Sports analysis and testing system
OwnerCharles S. Bauminventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sports analysis and testing system includes a plurality of high-speed digital video cameras, each aimed at a player from a different perspective to record their movements and those of a ball in play. In a baseball application, a programmed computer interfaced to the video cameras and various optional sensors includes application software to generate performance statistics as a function of the pitch, hit, and bat swing. If previously obtained batter performances data are available, the system may also be used to generate a database containing historical performance statistics, including real-time measurements of many characteristics, including pitched and batted ball speeds and trajectories, bat swing timing, speeds, and swing angles, location over the plate, and ball-bat contact location.
Claims11
A baseball bat performance and testing system, comprising:
- a pitching machine operative to pitch a ball to a batter;
- a plurality of high-speed digital video cameras, each operative to record the pitch and hit of the ball by the batter from a different perspective, including at least one rear-view video camera positioned generally behind the batter having a field of view in substantial alignment with the ball in trajectory from the pitching machine, and at least one side-view video camera having a field-of-view positioned to observe the pitch and hit of the ball from a side-view perspective;
- a computer interfaced to the video cameras, the computer including means for synchronizing images taken by the rear-view camera with those taken by the side-view camera to assist in determining the location of the ball as a function of time in three dimensions;
- and
- an application software program resident on the computer to generate the baseball bat performance statistics as a function of pitch, hit, and bat swing.
A method of analyzing the performance of a baseball bat, comprising the steps of:
- providing a programmed computer having a display and a memory for storing performance statistics;
- pitching a ball to the batter using a pitching machine;
- providing a first high-speed digital video camera positioned generally behind the batter to image the ball in trajectory from the pitching machine and the batted ball according to a first perspective;
- providing a second high-speed digital video camera to image the pitched ball and batted ball from a side-view;
- synchronizing the images from the first and second video cameras so as to track the pitch and hit in three-dimensional space;
- developing a database of batter performance statistics based upon the tracking of the pitch and hit of the ball;
- and
- displaying a portion of the database in response to an operator request, including a visual representation of the batter during a swing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.