Teaching system including sensor aided ball
AssigneeBattelle Memorial Institute
InventorDouglas A. Thornton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sensor aided ball as a tool to teach math and science. The ball may include various sensors such as inertial, pressure, magnetic, and temperature sensors. Users can run experiments and then view the results on a computer, tablet, or phone. Measurements such as acceleration, angular rate, velocity, position, heading, pressure, and temperature can be displayed. The ball may be used within an associated system or method.
Claims32
An integrated sensor ball for providing teaching assistance, said integrated sensor ball comprising:
- a plurality of integrated sensors;
- a communication system for communicating with an external device;
- a memory for storing sensor trigger data;
- a controller configured to:
- monitor at least one of the plurality of integrated sensors for a trigger based on the trigger data;
- and
- change operation of at least one of the plurality of integrated sensors based upon detection of the trigger.
A teaching system comprising:
- an integrated sensor ball having
- a sensor system;
- a memory for storing sensor trigger data;
- a communication system for receiving sensor trigger data and transmitting sensor data;
- a controller for controlling operation of the sensor system, wherein the controller is configured to
- monitor the sensor system for a trigger based on the sensor trigger data;
- and
- change operation of the sensor system based upon detection of the trigger;
- and
- an external device having
- a communication system for transmitting sensor trigger data to the integrated sensor ball and receiving sensor data from the integrated sensor ball;
- and
- a user interface for at least one of defining an experiment and selecting a pre-defined experiment, providing instructions to a user to manipulate the integrated sensor ball, and displaying results.
The teaching system of 11 wherein the controller is configured to monitor for the trigger by sampling data at a sampling data rate from the at least one of the plurality of integrated sensors;
- wherein the controller is configured to change operation of the at least one of the plurality of integrated sensors upon detection of the trigger by changing the sampling data rate.
A method for teaching, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing an integrated sensor ball having a plurality of integrated sensors, a communication system, and a controller;
- providing an external device having a communication system and a user interface;
- selecting sensor trigger data for an experiment;
- transmitting the sensor trigger data from the external device to the integrated sensor ball;
- providing instructions to a user to manipulate the integrated sensor ball;
- monitoring at least one of the plurality of integrated sensors for a trigger based on the sensor trigger data;
- and
- changing operation of the at least one integrated sensor based upon detection of the trigger;
- transmitting sensor data from the integrated sensor ball to the external device. displaying results on the external device user interface based on the sensor data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.