Abstract:
A device configured to track and capture the movement data of a target as well as shooting and firearm movement activity of a hunter includes a housing, a camera, sensors, a processor, a memory, and a battery. The camera is disposed in close proximity to the housing to capture the movement of a target. One or more sensors are disposed in the housing and interfaced with the processor to capture the velocity and orientation of a gun. A trigger activation sensor is also in communication with the processor. The memory stores camera activity, trigger activity, sensor activities, and also stores an alarm setting on the device. The processor activates the alarm setting when predefined criteria are met. Radar can be incorporated to determine the distance of the target from the user. GPS can also be included to provide precise location and time information.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit under Title 35, United States Cod, Section 120 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 61/790,111 filed Mar. 15, 2013 which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for capturing movement activity as it specifically relates to a hunter training system for improving shooting skills. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The hunting of waterfowl is a popular activity throughout the United States and in many parts of the world. As any hunter will tell you becoming an efficient hunter of game birds requires years of practice, and shooting stationary targets provides little help in developing the eye-hand coordination required to hit a moving target. While skeet shooting provides a better simulation, the skeet&#39;s trajectory is parabolic and predictable unlike that of bird&#39;s flight path. Additionally, skeet shooting is expensive. Combined with a short hunting season, hunters are left with few options to safely sharpen their gun skills without wasting ammunition and/or paying for time at a skeet range. 
     It is in this context that the embodiments described herein arise. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure describes embodiments for systems, devices, computer readable media, and methods for capturing movement activity as it relates to hunting or simulated hunting with remote computing devices and transferring that data to remote computing devices for review and interpretation. 
     In one embodiment a device configured for capturing targeted images and trigger movement to improve gun-handling skills is provided. The device includes a retrofit assembly capable of being attached to any shotgun and includes a camera, a housing, an inertial measurement unit, a battery, a processor, a memory, and a trigger sensor. 
     In another embodiment a device configured for capturing targeted images and trigger movement is a gun-resembling apparatus having a gunstock and a barrel and includes a camera, an inertial measurement unit, a battery, a processor, a memory, and a trigger sensor. 
     In one embodiment the housing further includes a radar assembly to determine the range, altitude, direction and/or speed of the targeted images. 
     In one embodiment the housing further includes an alarm for notifying the user of a “hit.” 
     In another embodiment the housing further includes wireless communication logic configured to pair with a remote computing device. 
     In yet another embodiment the device is associated with a web-based user account wherein a user can access his or her account via a website to manage and review activity captured by the device. 
     The tracking device and system of the present invention allows hunters to improve their gun skills using their own gun while targeting live game birds. Users can simulate shooting of game birds out of hunting season, or can track their firing of live ammunition during hunting season. Users can enter personal data via a web-based user account accessed via the Internet to increase the accuracy of the data recorded and manipulated by the tracking device. The number of shots fired, hits, misses, etc., can easily be tracked as the data collected can be wirelessly transferred and viewed on a computing device. 
     The present invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in varying ways. Additional aspects will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the tracking device of the present invention secured along the side of the barrel of a firearm; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the tracking device of the present invention secured along the top of the barrel of a firearm; 
         FIG. 3  is a second perspective view of the tracking device of the present invention secured along the top of the barrel of a firearm; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the present invention 
         FIG. 5  is a partial cut-away of the barrel section of the alternate embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a partial perspective view of the tracking device of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a partial perspective view of the tracking device of the present invention with a portion of the housing and the camera removed for visual clarity; 
         FIG. 8  illustrates an embodiment of the present invention in use; 
         FIG. 9  illustrates an example tracking device including components utilized for target tracking activity and motion of the device, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 10  illustrates an example tracking device in communication with a remote computing device, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 11  is a flowchart diagram illustrating the operation of the tracking device in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The embodiments described herein may be practiced with various computer system configurations including retrofit devices, microprocessor systems, programmable consumer electronics, mainframe computers, and distributed network computing environments. The embodiments described herein also employ various computer-implemented operations to data stored in various computer systems and can be specifically configured to perform these operations. 
     Turning now descriptively to the drawings,  FIGS. 1-3  illustrate the tracking device  10  of the present invention. Tracking device  10  is designed to mechanically affix to the barrel of any shotgun, rifle, or firearm. As illustrated in  FIG. 1  tracking device  10  is affixed along the side of a shotgun barrel, while in  FIGS. 2-3 , tracking device  10  is affixed along the top of a shotgun barrel. Adjustable mounting brackets  25  allow a user to position and secure tracking device  10  along a firearm&#39;s barrel at a location that best meets the user&#39;s needs. 
     In an alternate embodiment illustrated in  FIGS. 4-5 , tracking device  10  is incorporated into a gun-resembling apparatus  50 , having a gunstock  52 , barrel  54 , and trigger  56 . Gun-resembling apparatus  50  cannot fire ammunition and can only simulate shooting, while being used as training device for efficiently improving a user&#39;s targeting and shooting skills. 
     The components of tracking device  10  are visible in  FIGS. 6-7 . In the most basic embodiment tracking device  10  comprises camera  20 , housing  22 , inertial measurement unit  26 , processor  30 , memory  32 , and battery  34 . Trigger sensor  11  is connected via cable  18  to battery  34  and processor  30 . In gun-resembling apparatus  50  the need for a separate trigger sensor  11  is omitted as the trigger  56  itself is connected via cable (not shown) to battery  34  and processor  30 . Additionally, tracking device  10  may include radar sensor  24 , and may additionally include alarm  28 . It should be noted and understood that not all of the microelectronics and interfacing circuitry of tracking device  10  will be discussed and/or illustrated herein for the sake of brevity as they are outside the scope of this invention and known in the industry. 
     Tracking device  10  includes camera  20  which can be a digital, or infrared camera designed to capture still or video images in the sight line of a firearm&#39;s barrel at a sufficient distance from tracking device  10  to simulate a real-life hunting distance of approximately 30-50 meters—that is the camera is focused at a distance typically encountered in hunting game birds. Camera  20  can be securely affixed via an adjustable camera-mounting bracket  23 , to housing  22 , adjacent to housing  22  (not illustrated), or reside within housing  22  (not illustrated). 
     Housing  22  is illustrated as cylindrical but may take any physical shape and be constructed from any durable material. A power supply, such as battery  34  (non-rechargeable or rechargeable), powers tracking device  10 , and power button  12  powers tracking device  10  on or off. The location at which the various tracking device components are arranged within housing  22  can vary, and location of components as illustrated in  FIG. 7  is simply illustrative configuration and not absolute. 
     Inertial measurement unit  26  measures the firearm&#39;s velocity and orientation of the firearm to which tracking device  10  is affixed based on the user&#39;s movement of the firearm. While specifically discussed as an “inertial measurement unit,” which is well known in the art, tracking device  10  could employ any device used for motion-detection such as accelerometer, a gyroscope, rotary encoder, displacement sensor, altimeter, angular motion sensor, etc., or any combination thereof without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
     Radar sensor  24  is employed to calculate the distance of a target from the firearm to which tracking device  10  is affixed. As is well known radar is used for object (target) detection and can determine a target&#39;s altitude, range, direction of travel and speed. As illustrated herein radar sensor  24  employs a horn antenna to direct the radio waves towards the target to which the firearm is aimed. Radar sensor  24  is a monostatic radar sensor, transmitting and receiving radio signals with the same antenna. However, any style of antenna could be employed without departing from scope of the present invention. 
     Tracking device  10  can communicate with other computing devices through wired communication (not shown) via electrical connector  16 . However, wireless transceiver  31  allows tracking device  10  to communicate with remote computing devices via wireless communication. 
     As shown in  FIG. 9 , tracking device  10  includes logic system  60  (dashed line on  FIG. 9 ). Logic  60  may include activity tracking logic  62 , alarm management logic  64 , wireless communication logic  66 , and trigger sensor logic  68 , as well as processor  30 , radar sensor  24 , inertial measurement unit (IMU)  26 , and alarm  28 . Additionally, storage (memory)  32  and a battery  34  are integrated within activity tracking device  10 , as is camera  20 . Activity tracking logic  62  is configured to process motion data produced by the IMU  26  and process distance data produced by radar sensor  24  and quantify the data. 
     Alarm management logic  64  activates alarm  28  under certain conditions and operates in conjunction with trigger sensor logic  68  and activity tracking logic  62 . Trigger sensor logic  68  is configured to detect trigger movement. Orifices  14  ( FIG. 6 ) provide the means for alarm  28  to alert the user, serving as way for sound waves to escape housing  22  in the case of an audible alarm, or as mounting orifices for light emitting diodes, should a non-audible alarm be employed. Additionally, alarm  28  may employ haptic feedback technology, producing a vibrating alarm to alert the user of a successful hit or miss. A motor integrated into the tracking device  10  and managed by alarm management logic  64  could produce the vibration. 
     Wireless communication logic  66  is configured for wireless communication with another computing device via a wireless signal. The signal can be in the form of a Wi-Fi signal, a Bluetooth signal, or any form of wireless tethering or near field communication. The wireless communication logic  66  interfaces with process  30 , storage  32 , and battery  34  for transferring motion data produced by the IMU  26  and process distance data produced by radar sensor  24 , stored in storage  32  to a remote computing device. 
     Processor  30  functions in conjunction with logic components  62 ,  64 ,  66 , and  68 , providing the functionality of any one or all of the logic components ( 62 ,  64 ,  66 , and  68 ). Bus  69  allows communication between logic components ( 62 ,  64 ,  66 , and  68 ) and processor  30 . Storage  32  also communicates via  69  with logic components ( 62 ,  64 ,  66 , and  68 ) to provide storage of all data received by tracking device  10 , including the image data or video data from camera  20 . Processor  30  is configured to run specific operations embodied as computer-readable code, and is not necessarily one chip or module, but can be a collection of components, logic, code, and firmware. Processor  30  can be interfaced with (or include) an application specific integrated circuit, various programmable logic devices, and a central processing unit. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 10 , an exemplary environment illustrating tracking device  10  in communication with a remote computing device  70  is shown. Remote computing device can be a any computing device: e.g., laptop, desktop, tablet, smartphone, or an computing device capable of wireless communication with the internet  80  and tracking device  10  (Device A). Remote computing device  70  is capable of wireless communication with the Internet  80  as well as tracking device  10 . Installed on remote computing device  70  is tracking application  72 , which may be downloaded from server  82 . Once application  72  has been installed on remote computing device  70 , remote computing device can be configured to communicate with tracking device  10  (Device A). 
     Server  82  can include a number of applications related to or servicing tracking device  10  and the associated users of tracking device  10  via user accounts. Two exemplary accounts user account (User A)  88 A and user account  88 Z are shown. Tracking activity management application  84  includes logic for providing access to various user accounts  88 A,  88 Z as well as various tracking devices  10 . Server  82  can include storage  86  for storing the user profile data associated with user accounts. The user data associated with user accounts can include data associated with the height, weight, and sex of the user, the type of firearm tracking device  10  has been secured to, barrel length, gauge of shell, shot size, barrel choke, etc., all of which are modifiable by the user and aid in increasing the accuracy in which tracking device  10  determines the probability of a “hit” as will be discussed in further detail below (See  FIG. 11 ). It should be noted that a single user account could have various tracking devices  10  associated therewith. 
       FIG. 11  is a flowchart illustrating the method operations performed in implementing the functionality of tracking device  10 . In one embodiment the method begins in operation when button  12  is pressed by the user, and in another embodiment the tracking device  10  turns on automatically when the firearm to which it is affixed is in motion and a predetermined tilt direction is detected, and/or an object is detected in the field of view “FOV”  7  of radar  24  ( FIG. 8 ), step  100 . Once the method of tracking device  10  is initiated, simultaneously the camera  20  records image data, as radar  24  measures the distance  9  to target  4  within radar FOV  7 , as IMU  26  measures velocity of firearm and the firearm&#39;s orientation to which tracking device  10  is affixed, step  110 . Continuing to look at  FIG. 8  in conjunction with  FIG. 11 , the relative location of target  4  is calculated in reference to center location  6  of camera FOV  8 , step  120 . The data collection, step  110  and calculation of target position, step  120  are repeated at fixed sampling interval Δt and updated in steps  130  and  140 . With each subsequent data collection (iteration), the velocity of the target  4  is calculated by comparing the change in location of target  4  in camera FOV  8 , change in target pixel coverage (image data captured by camera  20 ), and change in range 9 to target  4  within measurement interval Δt. The relative velocity of the target  4  is then calculated as the difference between the current IMU  26  velocity measurement and target&#39;s  4  velocity calculation. Additionally, target&#39;s  4  relative velocity is calculated using Doppler radar processing methods using data captured by radar sensor  24 , and these two results are combined to provide a relative velocity estimate of the target  4 , at step  140 . Measurements and calculations continue at fixed sampling interval Δt until trigger sensor  11  is activated (trigger is pulled), step  150 . If a trigger event has occurred, final relative target velocity, distance, and relative target location are measured and/or calculated, at steps  160 ,  170  respectively. Projectile motion of shotgun shot is calculated using information on shotgun load type, shot velocity as a function of distance and load type, and shot dispersion pattern  5  as a function of distance and effects of gravity. Probability of intersection of shot pattern  5  with target  4  is calculated and probability of successful take down of target is calculated based on probability of shot intersection with target  4 , shot pattern  5  dispersion size at intersection range and shot velocity at intersection point, step  180 . If a successful hit, user is informed of success of hit by visual, audible means, or through haptic feedback or by any combination of the three, at alarm event, step  200 . All data and results can be stored locally (step  210 ) on removable media or uploaded via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or other wireless means to smartphone. Additionally, results with performance statistics can be displayed on a local screen or on a smartphone using an associated smartphone application or uploaded to the cloud or emailed, which can then be shared with social networking applications. Additionally, using the images obtained by the camera, combined with the size information obtained from the range information, the camera FOV, and the angle subtended by the target, and potentially GPS location, automatic bird identification will be possible. 
     Tracking device  10  and its method of operation described herein may calculate various metrics derived from the data captured such has hit/miss ratio, the distance by which a user is leading or lagging a sighted target, allowing the user to see why he or she is successful or unsuccessful. The hunter can use this data and metrics to adjust his/her gun handling accordingly. 
     Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a wide variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, it is intended that this invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.