Method and apparatus for rating billiard shots and displaying optimal paths

A ball tracking system for use in tracking the position of pool balls on a pool table and calculating ball movement paths given designated pool shots, comprising:

• a standard pool table having six pockets provided about the periphery of the table;
• a plurality of pool balls;
• a cue ball;
• a low wattage laser generator used to generate a laser beam;
• directing means to variably direct said generated laser beam to a playing surface of said pool table;
• a computer coupled to said directing means to variably direct said laser beam, said computer operative to cause said laser beam to scan said playing surface of said table in a grid;
• light receiving means to receive said low wattage laser beam when it is reflected back toward said laser generator and generate a signal to said computer to indicate that the laser beam has been reflected back to said system;
• position indicating means, adapted to provide signals to said computer to indicate the position of said laser beam on said playing surface of said table;
• wherein said computer is programmed to interpret said signals provided by said position indicating means to accurately and continuously determine the variable position of said laser beam as it contacts said playing surface of said table;
• said position being determined by said computer according to a programmed grid coordinate system;
• wherein said computer receives said signals from said position indicating means and said signals generated from said light receiving means to accurately determine the location of each said ball on the playing surface of said table, according to said grid-coordinate system;
• touch-sensitive display means to receive signals produced by said computer and display an image corresponding to said playing surface of said table and the location of each ball on the playing surface on a touch-sensitive screen;
• said touch-sensitive display means capable of generating and transmitting signals to said computer when a player touches said screen to indicate a pool shot, and to indicate said cue ball, an object ball, and pocket selected by said player;
• wherein said computer calculates the optimum path that said cue ball must follow in order to pocket said selected object ball in said selected pocket;
• and wherein said computer thereafter directs said means to variably direct said laser beam to direct said laser beam so as to project an image on said playing surface of said pool table corresponding to said optimum path.

A method of rating the difficulty of a pool shot, comprising the steps of:

• scanning the playing surface of a pool table to determine the location of pool balls on the surface;
• designating a desired shot by identifying a cue ball, a target ball, and a specific pocket provided in said table;
• calculating the ideal path of travel of said cue ball so that said cue ball, when struck with a cue stick, contacts said target ball to pocket said target ball in said specific pocket;
• calculating the range of paths said cue ball may take to strike said target ball so as to pocket said target ball in said pocket;
• calculating the difficulty of the designated shot based upon said range and assessing a point value according to said difficulty;
• projecting the ideal cue ball path, and path said target ball must take to be pocketed, on said playing surface of said pool table;
• striking said cue ball with a cue stick to attempt to pocket said target ball in the designated specific pocket;
• and
• scanning said playing surface a second time to determine the new location of said pool balls and to determine if said target ball has been pocketed.