Abstract:
A wireless transmission apparatus for disc golf discs includes a wireless communications unit, a microprocessor, a memory unit and acceleration sensor units. The microprocessor is configured to record data from the acceleration sensor units in the memory. The microprocessor controls the wireless communications unit to transmit acceleration data and/or calculations to an external device.

Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to method and apparatus for a position and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus in combination with a flying disc or disc golf disc for determining, storing and transmitting the flight characteristics and location of the disc. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Disc golf is a popular game that is much like traditional golf. Instead of balls and clubs, flying discs are used. Instead of holes, special made disc golf baskets are used. A player throws a flying disc from tee into the target. The game is typically played on courses laid out in parks or other recreational areas. A course consists of a number of “holes,” such as nine or eighteen, with each hole having a “tee box” from which a disc is originally thrown by each player and a target “hole” positioned at a selected distance from the tee. As the player progresses towards the target, he must make each consecutive throw from the place where the disc landed. The hole is completed when the flying disc reaches the target or disc golf basket. A disc golf course is completed when all the holes of the course are completed. 
         [0003]    A typical flying disc used in disc golf is 21.1 cm to 21.7 cm in diameter, about 1.9 cm thick and weights between 150 g and 180 g. Usually disc golf players use several discs for the round of play. Different disc golf models have different aerodynamic characteristics making them suitable for various situations on the course. For example, golf discs include driver discs for distance off the tee, midrange or fairway discs for accuracy and shorter distances, and putter and approach discs for greater accuracy, short throws, and a soft rim for gripping the target. 
         [0004]    The distance, attitude, altitude, and other flight characteristics of a disc are difficult to ascertain and often require many hours of practice to gain the skill to recognize. The flight characteristics are anecdotal based on personal accounts and observations rather than on actual flight data. Additionally, gathering this data from throw to throw is cumbersome and difficult. 
         [0005]    Bluetooth uses a radio technology called frequency hopping spread spectrum. Bluetooth provides a way to connect and exchange information between wireless devices over a distance of up to 10-20 meters. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    A method and apparatus in combination with a flying disc or disc golf disc for determining, storing and transmitting the flight characteristics and location of the disc is presented. A smart electronics unit is coupled to a disc golf disc and contains a microprocessor that is electronically connected to a wireless communication unit, to flash memory unit and to three acceleration sensor units. When the smart disc unit is thrown, it records all sensor data from the accelerometers which is stored in the flash memory unit. When the golf disc has stopped or 60-90 seconds have passed, the smart disc unit starts to send a radio signal that helps its owner to find the unit. When the smart discs owner moves into the Bluetooth range (10-20 meters), the smart disc transmits the sensor data a wireless—compatible device such as smartphone or tablet. The data is used to analyze the throw; distance, speed, altitude, angle, rotation speed, among other parameters including the effect of the wind. By using the data provided by the smart disc unit, its owner may improve his/her skills in the art of throwing flying discs. 
         [0007]    The smart disc unit is configured to record and to transmit one throw sensor data using wireless communications. To make this possible, the units of the smart disc are electronically connected to each other: 
         [0008]    After the owner of the smart unit has thrown his golf disc in the first hole of the course, he starts to walk towards the direction where he threw the disc. When the owner moves within the wireless range, his wireless enable device will receive the sensor data automatically. At the same time, the strength of the wireless signal can be used to determine how close the owner is to his disc. In case the smart disc is lost, finding it using wireless signal strength becomes easy. In a case where there are several players with each carrying their own wireless-enabled device such as smartphone or tablet, it is possible to triangulate the exact location of the smart disc. This can be achieved by measuring the signal strength between other players and the lost smart unit, and between other players&#39; wireless devices such as smart phones or tables, and the owner of the lost smart units wireless device such as smartphone or tablet. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a golf disc basket and a flying disc of the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a flying disc of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a top plan view of the flying disc of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a side view of the flying disc of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a bottom view of the flying disc of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is an enlarged view of the electronic components of the flying disc of  FIG. 5 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a functional block diagram of the control circuit of the flying disc of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is an enlarged diagrammatic illustration of the flying disc of  FIG. 5  rotating. 
           [0017]      FIG. 9  is a diagrammatic illustration of the accelerometers of the control circuit. 
           [0018]      FIG. 10  is an illustration of the data transfer between the disc of the present invention and an electronic device. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    Referring initially to  FIGS. 1-5 , a flying disc of the present invention is generally indicated by reference numeral  10 . Disc  10  includes a top or back  12 , a bottom or belly  14 , a center or navel  16 , a flight plate  18 , a script band  20 , and a lip or rim  22 . The disc  10  is thrown from a tee box toward a target hole  24  positioned at a selected distance from the tee. As the player progresses towards the target, he must make each consecutive throw from the place where the disc  10  landed. The hole is completed when the flying disc  10  reaches the target or disc golf basket  24 . A disc golf course is completed when all the holes of the course are completed. The disc golf basket  24  is mounted on a post or other support  26 . A plurality of chains  28  loosely hang from the upper frame  30  above the basket  32 . The chains  28  are functionally arranged to catch a disc  10  by absorbing its kinetic energy so that the disc  10  drops into the basket  32 . 
         [0020]    While the parts of the disc  10  are the same for the classes of discs such as a driver, midrange or fairway, and putter disc, the profile or shape of the rim  22  of the disc  10  varies. For example, the rim of a driver disc has a sharper edge for distance and speed. The rim of a midrange disc is generally blunter than the rim of a driver disc for more control. The rim of the putter disc is generally rounded for slow and highly controlled flights to the basket. Additionally, the weight and hardness of the disc may vary depending on the class of the disc. 
         [0021]    Referring to  FIGS. 5-10 , the distance, attitude, altitude, and other flight characteristics of the disc  10  are determined by an electronic circuit  40  mounted on the bottom  14  of the disc  10 . Preferably, electronic circuit  40  is mounted in the center of the bottom surface  14  of the disc  10  to protect the electronic circuit  40  and so that it can be added to any disc  10 . However, the electronic circuit  40  may be mounted to the top surface  12  of the disc  10 , or embedded in the disc  10 . 
         [0022]    The electronic circuit  40  includes a microprocessor  42 , a wireless communication unit  44 , accelerometers  46 ,  48  and  50 , a memory  52 , and a USB port  54  mounted on one side of the circuit board  40 , and a battery  56  mounted on the opposite side of the electronic circuit  40 . The components are arranged to be rotationally balanced so as to not affect the flight dynamics of the disc  10 . 
         [0023]    The memory  52  may be a flash memory unit which is an electronically erasable programmable serial memory. The memory  52  may be used to record the information from the accelerometers  46 ,  48  and  50 . 
         [0024]    The microprocessor  42  may be an ARM processing unit with a reduced instruction set. Preferably, the microprocessor  42  may be used without an operating system which starts executing its firmware directly from memory location 0. The use of third party operating system may be used, but would likely cause higher power consumption of the smart disc apparatus and would require more expensive or additional electronic part to be used. By using a firmware, the need for a third party operating system may be eliminated because the firmware may be in assembler language native to the microprocessor  42 . 
         [0025]    Wireless communication unit  44  may use any number of wireless technologies and protocols. For example, and without limitation, wireless communication unit  44  may be Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RFID, GSM, CDMA and Zigbee. In the preferred embodiment, the wireless communication unit is Bluetooth. The wireless communication unit  44  is controlled by the microprocessor  42 . The Bluetooth wireless communication unit  44  has a small internal antenna which is used to broadcast the data using short-wavelength UHF radio waves in the ISM band from 2.4 Ghz to 2.485 Ghz. Bluetooth uses frequency-hopping spread spectrum. 
         [0026]    An accelerometer detects the rate of change of the velocity of the apparatus to which it is attached, such as the disc. Additionally, the accelerometer may determine the tilt of the sensor by measuring the output attributed to the z-axis and any deviation from a constant gravity. The accelerometers  46 ,  48  and  50  are ultra-low power high performance three-axis linear accelerometers with digital SPI serial interface. The sensor units have user selectable scales and output data rates. Accelerometers  46 ,  48  and  50  also provide also 6D/4D orientation detection to make mathematical analysis of the recorded data easier. 
         [0027]    The accelerometers may be selected from a number of different accelerometers selected according to the desired operating characteristics, sensitivity, and application. For example and without limitation, the accelerometers may be capacitive, piezoelectric, piezoresistive, Hall Effect, magnetoresistive, or micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS). 
         [0028]    Capacitive accelerometers sense a change in electrical capacitance, with respect to acceleration. The capacitive accelerometer senses the capacitance change between a static condition and the dynamic state. Piezoelectric accelerometers use materials such as crystals, which generate electric potential from an applied stress. This is known as the piezoelectric effect. As stress is applied, such as acceleration, an electrical charge is created. Piezoresistive accelerometers (strain gauge accelerometers) work by measuring the electrical resistance of a material when mechanical stress is applied. Hall Effect accelerometers measure voltage variations stemming from a change in the magnetic field around the accelerometer. Magnetoresistive accelerometers work by measuring changes in resistance due to a magnetic field. The structure and function is similar to a Hall Effect accelerometer except that instead of measuring voltage, the magnetoresistive accelerometer measures resistance. MEMS (Micro-Electro Mechanical System) technology is based on a number of tools and methodologies, which are used to form small structures with dimensions in the micrometer scale (one millionth of a meter). This technology may be utilized to manufacture state of the art MEMS-Based Accelerometers. 
         [0029]    Accelerometer  48  is located at the center of the disc  10 . Accelerometer  48  is located the same distance from accelerometer  46  as it is from accelerometer  50 . All accelerometers  46 ,  48  and  50  are aligned to the same direction. Because accelerometer  48  is located at the center of the spinning flying golf disc  10 , it will not provide useful x- or y-coordinate data (unless it is off center). The more accelerometer  48  is off the center, the more its data resembles the data output from accelerometers  46  and  50 . By comparing the output data from accelerometer  48  to the output data from accelerometers  46  and  50 , the distance accelerometer  48  is off the center may be calculated and a mathematical correction to the accelerometer  48  data may be applied. 
         [0030]    Accelerometer  48 , which is located at the center of the flying disc  10 , provides z-coordinate data that can be used together with z-coordinate data output from accelerometers  46  and  50  to determine movement and the attitude or tilt of the flying disc  10 . For example, if the disc  10  is level and still, all accelerometers measure z coordinates acceleration to be earth surface g force −9.80665 meters per second squared. A minus (“−”) appears on this data because from point of view of accelerometer, up is positive and down is negative. Of course, if the accelerometer is mounted in a reverse orientation, the data would be positive. When the disc is still and level, x and y coordinates of the acceleration data are 0. 
         [0031]    When the disc  10  moves, the numbers start to change. Using the following well-known Newton mechanics equations the speed and distance traveled may be calculated: speed=distance/time; acceleration=speed/time. The time is known because when the accelerometer frequency is 1000 samples per second, the time is always 0.001 seconds. Thousands of incremental calculations may be made to change first acceleration data into speed data and then speed data into distance data. This data is used to determine the flight characteristics of the disc  10 . For example, the disc  10  may be flying level, or at a constant tilt, or may be flying erratically with a varying tilt or wobble. A rapidly varying tilt may indicate a bad throwing technique. 
         [0032]    The x- and y-coordinate data provided by accelerometers  46  and  50  is used to eliminate the spinning effect of the disc  10 . By subtracting the x- and y-coordinate values of accelerometers  46  and  50  the flying disc&#39;s spinning effect is eliminated. More specifically, because the accelerometers  46  and  50  are positioned at opposite sides of the control circuit  40  compared to each other, when the control circuit  40  spins counterclockwise, accelerometer  46  rotates in the +x direction while accelerometer  50  rotates in the −x direction, 180 degrees opposite accelerometer  46 . By subtracting the x- and y-axis data, the x- and y-direction of flying disc  10  may be calculated to determine the direction traveled. The frequency of the accelerometers  46 ,  48  and  50  may be fixed or user selectable. For a known frequency, for example 1000 samples per second, the speed of and distance traveled by the flying disc  10  may be calculated from the acceleration data. The data can be used to draw graphs featuring for example a flying disc&#39;s speed in y-axis and time in x-axis, or height of the disc from the throwing place in y-axis and time in x-axis. The time of travel may be determined from the initial change in acceleration from zero or resting to the point when the acceleration of disc  10  is again zero or resting. Based on the time of travel and speed of the disc  10  the distance the disc  10  traveled may be calculated. 
         [0033]    Data from the accelerometers  46 ,  48  and  50  is received by the microprocessor  42  during flight of the disc  10 , and stored in memory  52 . When the disc  10  comes to rest after being thrown, the microprocessor  42  retrieves the data and begins transmitting the data via the wireless interface  44 . When the player moves within the wireless range, a wireless enabled device  60 , paired with the wireless interface  44  will receive the sensor data automatically. At the same time, the strength of the wireless signal may be used to determine how close the player is to the disc  10 , and help locate the disc  10 . In a case where there are several players with each carrying their own wireless-enabled device such as smartphone or tablet, the exact location of the disc  10  may be determined through triangulation. This can be achieved by measuring the signal strength between other players&#39; wireless devices and the disc  10 , and between other players&#39; wireless devices and the owner of the lost disc  10  wireless device. 
         [0034]    It is to be understood that while certain now preferred forms of this invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto except insofar as such limitations are included in the following claims.