Golf putting green with controllable surface contour

A surface having a controllable contour, comprising:

• a plurality of closely-spaced panels;
• a plurality of spaced apart post actuators disposed beneath each panel such that application of a force on a first post actuator causes the first post actuator to extend vertically and cause a region of a panel above the first post actuator to move upwardly, and release of a force on a second post actuator causes the second post actuator to contract vertically and permit a region of the panel above the second post actuator to contractible;
• a conduit system for supplying a non-compressible fluid to a first group of the plurality of post actuators to cause the first group of post actuators to extend vertically and for releasing the non-compressible fluid from a second group of the plurality of post actuators to cause the second group of post actuators to contract vertically, thereby achieving a desired contour for the plurality of panels;
• and
• further comprising a knuckle joint extending downwardly from a bottom surface of a panel at each panel vertex, and wherein the knuckle joint is received within a depression within a top surface of a post actuator.

A surface having a controllable contour, comprising:

• a plurality of closely-spaced panels;
• a plurality of spaced apart post actuators disposed beneath each panel such that application of a force on a first post actuator causes the first post actuator to extend vertically and cause a region of a panel above the first post actuator to move upwardly, and release of a force on a second post actuator causes the second post actuator to contract vertically and permit a region of the panel above the second post actuator to move downwardly, wherein each post actuator is independently extendable and contractible;
• a conduit system for supplying a non-compressible fluid to a first group of the plurality of post actuators to cause the fist group of post actuators to extend vertically and for releasing the non-compressible fluid from a second group of the plurality of post actuators to cause the second group of post actuators to contract vertically, thereby achieving a desired contour for the plurality of panels;
• and
• wherein each panel comprises a triangular panel with six triangular panels configured to form a hexagon, and wherein an upper surface of each post actuator defines six depressions arranged in a circle, each triangular panel further comprising a knuckle joint extending downwardly from a bottom surface of each triangular panel, each knuckle joint disposed within one of the six depressions.

A surface having a controllable contour, comprising:

• a plurality of closely-spaced triangular panels forming a panel array further comprising a plurality of hexagons formed within the array, each hexagon formed by six triangular panels;
• a material surface layer mimicking a golf course green disposed above and in contact with the plurality of panels;
• a supply of non-compressible fluid;
• a plurality of spaced apart post actuators disposed beneath each panel, a top surface of each post actuator defining a plurality of depressions therein, wherein each post actuator comprises an inner tubular member nested within an outer tubular member, and a seal disposed between an outer surface of the inner tubular member and an inner surface of the outer tubular member, such that as the non-compressible fluid is supplied to a post actuator, the inner tubular member is displaced upwardly within the outer tubular member causing the post actuator to vertically extend;
• a knuckle joint extending downwardly from a bottom surface of each triangular panel at each panel vertex, each knuckle joint received within a depression, such that one vertex from each of the six triangular panels is disposed atop and coupled to one post actuator;
• a conduit system for supplying a non-compressible fluid to each post actuator to vertically extend each post actuator or for releasing the non-compressible fluid from each post actuator to allow vertically contraction of each post actuator, by vertically extending a post actuator a vertex coupled to the post actuator rises, and by allowing vertical contraction of a post actuator a vertex coupled to the post actuator vertically descends;
• and
• a control system for operating valves that control a fluid supply to certain ones of the plurality of post actuators and for releasing the fluid from certain other ones of the plurality of post actuators to thereby control the contour of the surface.