Source: http://www.google.co.uk/patents/US8556752
Timestamp: 2017-11-25 02:09:32
Document Index: 571963786

Matched Legal Cases: ['application No. 60', 'application No. 60', 'application No. 60', 'Application No. 12179018', 'Application No. 03', 'Application No. 12179018']

Patent US8556752 - Personal golfing assistant and method and system for graphically displaying ... - Google Patents
A handheld apparatus comprising: a computing device; a location measuring device connected to the computing device that generates measured location information corresponding to a location of the handheld apparatus; a display connected to the computing device, wherein the measured location information...http://www.google.co.uk/patents/US8556752?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US8556752 - Personal golfing assistant and method and system for graphically displaying golf related information and for collection, processing and distribution of golf related data
Publication number US8556752 B2
Application number US 13/540,309
Also published as EP1578505A2, EP1578505A4, EP1578505B1, EP2520344A1, EP2520344B1, US7118498, US8221269, US20040147329, US20070087866, US20120316009, WO2004042517A2, WO2004042517A3
Publication number 13540309, 540309, US 8556752 B2, US 8556752B2, US-B2-8556752, US8556752 B2, US8556752B2
Patent Citations (282), Non-Patent Citations (28), Referenced by (3), Classifications (30), Legal Events (2)
US 8556752 B2
A handheld apparatus comprising: a computing device; a location measuring device connected to the computing device that generates measured location information corresponding to a location of the handheld apparatus; a display connected to the computing device, wherein the measured location information is used to display a representation of an object on that display, as viewed from above the object, and the representation automatically rotates to orient the representation to coincide with the handheld apparatus' line of sight to the object.
a location measuring device connected to the computing device that generates measured location information corresponding to a location of the handheld apparatus;
a display connected to the computing device, wherein
the measured location information is used to display a representation of an object on that display, as viewed from above the object, and the representation automatically rotates to orient the representation to coincide with the handheld apparatus' line of sight to the object.
the object is a green of a golf course.
a movable mark is displayed on the display and a distance between the handheld apparatus and the apparent position of the mark relative to the green is computed and displayed.
the mark is displayed so that a portion thereof intersects a boundary of the displayed green at an intersection point.
the distance between the handheld apparatus and the apparent position of the intersection point relative to the green is computed and displayed.
the mark is displayed so that one or more portions thereof intersect the boundary of the displayed green at two intersection points.
the distance between the handheld apparatus and the apparent position of each of the two intersection points relative to the green are computed and displayed.
a line is displayed on the display that coincides with the handheld apparatus' line of sight to the object.
the line extend through the object.
the display displays a distance from the handheld apparatus to a first boundary of the object.
the display displays a distance from the handheld apparatus to a second boundary of the object.
the display displays a distance from the handheld apparatus to a center of the object.
13. A method performed by a handheld apparatus, the method comprising:
generating measured location information corresponding to a location of the handheld apparatus; and
displaying, using the measured location information, a representation of an object on a display of the handheld apparatus, as viewed from above the object, the representation automatically rotating to orient the representation to coincide with the handheld apparatus' line of sight to the object.
14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium including computer program instructions, which when executed by a handheld apparatus, cause the handheld apparatus to perform a method comprising:
a location measuring device connected to the computing device that generates measured location information corresponding to a current location of the handheld apparatus;
a representation of an object is displayed on the display, as viewed from above the object, and
the representation of the object automatically rotates to orient the representation to coincide with a view of the object as it would appear when looking from the current location of the handheld apparatus to a predetermined destination.
the object is a feature of a golf hole.
the predetermined destination is a green of the golf hole.
the predetermined destination is a desired landing area for a golf shot taken from the current location of the handheld apparatus.
the object is a green of a golf hole, and
the predetermined destination is the green of the golf hole.
20. A handheld golf rangefinder comprising:
a location measuring device connected to the computing device that generates measured location information corresponding to a current location of the handheld golf rangefinder;
a representation of an object of interest on a golf hole is displayed on the display, as viewed from above the object, and
the representation of the object automatically rotates to orient the representation to coincide with a view of the object as it would appear when looking from the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder to a point on the golf hole.
21. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 20, wherein
the point on the golf hole is on a golf green on the golf hole.
22. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 20, wherein
the object of interest is a golf green on the golf hole, and
the point on the golf hole is the golf green.
23. A handheld golf rangefinder comprising:
a representation of an object of interest on a golf hole is displayed on the display, as viewed from above the object, and the object has an axis of rotation, and
the representation of the object automatically rotates around the axis of rotation to orient the representation such that the point of the object that is nearest to the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder is at the bottom of the display.
24. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 23, wherein
distance information is displayed to at least one of a front, center, and back of the object from the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder.
25. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 24, wherein
the distance information to the at least one of the front, center, and back of the object is determined along a line extending from the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder through the object.
26. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 24, wherein
the distance information to the at least one of the front, center, and back of the object is determined along a line extending from the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder through the axis of rotation.
28. A handheld golf rangefinder comprising:
the representation of the object automatically rotates around the axis of rotation to orient the representation such that a line from the axis of rotation to the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder is perpendicular to a bottom of the display.
29. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 28, wherein
distance information is provided to at least one of a front, center, and back of the object from the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder.
30. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 29, wherein
the distance information to at least one of the front, center, and back of the object are determined along a line extending from the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder through the object.
31. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 29, wherein
the distance information to the at least one of the front, center, and back of the object are determined along a line extending from the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder through the axis of rotation.
32. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 28, wherein
33. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 28, wherein
the display indicates at least one point where a line from the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder through a desired landing point on the object intersects with the object.
34. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 33, wherein
the object is a golf green.
35. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 33, wherein
the display displays the distance from the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder to the at least one intersection point.
36. A handheld golf rangefinder comprising:
the representation of the object automatically rotates around the axis of rotation and displays at least one point where a line between the axis of rotation and the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder intersects with a perimeter of the object.
37. A handheld golf rangefinder comprising:
a representation of an object of interest on a golf hole of a golf course is displayed on the display, as viewed from above the object, and
the representation of the object automatically rotates from a default orientation to coincide with a vector from the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder to the object, and said computing device is adapted to selectively display, independent of any golf course infrastructure, a distance from the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder to the object.
38. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 37, wherein
the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder is not within the object.
39. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 38, wherein
the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder is outside the area of the golf course which is displayed on the display.
40. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 37, wherein
the representation of the object is the only area of the golf course which is displayed on the display.
41. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 37, wherein
the distance is provided to at least one of a front, center, and back of the object from the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder.
42. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 41, wherein
43. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 41, wherein
the distance information to the at least one of the front, center, and back of the object are determined along a line extending from the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder through the center of the object.
44. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 37, wherein
45. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 37, wherein
the object is oriented based on a compass direction in the default orientation.
46. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 45, wherein
the object is oriented due north in the default orientation.
47. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 37, wherein
the object is oriented so that the front of the object is near a bottom of the display in the default orientation.
48. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 47, wherein
the object is a green of a golf course, and
the green is oriented so that the front of the green is near a bottom of the display in the default orientation.
49. The handheld golf rangefinder of claim 37, wherein
the vector is based on the line of sight angle of approach from the current location of a golfer, as determined by the current location of the handheld golf rangefinder, to the object and the rotation of the object from the default orientation is based on the line of sight angle of approach from the current location of said golfer to the object.
The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/542,546, filed Oct. 3, 2006 which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/668,919, filed Sep. 23, 2003 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,118,498), which is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/882,652, filed Jun. 15, 2001 (now abandoned) which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/212,036, filed Jun. 16, 2000, and provisional patent application No. 60/223,152, filed Aug. 7, 2000. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/668,919 claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 60/422,415, filed Oct. 30, 2002. For purposes of disclosure of the present invention, each of the foregoing U.S. applications is incorporated herein by specific reference.
LatE=e Filter Lat correction value
3) A software analysis module that runs on a PC and compares the captured data to precisely surveyed known points of reference and produces statistical summaries, as well as visual graphical plots of the results. This is accomplished by loading the file produced by the translation software referred to above into a spreadsheet or other analysis software. The data is loaded into the spreadsheet or other analysis software and compared to known surveyed data points, i.e., Control Points. Statistical analysis of the data sets is comprised of the standard deviation calculated for the data as well as the average, minimum and maximum deltas or difference from the Control Points. Additionally, plots are generated with reference to the Control Points for visual analysis of the data to determine the relative and absolute patterns of the data sheets. (See the figures referenced below.) This is an iterative process and is done for each set of paramaters used. As the data sets are compared, the motion dynamics of the handheld GPS can be viewed, as well as the effects of using different tunable parameters. Based on the results of this process the optimal settings for the tunable parameters of the GPS unit can be determined for each particular course, locality or even individual golfer. The motion dynamics analysis that this module provides is described below.
As illustrated in the previous section, a GPS that does not use tunable GPS parameters configured for the mobile golfer can produce disappointing results. It may work fine for other applications of GPS, but not for the golf course environment. Any GPS unit that is programmable and configurable with the required parameters may be used. These include, but are not limited to, Magellan GPS for Palm V and Handspring Visor series, GeoDiscovery Geode, BAE Systems AllStar, Garmin, Trimble and Rockwell GPS units with RS-232 interface. Several parameters have been identified that need to be tuned to produce optimal results for a specific course. These configurable parameters include position averaging, satellite elevation masking, satellite signal strength masking, carrier phase smoothing and pseudorange filtering. Each of these parameters is known configurable parameters in GPS applications. Carrier phase smoothing pertains to filtering of the actual GPS carrier signal for use as a reference in the GPS calculations internal to the GPS unit. Pseudorange filtering pertains to the smoothing of the individual calculated ranges to the GPS satellites prior to their use in producing a GPS navigation solution as output from the UPS unit. The software module that controls the GPS configuration parameters is referred to herein as a “Smart Filter” or an “sFilter”. The sFilter's function is to dynamically allow the individual mobile golfer to set or monitor the parameters used to average out the effects of multipath and other GPS signal errors. The ability of one embodiment of the present invention to be able to group a set of parameters that have been fine tuned to optimize the accuracy of the GPS for a specific course or individual golfer enables the system to perform optimally given the general environmental conditions of a specific course. For example, a GPS on a course in the desert may operate best with low satellite elevation masking and a large carrier phase smoothing filter. However if these same settings were used on a course in a valley or one with large buildings nearby, the golfer could experience less than optimal results, whereas in this case, an sFilter setting with a higher satellite elevation mask and a smaller carrier phase smoothing filter would work better. The present invention allows the golfer to set the configurable parameters on his own or to download an optimized set of configurable parameters for a particular course from an outside source. In addition, an optimized set of configurable parameters could be automatically determined by the PDA using a MGDT, such as that described above.
If (A1)>DA then redraw the green outline
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U.S. Classification 473/407, 473/409, 473/131, 701/436, 701/433
International Classification A63B57/00, G01C21/28, G01S1/00, A63B69/36, G01S19/19, G01S5/14, A63B71/06, G01S19/42, G01C21/26
Cooperative Classification A63B2102/32, G01S19/51, A63B71/0669, A63B2069/3605, A63B2225/54, A63B57/00, A63B2220/12, A63B2071/0691, A63B2225/50, A63B2225/20, A63B2225/15, A63B2220/20, A63B2220/14, A63B2220/76, G01S19/19, A63B2220/13