Systems and methods for displaying a golf green and a predicted path of a putt on the golf green

Abstract

A system for displaying information of a golf putt on a user device includes generating a digital terrain map of a golf green, determining a location of a cup, determining a location of a golf ball on the golf green in real time, calculating a projected path of a golf ball from the ball to the cup and displaying information of the ball location, cup location, projected path, aiming path and a flat surface equivalent distance on a user interface of the user device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for displaying information on a user interface relating to a golf putt on a golf green comprising:
 generating a digital terrain map of a golf green;   determining a first approximate location of a target area on the golf green and generating target area coordinates relative to the digital terrain map;   inputting cup coordinates of the approximate location of the cup for placement of the cup at a representative location on the digital terrain map;   storing the digital terrain map, the first approximate location of the target area and the cup coordinates in memory of a user device;   determining a second approximate location of a golf ball on the golf green in real time and generating ball coordinates relative to the digital terrain map;   calculating a projected path of a golf ball from the ball coordinates to the cup coordinates in which the golf ball is most likely to travel from the ball coordinates to the cup coordinates, the projected path based on a contour of the green represented by the digital terrain map, velocity of the golf ball when traveling from the ball coordinates to the cup coordinates and angle between a first straight line between the ball coordinates and the cup coordinates and a second straight line between the ball coordinates, an aiming point that is at a distance from the cup coordinates that is calculated to be a location where a putt to the aiming point will most likely result in a successful putt as a result of the effect of the contour of the green;   displaying information of the ball location, cup location, projected path, aiming path, target area and a flat surface equivalent distance (FSED) on a user interface of the user device.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising determining the difficulty of the putt based on the location of the golf ball relative to the cup and the contour of the digital terrain map and displaying information regarding the difficulty of the putt on the display of the user device. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the information regarding the difficulty of the putt on the display of the user device comprises a probability of success of the putt. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the information regarding the difficulty of the putt on the display of the user device comprises a color gradient comprising a first color indicating an easier location on the green for a successful putt and a second color indicated a more difficult location on the green for a successful putt. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein determining the location of the ball comprises at least one of:
 providing means for a user to indicate on a device a location of a golf ball;   utilizing a device or plurality of devices that transmit pre-determined position information;   photographing the ball and surroundings and utilizing image processing; and   utilizing a device that transmits pre-determined position information and a device that determines orientation information.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein determining the location of the ball comprises generating a photograph of the ball and the cup with the user device, and determining a distance between the ball and the cup from the photograph. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein determining the location of the ball comprises detecting an angle of incline of the user device relative to a horizon and using the angle of incline to accurately determine the distance from the ball to the cup in from the photograph. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein displaying information further comprises at least one of:
 displaying results from the most recent attempt at the same hole;   displaying results from a user selected past attempt at the same hole; and   displaying accumulated results from a plurality of past attempts at the same hole or plurality of holes.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein determining the difficulty of the putt comprises:
 determining a first solution space of a successful event;   determining a second solution space of all events; and   comparing the first solution space of a successful event to the solution second space of all events.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein determining the first and second solution spaces comprises modeling non-linear dynamics associated with an event. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein modeling the non-linear dynamics comprises at least one of:
 fitting sample data to a piecewise linear curve;   fitting sample data to a quadratic curve;   fitting sample data to a cubic spline;   fitting sample data to a b-spline;   fitting sample data to a linear combination of rational functions; and   fitting sample data to a linear combination of exponential functions.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the information comprises at least one flat surface equivalent distance (FSED) applied to achieve a successful putt compared to a set of reasonable limits to provide information regarding relative strength required to accomplish the successful putt. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the FSED limits are determined by utilizing the green topography for every hole location in a particular golf green, or subset of a golf green. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1  wherein determining the location of the ball comprises:
 receiving data regarding the ball, and the surroundings of the ball; and 
 computing the position of the ball relative to the surroundings. 
 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein determining the position of the ball further comprises:
 receiving reflectance data of ball and the surroundings;   receiving position data of the location of the cup;   receiving position data of the location where the reflectance data were acquired;   receiving orientation data when acquiring the reflectance data;   comparing the reflectance data at the received position and orientation to a precomputed model of reflectance data from a position and orientation substantially equivalent to the received position and orientation data;   refining parameters of received position and orientation to best match the precomputed model;   identifying a ball in reflectance data; and   computing position of the ball relative to the cup.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15  wherein determining the position of the ball further comprises:
 receiving position data of the location of the cup, 
 determining the distance from the ball to the cup; 
 determining the orientation angle from the ball to the cup, relative to a known orientation angle; and 
 determining the position of the ball from the received position data and determined distance and orientation angle. 
 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein determining the position of the ball further comprises:
 receiving position data of the location of the ball;   determining the orientation angle from the ball to the target, relative to a known orientation angle; and   determining the position of the ball from the received and determined information.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17  wherein determining the position of the ball further comprises:
 receiving a graphical representation of the ball and said surroundings; and 
 allowing a user to identify the location of the ball relative to the surroundings. 
 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein determining the position of the ball relative to the cup further comprises allowing the user to identify the location of the cup relative to the surroundings. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein determining the position of the ball relative to the cup comprises:
 receiving distance information relative to a plurality of known locations nearby the ball;   receiving distance information of the ball to the plurality of known locations;   receiving distance information of the cup to the plurality of known locations; and   determining the position of the ball and cup relative to the surroundings.   
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein displaying information comprises graphically illustrating a parameter used in quantifying the likelihood of a successful event. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising pre-determining a grid of ideal outcomes and using a grid of pre-determined ideal parameters to determine an ideal outcome for any position of ball on the green. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 2  wherein determining parameters for a desired outcome further comprises at least one of:
 determining an offset angle or plurality of offset angles associated with the ideal angle and force or speed; and 
 determining an offset force or speed or plurality of offset forces or speeds associated with the ideal angle and force or speed. 
 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 23 , wherein determining parameters for a desired outcome further comprises at least one of:
 displaying an amoeba-like territory indicating where the ball may stop if the putt force or speed applied is slightly greater than or slightly less than the ideal force or speed; and   displaying an amoeba-like territory indicating where the ball may stop if the putt angle applied is slightly clockwise or slightly counter-clockwise relative to the ideal angle.   
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 6  wherein determining the ideal outcome further comprises utilizing real-world coordinates for the actual location of the ball, the cup, or other necessary parameters. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 2  wherein determining the parameters for a desired outcome of a putt comprises at least one of:
 determining the parameters for an optimal putt; 
 determining parameters for a 2-putt; 
 at ball stop position, reverse engineer most likely path; and 
 at ball stop position, reverse engineer a plurality of likely paths. 
 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising acquiring utilization data comprising a plurality of users utilizing a system for determining a golf ball location, a target location and terrain information of a putting green and recording data as the plurality of users utilize the system. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein calculating a projected path comprises utilizing a constant coefficient of rolling friction by computing a friction force with the formula {right arrow over (F)} friction =C r mg{circumflex over (v)} where C r  is the coefficient of rolling friction, m is the mass of the ball, g is the gravitational constant and v is the velocity of the ball. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein calculating a projected path comprises utilizing a calculated first guess for initial velocity according to the formula 
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   v 
                   i 
                 
                 = 
                 
                   
                     
                       v 
                       f 
                       2 
                     
                     + 
                     
                       
                         2 
                          
                         
                           C 
                           r 
                         
                          
                         gd 
                       
                       
                         1 
                         + 
                         ξ 
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
               , 
             
           
         
       
       where v i  is an initial velocity, v f  is a final velocity, C r  is a coefficient of rolling friction, g is a gravitational constant, d is a distance from the ball to the hole, and ξ is a factor used in calculating the moment of inertia based on the properties of the ball. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein calculating parameters for a desired outcome further comprises utilizing a moment of inertia for the golf ball determined by at least one of the formulas:
     I=ξmr   2          I=Σr   2   Δm          I=∫r   2   dm          I=Σρr   2   ΔV          I=∫ρr   2   dV      
       where ξ is a factor determined by experimentation, m is a mass of the ball, r is a radius of the ball, ρ is a density of the ball and V is volume.