A ball collection apparatus constituted of: a control circuitry; a body; motors; wheels arranged to rotate responsive to the motors, the body arranged to move along a surface responsive to the rotation of the plurality of wheels; a collection compartment arranged to maintain a ball within a predetermined area in relation to the body; a ball input port in communication with the collection compartment; and a ball ejector arranged to eject the ball from the collection compartment, wherein the control circuitry is arranged to: receive information regarding the location of the ball; responsive to the received information, control the at least one motor to advance the body towards the location of the ball, the collection compartment arranged to collect the ball through the ball input port; and control the ball ejector to eject the ball from the collection compartment and propel the ejected ball towards a predetermined target area.

This disclosure relates to a relatively compact smart ball launching system and associated methods for using the same. In various embodiments, the disclosed ball launching system may comprise a collapsible ball hopper that can store a larger number of balls while maintaining a relatively compact size. In certain embodiments, brushless motors may be used to improve power efficiency while allowing for accurate launch speeds and/or spins. In some embodiments, a pre-launch chamber may be included in a ball dispensing mechanism that may facilitate on-demand shots and/or power savings by shutting the ball launching system down when the ball hopper is empty. In further embodiments, the ball launching system may be controlled, at least in part, via a mobile device. In some implementations, the ball launching system may include and/or otherwise interface with a camera system to facilitate improved calibration and/or record user actions.

Implementations described and claimed herein provide systems, apparatuses, and methods for exercising and entertaining a pet. In one implementation, a pet exercise and entertainment device includes a launch funnel for launching projectiles for a pet to retrieve. The launch funnel has a feeder and a chute. The feeder is configured to receive a projectile and transport the projectile to an intake end of the chute. A sensor is configured to sense the projectile in the intake end of the chute and to command one or more motors to power up in response to sensing the projectile. An actuator is configured to release the projectile from the intake end of the chute into the launch end of the chute after a pre-determined time has elapsed. One or more wheels, rotated by the one or more motors, are configured to launch the projectile from the launch end of the chute.

System and method for launching a ball onto the ground of a playing field. The system includes an outlet chamber configured to receive the ball therein; an outlet conduit or frame configured to contain the outlet chamber and allow the same to move through the outlet conduit towards a second position on the ground; movement capability of the outlet chamber, connected to and configured to move the outlet chamber between at least the first position and the second position, where the outlet chamber includes an outlet mouth and launching means for launching the ball arranged in the outlet chamber. A field including the system is also described.

The utility model discloses an automatic ball launcher. The automatic ball launcher includes a ball launcher shell, in which an accommodating space is arranged; a ball launching channel, arranged in the accommodating space and provided with a ball launching inlet and a ball launching outlet; an acceleration mechanism, arranged in the accommodating space for pushing and accelerating the ball that enters the ball launching channel to a preset speed; and a ball launching mechanism, arranged in the accommodating space and close to the ball launching outlet for receiving the ball that is pushed by the acceleration mechanism and launching the ball from the ball launching outlet to the outside of the ball launching channel. The utility model can launch the ball more stably.

A smart ball-machine uses artificial intelligence to train a player or to play with a player. For example, the ball-machine can adjust the tennis ball speed, topspin, bounce according to the player's successful ball return rate. The ball-machine can be preconfigured with a profile of a player. For example, the ball-machine may download a complete profile of a tennis player from a game recording, or may download a file with a customized profile of a player to train a player using the ball-machine. The ball-machine is equipped with a plurality of wheels, motors, and shafts to provide a fully customizable launch of one or more balls. For example, the ball can be launched from the machine from one side of a tennis court to another side of a tennis court with a variety of speeds, trajectories, topspin, bounce etc.

A smart ball-machine uses artificial intelligence to train a player or to play with a player. For example, the ball-machine can adjust the tennis ball speed, topspin, bounce according to the player's successful ball return rate. The ball-machine can be preconfigured with a profile of a player. For example, the ball-machine may download a complete profile of a tennis player from a game recording, or may download a file with a customized profile of a player to train a player using the ball-machine. The ball-machine is equipped with a plurality of wheels, motors, and shafts to provide a fully customizable launch of one or more balls. For example, the ball can be launched from the machine from one side of a tennis court to another side of a tennis court with a variety of speeds, trajectories, topspin, bounce etc.

Disclosed is an interactive projectile game system that collects projectiles launched by a user toward a target and that returns the launched projectiles to the user. The system includes an actuator, a launcher assembly, a projectile, one or more targets, and a projectile collection system proximal to the targets. A user selects the actuator to activate the launcher assembly to propel the projectile to the user. The user receives or retrieves the projectile and propels the projectile toward the targets in an effort to score points by striking a target. The projectile collection system receives the projectile after being launched by the user, and the projectile collection system transfers the projectile back to the launcher assembly.

A system is disclosed that includes a ball-throwing machine included within a first housing, a controller communicatively coupled to the ball-throwing machine and included within a second housing different than the first housing, a camera, and a non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon logic, the logic being executable by one or more processors to perform operations including: receiving information associated with a selection of a first training drill from the controller, responsive to receiving the information associated with the selection of the first training drill, causing the ball-throwing machine to impart motion to one or more balls in accordance with the first training drill, receiving multimedia data of a player captured by the camera, and performing a player recognition procedure to locate the player within the multimedia data.

The tennis ball supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a communication circuit configured to communicate with an external device; a launcher configured to launch a ball; a body unit configured to move the launcher; and a controller configured to: control the body unit to move to a first position, identify whether the body unit is disposed on the first position based on a signal received from the communication circuit, based on identifying that the body unit is disposed on the first position, control the launcher to launch the ball, control the body unit to move to a second position after the launcher has stopped launching the ball, and identify whether the body unit is disposed on the second position based on the signal received from the communication circuit.