measuring ball spin

Jan 10, 2006 7 Replies
B

Can anyone help me with this conundrum:



I've built a wall that measures how hard a golfball hits it. This force measurement is converted into a distance measurement, so I can gauge how far my golfball would have traveled. It is useful to me as a golfer. However, it would be far more beneficial if I could measure the ball spin at impact. This would tell me if I have hit a slice, hook, block, etc.



The ball impacts 3"memory foam. What can be used to measure the ball's spin? Some type of embedded wire grid? HELP, Thank you, Bob



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T

  1. Figure out what ball spin does to the foam.
  2. Measure it.
  3. Compute ball spin.
Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com
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C

Figure out what causes spin and measure that. In other words, measure at the tee. In fact you can do away with the wall if you can measure enough parameters at the tee. Besides needing something to catch the ball, that is.

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P

Does it have to be a regulation golfball or can you paint (or otherwise mark) the surface?

Paul Hovnanian mailto:Paul@Hovnanian.com ------------------------------------------------------------------ Dyslexics have more fnu.
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R

Tony Course

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has invented a device which appears that it might do what you want. While initially developed as a ball game simulator for Australian Football, it should be adaptable to other ball sports. Essentially, the device tracks the ball from impact point and at a certain distance the ball is stopped by a net. The virtual path of the ball is computed and a result is posted.

You can see a demo video here

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P

Provided that there is a good coefficient of friction between the ball and the foam, and provided that the foam is not too energy absorptive, some significant amount of the ball's angular momentum will be converted to axial acceleration of the foam. If the foam is mounted to some compliant suspension system, then accelerometers on the substrate behind the foam will provide signals proportional to spin. Paul Mathews

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R

Make the surface harder, so that the ball rebounds, then take the speed of the ball and the rebound angle, (and the coefficient of friction) and you should be able to calculate the spin. You might want to wear goggles. ;-)

Good Luck! Rich

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T

Thats what I was thinking. Perhaps a CCD and some tricky math stuff done on a PC?

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