Abstract:
A sportball giving feedback as to manner in which it is handled or struck includes a ball body, and a plurality of sensors, a first wireless communication unit, and a controller located in the ball body. The sensors are arranged at different locations in the ball body, and are configured to sense pressures at different locations of the ball body, and generate electrical signals accordingly. The controller is configured to obtain the generated electrical signals, determine some characteristics of the pressures applied, and transmit the determined characteristics to the electronic device via the first wireless communication unit.

Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    The subject matter herein generally relates to data collection and feedback. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Nowadays, ball games are one of the most popular sports throughout the world. Daily ball games or ball training often lacks sufficient feedback to facilitate users&#39; skill improvement. Taking a basketball for example, shooting baskets is a critical skill. However, the user may not know whether his or her shooting posture or technique is correct since a measurement of force the user applies to the basketball may not be available. As a result, the user is unable to adjust his or her shooting posture or technique from feedback. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0003]    Implementations of the present technology will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached figures. 
           [0004]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an embodiment of a pressure sensing and feedback controlling system employed by a sportball. 
           [0005]      FIG. 2  is similar to  FIG. 1 , but showing the pressure sensing and feedback controlling system in another embodiment. 
           [0006]      FIG. 3  is similar to  FIG. 1 , but showing the pressure sensing and feedback controlling system in yet another embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0007]    It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, where appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the different figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the related relevant feature being described. Also, the description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale and the proportions of certain parts may be exaggerated to better illustrate details and features of the present disclosure. 
         [0008]    Several definitions that apply throughout this disclosure will now be presented. 
         [0009]    The term “substantially” is defined to be essentially conforming to the particular dimension, shape, or other feature that the term modifies, such that the component need not be exact. For example, “substantially cylindrical” means that the object resembles a cylinder, but can have one or more deviations from a true cylinder. The term “comprising,” when utilized, means “including, but not necessarily limited to”; it specifically indicates open-ended inclusion or membership in the so-described combination, group, series and the like. 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  illustrates an embodiment of a pressure sensing and feedback controlling system  100 . The system  100  includes a sportball  1  and an electronic device  2 . The sportball  1  can wirelessly communicate with the electronic device  2 . The sportball  1  can be a football, a baseball, a basketball, a golf ball, an American football, a badminton shuttle, or any object intended to be handled or struck. The electronic device  2  can be any mobile terminal (such as a smart phone, a tablet computer, or a multimedia player) having a wireless communication function. The electronic device  2  can also be a cloud server. 
         [0011]    The sportball  1  includes a ball body  10 , a number of sensors  20 , and a controller  30 . The ball body  10  is made of elastic material such as rubber. The sensors  20  are located in and arranged at different locations in the ball body  10 . When the ball body  10  is pressed by a user (taking a basketball for example, when the user&#39;s hand touches the basketball during dribbling or shooting the basketball), the user applies an original and external pressure, such original and external pressure to be delivered from the ball body  10  to at least one sensor  20 , and then sensed by the at least one sensor  20 . 
         [0012]    The sensors  20  sense pressures at different locations of the ball body  10 , and generate electrical signals according to the sensed pressures. The controller  30  is located inside the ball body  10 , and is electrically connected to each of the sensors  20 . The controller  30  obtains the generated electrical signals, and determines a characteristic data of the pressures applied according to the obtained electric signals. Since the sensors  20  are located in the ball body  10 , the ball body  10  may absorb a portion of the original pressures to cause the pressures sensed by the sensors  20  to be less than the original pressures. In at least one embodiment, the elastic material of the ball body  10  has a moderate elasticity. As such, the ball body  10  can have enough elasticity to effectively reflect the amount of the original pressures. That is, the ball body  10  can effectively deliver the original pressures to the sensors  20 , to cause the amount of the pressures sensed by the sensors  20  to be nearly identical to the original pressures. 
         [0013]    In at least one embodiment, the sensors  20  include pressure sensors, such as piezoelectric sensors or capacitive type sensors. The pressure sensors sense the value of the pressures, and generate electric signals according to the sensed value of the pressures. The controller  30  obtains the generated electrical signals, and determines the value of the pressures according to the obtained electric signals. That is, the determination of the characteristic data of the pressures applied to the sportball  1  being handled or struck includes the value of the pressures. In addition, the controller  30  further determines a range of the area to which the pressures are applied and sensed according to the sensors  20  which generate the electrical signals, and determines a posture of the employed by the user to the ball body  10  according to the determined range. That is, the determination of the characteristic data of the pressures further includes the posture employed by the user. 
         [0014]    The sensors  20  can further include motion sensors such as three-axis gyroscopes, gravity sensors, or acceleration sensors. The motion sensors sense the direction of the pressures, and generate electrical signals according to the sensed direction of the pressures. The controller  30  obtains the generated electrical signals, and determines the direction of the pressures according to the obtained electric signals. That is, the determination of the characteristic data of the pressures includes the direction of the pressures. The motion sensors can further sense the acceleration and the velocity of the ball body  10  as a result of the pressures. Thus, the determination of the characteristic data of the pressures further includes the acceleration and the velocity of the ball body  10 . 
         [0015]    The sportball  1  further includes a first wireless communication unit  40  located in the ball body  10 . The controller  30  further transmits the determined characteristic data to the electronic device  2  via the first wireless communication unit  40 . The first wireless communication unit  40  can be a BLUETOOTH® communication unit or a WIFI communication unit. 
         [0016]    The electronic device  2  includes a processor  22 . When the electronic device  2  receives the determined characteristic data from the sportball  1 , the processor  22  compares the determined characteristic data with data as to a certain standard (standard data), and generates feedback information according to the result of comparison. As such, the user can learn whether his handling or striking of the sportball  1 , including the values of the pressures, the posture employed by the user, the direction of the pressures, and/or the acceleration and velocity of the sportball  1 , matches or does not match a certain standard according to the feedback information, and then improve his or her technique as required. 
         [0017]    In at least one embodiment, the feedback information is an advice. The advice can be an audio file or a text file. The processor  22  further controls the electronic device  2  to output the advice to the user. In at least one embodiment, the electronic device  2  further includes a memory  21  for storing an advice template. Taking a basketball for example, the advice template can be “the pressure applied is insufficient/too great/suitable; the posture employed is correct/incorrect; the acceleration and velocity of the sportball  1  is insufficient/too great/suitable.” The processor  22  obtains the advice template from the memory  21 , and generates the advice according to the result of comparison and the obtained advice template. The standard data can be stored in the memory  21 , and is provided by a professional coach or a professional athlete. When the electronic device  2  is a mobile terminal, the standard data can also be obtained by the electronic device  2  via a preset network. In this case, the electronic device  2  further includes a network interface  23 . The processor  22  obtains the standard data from the preset network via the network interface  23  when the electronic device  2  receives the determined characteristic data from the sportball  1 . 
         [0018]    In another embodiment, the feedback information is a control command. The control command includes feedback data corresponding to the result of comparison. Referring to  FIGS. 2-3 , in this embodiment, the electronic device  2  further includes a second wireless communication unit  24 . The processor  22  further transmits the control command to the sportball  1  via the second wireless communication unit  24 , to command the sportball  1  to generate feedback according to the feedback data. Here, the user can learn whether his handling or striking is correct or not correct according to the feedback data. 
         [0019]    In at least one embodiment, the feedback is a tactile feedback, more specifically, a vibration feedback. Referring to  FIG. 2 , the sportball  1  in this embodiment further includes a vibrator  31  located in the main body  10 . The processor  30  is electrically connected to the vibrator  31 , and controls the vibrator  31  to vibrate according to the feedback data after the electronic device  2  receives the control command, thereby providing the vibration feedback to the user. For example, the feedback data is the amplitude of the vibration feedback. When the user&#39; handling or striking is not correct, the controller  30  controls the vibrator  31  to vibrate with great amplitude to indicate error or non-correctness in handling or striking Otherwise, the controller  30  controls the vibrator  31  to vibrate with small amplitude. As such, the user can learn whether his handling or striking is correct or not according to the amplitude of the vibration. 
         [0020]    In yet another embodiment, the feedback is a visual feedback. Referring to  FIG. 3 , the sportball  1  further includes a number of LEDs  32  located in the ball body  10 . The controller  30  is electrically connected to the LEDs  32 , and controls the LEDs  32  to emit light according to the feedback data after the electronic device  2  receives the control command, thereby providing the visual feedback to the user. For example, the feedback data is the intensity of the light emitted by the LEDs  32 . When the user&#39; handling or striking is not correct, the controller  30  controls the LEDs  32  to emit light of high intensity to indicate error or non-correctness in handling or striking Otherwise, the controller  30  controls the LEDs  32  to emit light of low intensity. As such, the user can learn visually. In this embodiment, the elastic material used to make the ball body  10  is transparent to allow the emitted light to be seen. 
         [0021]    In at least one embodiment, the sportball  1  is spherical, for example, a football, a baseball, a basketball, or a golf ball. The ball body  10  includes a spherical exterior surface  11  and an opposite interior surface  12 . The ball body  10  is divided into a ball wall  101  between the exterior  11  and the interior surface  12 , and a cavity  102  surrounded by the interior surface  12 . The ball wall  101  is made of elastic material. The sensors  20  are located in the ball wall  11 , namely, the sensors  20  are embedded in the elastic material. The controller  30  and the first wireless communication unit  40  are located in the cavity  102 . The cavity  102  is substantially regular polyhedron (such as cube as shown in FIGS.  1 - 3 ) in shape, the sensors  20  are attached to each sidewall of the cavity  102 . In another embodiment, the cavity  102  can also be spherical. The interior  12  further defines a number of through holes (not shown) to allow the wires connecting the sensors  20  and the controller  30  to pass through. 
         [0022]    The exterior surface  11  further includes a power jack  13  electrically connected to a peripheral device (not shown). One or more batteries (not shown) of the sportball  1  can be charged via the power jack  13 . The power jack  13  can be a USB power jack or a wireless power jack. 
         [0023]    In another embodiment, the sportball  1  can be non-spherical, for example an American football or a badminton shuttle. In this embodiment, the shape of the ball body  10  can be varied according to need. 
         [0024]    It is to be understood, even though information and advantages of the present embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structures and functions of the present embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only; changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the present embodiments to the full extent indicated by the plain meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.