFi, etc.), hereinafter referred to as the control panel, selects the mode of operation of the robot, and turns it on.

The robot software module sets the tennis ball ejection parameters (ejection force, ejection direction, ball spin, height of the feeding head relative to the surface of the tennis table) for the feed head, by activating the high-speed mechanism, sets the height of the feed head necessary for feeding.

After adjusting the parameters of the feeding head, the software module of the tennis robot, using the ball-feeding mechanism, provides the supply of the tennis ball to the feeding head along the ball guide.

After the tennis ball is fed (ejected) from the feed head, the software module checks the compliance of the parameters of the next blowout with the parameters set by the athlete (third-party operator) or the program set before the start of the training cycle, if necessary makes changes to the settings of the feed head or (if not necessary such changes) does not change anything, makes delivery of a tennis ball to the feed head and, accordingly, the next emission of a tennis ball.

And so - until the end of the time of operation of the tennis robot set by an athlete or another operator.

The work of a tennis robot in tracking the position of an athlete differs from that described above only in that the parameters for throwing a tennis ball are set by the software module of a tennis robot in accordance with the position of the athlete (pos. 12, fig. 7) of a relative tennis table which is determined by two or more sensors (pos 9, Fig. 7) are sensitive to thermal radiation of the human body in the zone of the sensors (pos. 11, Fig. 7), or using ultrasound or light radiation to obtain data.

Based on the data received from the sensors (pos. 9, fig. 7), the software module first determines the distance from each sensor (pos. 10, fig. 7) to the athlete's location. Then, due to calculations using the data from the sensors (pos. 9, fig. 7), the player’s location (pos. 12, fig. 7) is determined in relation to the game table and the software module makes changes to the settings of the feed head and the high-generating mechanism (or leaves them (in accordance with the selected mode of the robot) unchanged and produces a ball.

At the same time, the robot releases the ball and as a logically organized kick in the direction opposite to the athlete's location (conventionally we call this mode “predictable”), and in the direction of the athlete's location (conditionally called “unpredictable”), which complicates the athlete's training mode and approximates workouts to the real sports duel.

The robot has a lever mechanism for changing the height of the feed head above the level of the tennis table which works as follows:

The position of the feed head (pos. 1, fig. 8) with respect to the level of the table is established by a high-forming mechanism (pos. 2, fig. 8) which, acting on horizontal thrust (pos. 13, fig. 8), moves-pushes the levers (pos. 3, fig. 8) in lateral places of their fastening together (pos. 14, fig. 8). These levers raise and lower the feed head in accordance with the settings of the software module and as a result, the robot takes in its height both the minimum value (Fig. 9) and the maximum value (Fig. 10).

The work of the feed head is as follows:

The delivery head consists of a pushing mechanism (pos. 15, fig. 11) located at the rear side of the delivery head (pos. 1, fig. 11), motors (pos. 16, fig. 11) with rollers (pos. 17, fig. 11) forming the spinning of the tennis ball and the passage channel (pos. 18, fig. 11) along which the tennis ball is thrown onto the tennis table.

A pushing mechanism (pos. 15, fig. 11) with a force determined by the settings of an athlete or a third-party operator pushes the tennis ball through the passageway (pos. 18, fig. 11), and spin rollers (pos. 17, fig. 11) located at the exit of the passageway (pos. 18, fig. 11) affect the tennis ball passing through them and determine its torsion.

The advantage of this variant of the feed head is the absence of the need to rotate the head itself to change the nature of the torsion of the tennis ball and, accordingly, the loss of time for it. It is enough to set the torsion parameters of a tennis ball for each spin wheel (or turn off unnecessary ones) different from those for the previous serve, which is done in a fraction of a second.

Claims (1)

An automatic table tennis ball feeder containing a floor stand, a tennis ball tank attached to the bottom of the rack, a feed head secured at the top of the device, having a pushing mechanism and rollers in its construction, a device that sets the feed head to the desired one in the horizontal and vertical planes with an angle to the surface of the tennis table, a flexible pipe connecting the ball container and the feed head and changing its shape depending on the height of the feed head, the mechanism feeding the balls from the tank for them into the feed head, the control microprocessor that controls the operation of components and mechanisms of the device, sensors that track the position of the athlete in relation to the tennis table and transmit the received data to the control microprocessor, the mechanism for changing the height of the feed heads in relation to the surface of the tennis table, characterized in that the height of the supply head in relation to the surface of the tennis table dynamically changes during wipes of the device depending on the microcontroller’s program without a common stop and reconfiguration of the microprocessor, as well as the fact that the height of the feed head above the table level, the inclination relative to the table surface both in the vertical and horizontal planes by the microprocessor are adjusted based on data received from the tracking sensors .

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