CN111983723A

CN111983723A - Signal transmitting device for ball, ball and ball positioning method

Info

Publication number: CN111983723A
Application number: CN202010825428.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 郑洪振; 尚春辉
Original assignee: Guangdong Fushun Tianji Communication Co Ltd
Current assignee: Guangdong Fushun Tianji Communication Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-08-22
Filing date: 2020-08-22
Publication date: 2020-11-24

Abstract

The invention provides a signal transmitting device for a ball, which comprises a PCB (printed circuit board), a microcontroller, a memory, a transmitter, an RF (radio frequency) matching network, an antenna, a battery and a reed switch, wherein the PCB is connected with the microcontroller; after the reed switch is triggered, the microcontroller is activated, the antenna performs a periodic unidirectional transmission of an RF signal, the RF signal including a unique identification number, and the microcontroller is set with a delay value T1 to enter a sleep state. Compared with the compatible device of the existing ZigBee system, the signal transmitting device is simpler and has longer service life. The invention also provides a ball with the signal transmitting device for the ball, which has the advantages of low cost, long service life and the like. The invention also provides a ball positioning method which has the advantages of practicability, stability, low power consumption, low cost, low system construction difficulty and the like.

Description

Signal transmitting device for ball, ball and ball positioning method

Technical Field

The invention relates to a signal transmitting device placed in a ball, which can enable the ball to be detected so as to monitor the position or the landing point position of the ball; the invention also relates to a ball using the device and a method for positioning a ball.

Background

Players are required to exercise to improve their proficiency because they try to hit the ball to a desired target area in some sports, such as golf. Conventional methods of operation require an observer to determine how close the ball is to the target area and record the score. This method is both inaccurate and time consuming, particularly when a training field has a large number of players training together and a target area has a large number of balls.

Although some systems utilize radio frequency identification technology (U.S. Pat. No.: US9339697B2, by Luciano, Jr. et al), in this case, the scores can be tracked using RFID chip balls. However, this solution requires extensive modifications of the training and target areas, such as the insertion of funnel-like structures therein, in order to guide each ball falling into a designated area to the RFID reader, since the read range of these passive RFID readers is small. However, such a reconstruction involves a land excavation work, causes the natural environment to be destroyed, and is expensive.

Chinese patent document CN102553200B discloses a ZigBee-based ball positioning system, in which a golf ball has an active electronic tag, and a plurality of ZigBee card readers read information sent by the tag ball together, so as to track a ball drop zone, a rolling zone, and a stationary zone. Although the system has less requirements on reconstruction of a use place and has lower power consumption of the ZigBee active electronic tag in the golf, the system has some problems, mainly shows that the ZigBee active electronic tag can work all the time, and when the golf is recovered, the signal of the active electronic tag in the golf can be received by the ZigBee system again, so that unexpected secondary scoring is caused, scoring errors of the system are caused, and the errors need to be corrected at the moment, the errors need to be corrected manually in a computer system, and the correcting operation is troublesome, and personnel still need to find the errors in time.

In view of the problems of the prior art systems, there is a need for improvements in the prior art devices and methods.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a signal transmitting device for a ball, which has the advantages of low power consumption, durability and avoidance of repeated scoring.

In order to achieve the purpose, the invention adopts the following technical scheme:

the signal transmitting device for the ball comprises a PCB board; particularly, a microcontroller, a memory, a transmitter, an RF matching network, an antenna, a battery and a reed switch are arranged on the PCB;

the microcontroller, the transmitter, the RF matching network and the antenna are electrically connected in sequence to enable periodic transmission of RF signals;

the memory is a nonvolatile memory and is electrically connected with the microcontroller to store a unique identification number and configuration data, and the configuration data at least comprises a delay value T1 for enabling the microcontroller to enter a sleep state;

the reed switch is electrically connected with the microcontroller, and under the condition that the reed switch is triggered, the reed switch gives an activation signal to the microcontroller, and the activation signal is used for activating the microcontroller; after the microcontroller is activated, the microcontroller enters a signal transmission state determined according to the configuration data, and in the signal transmission state, the microcontroller transmits an RF signal containing the unique identification number through an antenna;

the battery provides electric energy for the electrical appliances on the PCB.

By such a solution, the reed switch may be triggered by an external dedicated magnetic field, after which the microcontroller will go from the sleep state to the active state. In the active state, the operating parameters of the microcontroller are determined by the configuration data, and the configuration data includes a delay value T1 for the microcontroller to enter the sleep state, i.e. the microcontroller enters the sleep state again after operating for a time period T1. Therefore, the duration time or the repetition times of the RF signal transmission can be controlled, and the situation that when the ball with the device is recycled and passes through other signal receiving devices, the unique identification number (ID number) of the signal transmitting device in the ball is read by the other signal receiving devices due to the fact that the duration time or the repetition times of the RF signal transmission are too long or the repetition times of the RF signal transmission are too many, and the scoring system possibly and mistakenly counts scores caused by the process is avoided. After the microcontroller enters the dormant state, the magnetic reed switch can be triggered again by using an external special magnetic field to activate the device again. In addition, the structure setting can greatly save the electric energy of the battery and prolong the service life of the battery. Since the time required from waking up the device into an active state to the completion of the score calculation for a golf ball is typically 30 seconds to 3 minutes, including the time for placing the ball, the hitting aim time, the ball flight time, the ball rolling time, and the time for performing the positioning calculation after the ball is stationary, when the device is applied to a golf ball, the device can immediately go to a sleep state, in which the device does not send any signal to the outside. Therefore, the device is in a dormant state in most of time, and when the magnetic reed switch is used as a generating element of an activation signal, the dormant current of the device is not higher than 3 microamperes, so that the device saves more electricity compared with the existing device adopting a ZigBee system and the current of which is in a milliampere level. In addition, a unidirectional transmission system is arranged between the signal transmitting device and the signal receiving device, namely, the signal transmitting device only transmits signals to the signal receiving device, and the signal receiving device does not transmit signals to the signal transmitting device, so that the signal transmitting device is not required to be in a signal receiving standby state with high energy consumption.

As a preferred structure, the outline shape of the PCB is preferably circular, and a hard type is used.

The microcontroller is preferably of a type that can be programmed by firmware.

When the microcontroller is activated, the microcontroller enters a signal transmission state, which is determined according to the configuration data, in which the RF signal emitted by the microcontroller via the antenna can also have a charge value P1 for reflecting the remaining charge of the battery. Therefore, the low-power devices can be screened out in advance through a special device, and the unexpected situation caused by insufficient power in the using process is avoided. And those screened low battery devices may be subsequently determined to be reprocessed or discarded.

The configuration data may include a signal transmission strength value S1 and/or a signal transmission delay value D1 in addition to the delay value T1 for the microcontroller to enter the sleep state. Therefore, the signal devices configured with different signal emission intensity values S1 have different emitted signal intensities, and the manufacturer can set the item of configuration data appropriately according to the distribution position, distribution density, and other factors of the signal receiving devices on the site to obtain the optimal use effect. In addition, such extreme cases may occur: two or more signal transmitting devices fall into the signal receiving area of the same signal receiving device at the same time, and the signal transmitting devices transmit signals at the same time and the operating frequencies of the signals are the same, at this time, if the signal transmitting devices have the same signal transmitting delay value D1, the signals of the signal transmitting devices will interfere with each other and will not be received all the time, and thus cannot be identified or located. After setting different signal transmitting delay values D1 for different signal transmitting devices, even if the signal transmitting devices cannot be identified by the signal receiving device because they simultaneously transmit signals with the same working frequency at the beginning, after one or more subsequent signal transmitting actions, the respective signals emitted by the signal transmitting devices are staggered more and more in time, so that the mutual interference between the signals is gradually reduced until the respective signals emitted by the signal transmitting devices can be received, identified and positioned by the signal receiving device, and the problem that the signals are interfered with each other until the respective signals enter a sleep state and cannot be detected is avoided.

The microcontroller, memory, transmitter, RF matching network, reed switch and antenna are preferably located on one side of the PCB board, and the battery is located on the other side of the PCB board. Therefore, the gravity center of the whole device is more concentrated in the center, and the dynamic balance of the ball in which the device is arranged is prevented from being influenced. The battery used by the device can be a button battery, has the advantages of small volume and light weight, and can generally meet the service life requirement of the device.

The antenna is preferably an omni-directional transmitting antenna, which ensures that it can transmit signals to the signal receiving device in all directions so that the signal receiving device, in conjunction with the computing system, can accurately locate where the device is located. In addition, the antenna preferably operates at the UHF frequencies of the ISM band and may be fabricated as one piece soldered on the PCB and bent to save bulk on the device as a whole, or etched directly on the PCB.

The signal transmitting device for the ball adopts a one-way communication mode, can realize the function of error scoring prevention, has low hardware cost as low as that a user does not abandon the device, and can well save the use cost for the movement which needs to use the device in a large quantity so as to ensure that the movement can be popularized more easily.

The invention also provides a ball which is internally provided with an electronic device, can actively send out the RF signal to the outside for the identification and the positioning of a receiving system and has better service life. The following technical scheme is adopted:

a ball, in particular, comprising a core body and at least one cover layer; the covering layer wraps the core body, and the outermost covering layer forms the shape of a ball; the core body is formed by coating the signal transmitting device for the ball with an insulating material.

The nucleus may be a true sphere or cube, or other solid shape with its center of gravity overlapping the center of gravity.

In order to avoid unacceptable play or damage between the core and the cover from being struck, which could affect the flight, bounce or roll of the ball, it is preferred that the core be formed with an undercut into which the material for the cover enters and is thereby not readily separable from the core.

The material of the cover layer may be selected according to the characteristics of the ball, and may be a hard material or a soft material such as rubber or a foamed material. The cover layer may be multi-layered and different kinds of materials may be selected for different cover layers.

The ball of the present invention can be made into a golf ball, which is the most typical application, but it can also be made into a ball suitable for other game items, which has the advantages of low cost, long service life, etc.

The invention also provides a ball positioning method which can avoid erroneous scoring caused by multiple recognition of the ball.

The following technical scheme is adopted:

the ball positioning method comprises arranging a magnetic sensitive trigger element and an active signal emitting device in a ball; arranging one or more sets of signal receiving devices in a target landing area of the ball; the positioning computer is communicated with the signal receiving device;

the active signal transmitting device is in a dormant state at ordinary times, and does not transmit any RF signal to the outside in the dormant state; after the external magnetic field is used for triggering the magnetic sensitive trigger element, the active signal transmitting device enters an activated state and keeps for a period of time, and when the keeping time is over, the active signal transmitting device enters a dormant state again; in the activated state, the active signal emitting device periodically emits an RF signal outwards in a non-directional manner, wherein the RF signal at least carries information representing the unique identification number of the ball, but the active signal emitting device does not receive the RF signal at any time;

the Signal receiving device only receives the RF Signal transmitted by the active Signal transmitting device through the air, but does not transmit any RF Signal, when the ball falls into the receiving range of the Signal receiving device, the Signal receiving device receives the RF Signal, the Signal receiving device at least extracts the information which represents the unique identification number of the ball after carrying out integrity check on the RF Signal, the Signal receiving device also reads and calculates the receiving level of the RF Signal, converts the receiving level into RSSI (received Signal Strength indicator) information, and transmits the unique identification number information and the RSSI information of the ball to the positioning computer through a cable;

after receiving the information from the signal receiving device, the positioning computer estimates the stop position of the ball on the field map by combining the field installation position of the signal receiving device which is input in advance.

The method adopts a magnetic sensitive trigger element to wake up and activate the active signal transmitting device, and the active signal transmitting device only works for a short time after being activated and then enters a dormant state again until being awakened and activated again next time. Through the technical scheme, a system which is low in cost and can realize ball positioning in a one-way transmission mode can be constructed, and the ball positioning method can further avoid the problem that calculation results are wrong due to secondary positioning under specific conditions.

The RF signal may also have a charge value P1 reflecting the remaining amount of the battery. While the electrical value P1 is only one of the load information of the RF signal, the RF signal may also carry other load information regarding the operational status of the ball that may be used to be monitored by the computer system.

In the method, different signal emission intensity values S1 and/or signal emission delay values D1 can be respectively written into more than one active signal emission device, so that a scheme for consuming electric energy of the ball according to local conditions can be made, and the problem that calculation results are wrong due to secondary positioning in a specific situation can be avoided.

In the method, under the condition that a plurality of sets of signal receiving devices are arranged on a field, the signal receiving devices can be divided into a plurality of groups, and each group is used for estimating the staying position of the ball by a positioning computer. Each group may include one or more signal receiving devices.

In the method, each signal receiving device periodically sends a heartbeat signal to the positioning computer so that the positioning computer can diagnose whether each signal receiving device communicated with the positioning computer normally works or not.

The ball positioning method has the advantages of practicality, stability, low power consumption, low cost, low system construction difficulty and the like.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of example 1;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a circuit of embodiment 1;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of different signal transmission apparatuses of embodiment 1 in which RF signals are implemented separately from each other;

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view of a golf ball of example 2 (the signal emitting device for a ball is not cut);

figure 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the nucleus of example 2 (the signalling device for the ball is not cut away);

figure 6 is a schematic front view of the nucleus of example 3;

FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view A-A of FIG. 6;

figure 8 is a schematic representation of the structure of the nucleus of example 3 (illustrating a signal emitting device for use with a ball);

fig. 9 is a schematic sectional view showing a golf ball according to example 3 (the signal transmitter for a ball is not cut).

Description of reference numerals: 100-signal emitting means for a ball; 101-a PCB board; 102-a microcontroller; 103-an antenna; 104-a battery; 105-reed switches; 200-a golf ball; 201-a nucleus; 2011-insulating material; 202-a first cover layer; 203-a second cover layer; 204-a ball and socket; 301-a nucleus; 302-a first cover layer; 305-a back-off groove; 3051-opening; 3052-bottom.

Detailed Description

The invention is further illustrated by the following figures and examples.

Example 1

The embodiment is a signal transmitting device for a ball.

As shown in fig. 1, the signal transmitting apparatus 100 for a ball of the present embodiment includes a PCB board 101 on which a microcontroller 102, a memory, a transmitter, an RF matching network, an antenna 103, a battery 104, and a reed switch 105 are provided.

As shown in fig. 2, the microcontroller 102, the transmitter, the RF matching network and the antenna 103 are electrically connected in sequence to enable periodic transmission of RF signals;

the memory is a non-volatile memory electrically connected to the microcontroller 102 for storing the unique identification number and configuration data. The configuration data includes a delay value T1 for the microcontroller 102 to enter a sleep state, a signal transmission strength value S1, and a signal transmission delay value D1.

The reed switch 105 is electrically connected to the microcontroller 102, and when the reed switch 105 is triggered, it will give the microcontroller 102 an activation signal for activating the microcontroller 102; after the microcontroller 102 is activated, the microcontroller 102 enters a signal transmission state determined based on the configuration data, in which the microcontroller 102 transmits an RF signal including the unique identification number and the charge value P1 reflecting the remaining amount of the battery 104 through the antenna 103.

The battery 104 is 2 button batteries connected in series to provide electric power for the electrical appliances on the PCB 101. Of course, only one battery with proper specification can be used for power supply. The positive pole and the negative pole of the battery can be directly welded with the positive pole conductor piece and the negative pole conductor piece led out from the PCB correspondingly so as to enhance the reliability of power supply.

As shown in fig. 1, the PCB 101 of the present embodiment is a rigid PCB, not a flexible PCB such as a film PCB, and has a relatively stable structural shape, and the PCB 101 is circular, and has a minimum size under the same area, so that it can be more easily put into a sphere with a small volume. The microcontroller 102, memory, transmitter, RF matching network and reed switch 105 are on one side of the PCB 101 and the battery 104 is on the other side of the PCB 101 to center the center of gravity of the entire device.

The antenna 103 is soldered to the PCB board 101 and is made as an omni-directional antenna operating at UHF frequencies in the ISM band. To secure the relative position between the antenna 103 and the PCB 101, a certain amount of liquid resin may be poured between the antenna 103 and the PCB 101, and then the resin may be cured to enhance the physical stability of the antenna 103.

The firmware program required for operation is written to the microcontroller 102 by a writer. The unique identification number is additionally written into the memory together with configuration data such as the delay value T1, the signal emission intensity value S1, and the signal emission delay value D1. The microcontroller 102 and the memory are then soldered to the PCB 101 at the correct soldering position, and the reserved physical contact for debugging on the PCB is generally not considered for cost reduction and volume reduction. To activate the signal emitting device for the ball in the sleep state, the device is placed in a strong enough magnetic field environment, the magnetic field environment can make the contact of the reed switch 105 mechanically close or open to generate an electrical on-off action, the electrical on-off action changes the level state of the corresponding pin of the microcontroller 102, the change of the level state of the pin is an activation signal, and the microcontroller 102 determines the time for entering the activation state according to the activation signal. And the magnetic field environment can be a magnetic field environment with a constant direction or a magnetic field environment with a constantly changing direction.

When the microcontroller 102 is activated, the microcontroller 102 enters an activated state, in which the microcontroller 102 reads the information about the unique identification number, the delay value T1, the signal transmission strength value S1, and the signal transmission delay value D1 from the memory, and when the hardware has a power measurement capability, the microcontroller 102 further reads the power value P1 for reflecting the remaining power of the battery 104, and then transmits only the RF signal according to the antenna transmission power determined by the signal transmission strength value S1 and the antenna signal transmission delay determined by the signal transmission delay value D1 during the activation time defined by the delay value T1, and transmits the unique identification number of the ball and the load information such as the power value P1 to the signal receiving device by means of the RF signal. When the time delay value T1 is finished, the device immediately finishes the transmission of the RF signal and enters the dormant state again until being activated next time.

As shown in fig. 3, the signal transmission delay values D1 of different signal transmitting apparatuses are set to different values, so that two or more signal transmitting apparatuses can eventually avoid interfering with each other all the time and being recognized by the signal receiving apparatus as long as the two apparatuses are still in the activated state over time even if they fall into the signal receiving area of the same signal receiving apparatus at the same time. However, since the problem-causing situation requires simultaneous compliance with more conditions, the probability of the problem actually occurring is not very great. In such a case, it is not necessarily required to set different signal emission delay values D1 for each signal emission device used in the same system, but the signal emission delay values D1 of the signal emission devices of the same group are the same, but the signal emission delay values D1 of the signal emission devices of different groups are different. Such grouping typically requires only 2 to 4 groups, which can greatly reduce the probability of the above problem situation.

The signal receiving device is internally provided with an RF signal receiving antenna. The signal receiving device can identify the ball according to the unique identification number, and estimates the staying position of the ball through RSSI. The delivered ball electric quantity value P1 can be used for monitoring the state of the ball by the system.

Because the device adopts the change of the level state to realize the transition from the dormant state to the active state, and the energy-saving mode and the standard mode are not switched according to the work load of the chip of the existing ZigBee system, the device can provide longer working time and has lower cost under the condition that the battery size is severely limited.

Example 2

This embodiment is a ball, and more specifically, this embodiment exemplifies a structure of a golf ball.

As shown in fig. 4, the golf ball 200 of the present embodiment is divided into a core body 201, a first cover layer 202, and a second cover layer 203.

As shown in fig. 5, the core body 201 is formed by covering the signal emitting device 100 for a ball of example 1 with an insulating material 2011. The method for coating the signal transmitting device by the insulating material can be to pour liquid resin on the signal transmitting device and then solidify the resin, or to put the signal transmitting device into a mould and carry out injection molding on the surface of the signal transmitting device. To reduce the effect on the dynamic balance of the ball, the nucleus of this embodiment is formed as a sphere.

As shown in fig. 4, the first cover 202 is a rubber layer to provide sufficient resilience for the golf ball. The second cover 203 is an ionomer outer layer that improves the hitting resistance of the golf ball. The second cover layer 203 is an outermost cover layer, and the outer surface of the second cover layer is provided with a plurality of sockets 204 on the surface of a typical golf ball.

Example 3

As shown in fig. 6, 7, 8 and 9, the present embodiment is different from embodiment 2 in that: an undercut groove 305 is also formed in the outer surface of the core body 301 for the material of the primary cover layer 302 to enter and thereby be less likely to separate from the core body.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 7, the undercut 305 is a slotted structure, and the width of the bottom 3052 is wider than that of the opening 3051, so that, after the material of the first cover layer 302, which is first in a liquid state, enters the bottom 3052 through the opening 3051 of the undercut 305 and is solidified, the material of the bottom 3052 forms a relatively stable shape, from which it cannot be detached through the opening 3051 of the undercut 305. This may improve the bond between the core body 301 and the first cover layer 302, and may extend the ball's useful life.

Figure 6 is a front view of the core body 301 of the present embodiment, and due to the symmetrical design of the present embodiment, the rear, left, right, top and bottom views of the core body 301 are the same as figure 6 and are not shown.

It should be noted that the undercut groove may in fact have many different cross-sectional shapes and course layouts, according to the above description of the working principle of the undercut groove. Such as: the cross-sectional shape may be an inverted T shape, a dovetail shape, or the like. The running route layout of the inverted grooves can be a warp and weft layout of the embodiment, and can also be a boundary layout between polygons on the surface of a classic football. The surface of a classic soccer ball is formed by blending 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons.

Example 4

The present embodiment is a ball positioning method.

A magnetic sensitive trigger element and an active signal transmitting device are arranged in the ball; arranging one or more sets of signal receiving devices in a target landing area of the ball; and the positioning computer is communicated with the signal receiving device.

The active signal transmitting device is in a dormant state at ordinary times, and the active signal transmitting device does not transmit any RF signal to the outside in the dormant state. After an external magnetic field is used to trigger a magnetically sensitive trigger element, such as a reed switch, the active signal emitting device will enter an active state and remain there for a period of time, and when the remaining time is over, the active signal emitting device will re-enter a sleep state. In the activated state the active signal emitting device will periodically emit an RF signal non-directionally outwards, which RF signal carries information representing the unique identification number of the ball and the charge value P1 of the remaining charge of the ball, but the active signal emitting device does not receive the RF signal at any time.

The format of the RF signal of the present implementation is such that:

preamble sequence + unique identification number + load information + checksum

The electric quantity value P1 of the remaining electric quantity is the information content of one of the possibilities of the load information.

Under the condition that a plurality of sets of signal receiving devices are configured on a site, the signal receiving devices can be divided into a plurality of groups, and each group of signal receiving devices is communicated with one positioning computer through a cable. The signal receiving devices in the same group strive to cover a target landing area in terms of their total signal receiving range. Each signal receiving device in the same group regularly sends a heartbeat signal to the positioning computer so that the positioning computer can diagnose whether each signal receiving device communicated with the positioning computer normally works or not.

The Signal receiving device only receives RF signals transmitted by the active Signal transmitting device through the air, but does not transmit any RF signals, when the ball falls into the receiving range of the Signal receiving device, the Signal receiving device receives the RF signals, the Signal receiving device at least extracts information used for representing the unique identification number of the ball after integrity check is carried out on the RF signals, the Signal receiving device also reads and calculates the receiving level of the RF signals, the receiving level is converted into RSSI (received Signal Strength indicator) information, and the information of the unique identification number of the ball and the RSSI information are transmitted to the positioning computer through the cable.

After receiving the information from the signal receiving device, the positioning computer estimates the stop position of the ball on the field map by combining the field installation position of the signal receiving device which is input in advance. If the positioning computer receives only the RSSI information for a ball from 1 signal receiving device, the positioning computer can estimate that the ball is stopped in a flat surface area based on the field location and signal receiving range of the signal receiving device. If the positioning computer receives RSSI information of a ball from 2 signal receiving devices, the positioning computer can estimate that the ball stops in a line segment range according to the field installation position and the signal receiving range of the 2 signal receiving devices. If the positioning computer receives RSSI information from 3 or more signal receiving devices for a ball, then the positioning computer can estimate that the ball is stopped at a point according to the field installation positions and the signal receiving ranges of the signal receiving devices.

In the case where a plurality of signal receiving apparatuses are divided into a plurality of groups according to the size of the field, it is equivalent to configuring a plurality of positioning computers, and the data of the ball staying positions estimated by the positioning computers can be transmitted to a data server in a unified manner, and then the data of the data server can be read by a terminal device, so that the athlete or coach or judge or audience can know the data or the data obtained by processing and counting the data on the basis of the data through the terminal device. The terminal device may be a mini computer in communication with a digital display screen or a graphic display screen, or a mobile terminal device such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, etc.

Since the active signal emitting device automatically enters the sleep device after being kept in the activated state for a period of time, the time length should be ensured to take the factors of the ball placing time, the hitting aiming time, the ball flying time, the ball rolling time, the time for positioning calculation after the ball is static and the like into consideration. On the basis, the holding time should be as short as possible, so that the active signal emitting device can be ensured to save electric energy as much as possible, the service life is prolonged, and if the active signal emitting device is in an active state for too long duration, positioning calculation of other positioning computers can be caused when balls are recycled and inevitably pass through other signal receiving devices, and misleading information is sent to the management computer. This corresponds to reducing the power consumption of the ball and avoiding sending misleading information to the management computer if the holding time is set reasonably.

By the ball positioning method, a measuring system or a game system which is low in cost, practical and stable can be constructed. One typical use of this method is to construct a golf practice and scoring system.

The description is only a preferred embodiment of the invention, and all technical equivalents which come within the spirit and scope of the invention are intended to be protected.

Claims

1. The signal transmitting device for the ball comprises a PCB board; the method is characterized in that: the PCB is provided with a microcontroller, a memory, a transmitter, an RF matching network, an antenna, a battery and a reed switch;

the battery provides electric energy for the electrical appliances on the PCB.

2. A signal emitting device for a ball as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the microcontroller is of a type that can be programmed by firmware.

3. A signal emitting device for a ball as claimed in claim 1, wherein: when the microcontroller is activated, the microcontroller enters a signal transmission state, which is determined according to the configuration data, in which the RF signal transmitted by the microcontroller via the antenna also carries a charge value P1 reflecting the remaining charge of the battery.

4. A signal emitting device for a ball as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the configuration data also includes a signal transmission strength value S1 and/or a signal transmission delay value D1.

5. A signal emitting device for a ball as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the microcontroller, memory, transmitter, RF matching network, reed switch and antenna are on one side of the PCB board and the battery is on the other side of the PCB board.

6. A signal emitting device for a ball as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the antenna is an omnidirectional transmitting antenna; the antenna operates at UHF frequencies in the ISM band.

7. A ball is characterized in that: comprising a core body and at least one cover layer; the covering layer wraps the core body, and the outermost covering layer forms the shape of a ball; the core is a signal emitting device for a ball according to claim 1 coated with an insulating material.

8. The ball of claim 7, wherein: the nucleus is a solid shape with a center of shape and a center of gravity overlapping.

9. The ball of claim 7, wherein: an undercut is formed in the core body into which material for the cover layer enters and is thus not readily separable from the core body.

10. The ball of claim 7, wherein: is a golf ball.

11. The ball positioning method is characterized in that: a magnetic sensitive trigger element and an active signal transmitting device are arranged in the ball; arranging one or more sets of signal receiving devices in a target landing area of the ball; the positioning computer is communicated with the signal receiving device;

the signal receiving device only receives the RF signal transmitted by the active signal transmitting device through the air, but does not transmit any RF signal, when the ball falls into the receiving range of the signal receiving device, the signal receiving device receives the RF signal, the signal receiving device at least extracts the information which represents the unique identification number of the ball after the integrity check of the RF signal, the signal receiving device also reads and calculates the receiving level of the RF signal, converts the receiving level into RSSI information, and transmits the unique identification number information and the RSSI information of the ball to the positioning computer through a cable;

12. The ball positioning method of claim 11, wherein: the RF signal also carries a charge value P1 reflecting the remaining amount of the battery.

13. The ball positioning method of claim 11, wherein: respectively writing different signal emission intensity values S1 and/or signal emission delay values D1 to more than one active signal emission device.

14. The ball positioning method of claim 11, wherein: under the condition that a plurality of sets of signal receiving devices are arranged in one field, the signal receiving devices are divided into a plurality of groups, and each group is used for estimating the staying position of the ball by a positioning computer; each group comprises one or more signal receiving devices.

15. The ball positioning method of claim 11, wherein: each signal receiving device periodically sends a heartbeat signal to the positioning computer so that the positioning computer can diagnose whether each signal receiving device communicated with the positioning computer works normally or not.