A tennis ball retriever for retrieving a tennis ball on and about a tennis court and for controllably releasing the ball includes a front-end ball collector having two spaced-apart blades defining a ball collection space. The retriever includes a means for gripping and securing a ball positioned at the fore end, and one or more detents for retaining the collected ball in the collection space until a programmed or manually-directed release toward a target location such as a tennis baseline. The retriever includes a processor-controller for controlling and directing the retriever during a retrieval session. The retriever may be remote-controlled such as by voice commands.

A method for determining a direction of a spin axis of a rotating apparatus which includes an XYZ-magnetic field sensor. The method includes determining a global direction of a magnetic field; rotating the rotating apparatus around the spin axis, measuring at least one magnetic field value as a function of time with the XYZ-magnetic field sensor when the rotating apparatus is rotating about the spin axis, computing a magnetic field component of the magnetic field in a direction of a local body co-ordinate of the spin axis of the rotating apparatus from the measured at least one magnetic field value and determining a direction of the spin axis using the computed magnetic field component of the magnetic field and the determined global direction of the magnetic field.

A system for sensor-based tracking of participants of a sporting activity is provided. In some implementations, the system performs operations comprising determining, based on sensor data (e.g., information indicative of at least a location of a plurality of tracked participants and a location of a tracked object), a first probability of a team successfully scoring. The operations further comprise determining, in response to detecting an action which at least changes the location of the tracked object, a second probability of the team (or an opposing team (successfully scoring, and assigning, based on a difference between the first probability and the second probability, at least a portion of the difference among one or more of the plurality of participants. Related systems, methods, and articles of manufacture are also described.

Technologies are disclosed herein for one or more sensors arrayed adjacent to a golf course playing surface to track the trajectory and determine a resting location of a golf ball it travels along the golf course playing surface. The sensors may include motion detecting sensors that may determine various measurements related to the location and/or movement of the golf ball, such as an initial impact location, a velocity, and/or a direction of travel of the golf ball along the golf course playing surface. The signals from the motion detecting sensors may further be used to determine a resting location for the golf ball and/or a rate of acceleration/deceleration of the golf ball. The various signals may be averaged together to determine a velocity and/or direction of travel of the golf ball.

A system for sports training comprising an object comprising one or more sensors that allows the system to identify the location of the object. The object also may have a microprocessor and wireless transmitter to allow for transmission of the sensor data via wireless transmission to an external electronic device. A software application running on the electronic device, such as a mobile phone or tablet, receives the sensor data and incorporates the information into a game-like or training application. This application can display to the user which location the object should be for the game. This application can also analyze which patterns the player has difficulties with and suggest certain patterns and other advice to help the player to improve their skills. Among many other uses, this system could provide a way for a player to train hockey stickhandling skills.

An electronic golf aid system for assisting users with reading greens on golf courses includes a camera that captures images of the user's field of view, and an electronic display device with a display screen that displays captured images. A processor, which communicates with the camera and display device, is programmed to: receive signals from the camera indicative of images of a golf ball and a cup on the green; determine respective locations for the golf ball and cup; determine a perspective view of the topology of the green between the golf ball and cup from the user's point of view; determine, based on the green's topology, a proposed trajectory line from the golf ball's location to the cup's location; and direct the electronic display device to display the proposed trajectory line superimposed on the surface of the green as the green is shown in real-time on the display screen.

A golf ball comprising an electrical component is disclosed herein. The electrical component comprises an integrated circuit having a gyroscope, a magnetometer, and a BLUETOOTH low energy (BTLE) radio, and at least one battery. A body is composed of an epoxy material, and the body encompasses the electrical component.

An electronic tracking system for assisting a user in determining distances to landmarks and objects in a sporting environment includes a user tracking system for determining the location of a user, a heads up display for displaying information to the user, and a processor operable to communicate with the user tracking system and the heads up display. The heads up display is designed to be worn on the user's head, and to display an image within the user's field of view. The processor is programmed to determine a distance between the user's determined location and an object or a landmark on. This information is displayed via the heads up display as a numeric representation of the determined distance.

An electronic golf aid system for assisting users with reading greens on golf courses includes a camera that captures images of the user's field of view, and an electronic display device with a display screen that displays captured images. A processor, which communicates with the camera and display device, is programmed to: receive signals from the camera indicative of images of a golf ball and a cup on the green; determine respective locations for the golf ball and cup; determine a perspective view of the topology of the green between the golf ball and cup from the user's point of view; determine, based on the green's topology, a proposed trajectory line from the golf ball's location to the cup's location; and direct the electronic display device to display the proposed trajectory line superimposed on the surface of the green as the green is shown in real-time on the display screen.

A mixed reality sport simulation and training system that can use, along with a user's existing standard sports equipment, a launch monitor to track the initial positional data, spin and acceleration of a sport object, and simulate the complete object path and location or use complete object tracking data and displays the actual object path and location. Mixed reality glasses allow the display of object tracking data over the real world view and/or an immersive display of a simulated world view, depending on the user's head or view position. Sport simulation graphical views can include various options, including simulated or panoramic photographic views of a sports field, court, etc., simulated graphics and data superimposed over a real world view, or simple object tracking data superimposed over a real world view at any location.