Golf swing tempo measurement system

Abstract

A biofeedback system including an elongated member, for feeding back sounds indicative of swing tempo of the elongated member is provided. The system comprises a plurality of acceleration measuring devices adapted to measure accelerations at a plurality of locations along the elongated member; a first microcontroller for processing the measured acceleration signals to reduce effects of gravity and forming a digital number related to an angular rotational speed raised to a power; the digital number comprising a plurality of bits; a second microcontroller for receiving the digital number and associating the bits with a plurality of groups each having an associated tonal composition and amplitude value indicative of bit content and for forming commands indicative of the tonal composition and amplitude value; and a synthesizer responsive to commands and producing an audio signal; and an output for outputting the audio signal.

1 . A biofeedback system including an elongated member, for feeding back sounds indicative of swing tempo of the elongated member, the system comprising: 
 a plurality of acceleration measuring devices adapted to measure accelerations at a plurality of locations along the elongated member;    a first microcontroller for processing the measured acceleration signals to reduce effects of gravity and forming a digital number related to an angular rotational speed raised to a power;    said digital number comprising a plurality of bits;    a second microcontroller for receiving the digital number and associating the bits with a plurality of groups each having an associated tonal composition and amplitude value indicative of bit content and for forming commands indicative of the tonal composition and amplitude value; and    a synthesizer responsive to the commands and producing an audio signal; and    means for outputting the audio signal.    
   
   
       2 . The system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the power to which the angular rotational speed is raised is at least substantially 2.  
   
   
       3 . A method of feeding back synthesized sounds indicative of swing tempo of an elongated member, the method comprising the steps of: 
 generating a plurality of acceleration signals indicative of the acceleration of the elongated member at different locations thereof;    processing the acceleration signals to reduce the contribution of gravity in the signals;    forming a sequence of digital samples of the processed acceleration signals, each sample comprising a plurality of bits related to an angular rotational speed raised to a power;    defining groups of the plurality of bits in a sample, each group having an associated tonal composition and amplitude value related to a group's digital value;    generating commands for the synthesis of sounds representative of the tonal composition and amplitudes of the groups; and    feeding back synthesized sounds.    
   
   
       4 . A biofeedback system including an elongated member for feeding back sounds indicative of swing tempo of the elongated member, the system comprising: 
 a plurality of sensors coupled to the elongated member for deriving digital signals indicative of motion of the elongated member;    means for processing the signals to reduce an effect of gravity, generating a multi-bit digital number indicative of an angular velocity raised to a power and associating the bits into a plurality of groups each having an associated tonal composition and amplitude indicative of bit content and for forming commands indicative of the tonal composition and amplitude value;    a synthesizer responsive to the commands for producing audio signals; and    means for outputting the audio signals.    
   
   
       5 . The system as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the power to which the angular rotational speed is raised is at least substantially 2.  
   
   
       6 . A method of feeding back sounds indicative of swing tempo of an elongated member, the method comprising the steps of: 
 providing a plurality of sensors mounted along the elongated member for deriving digital signals indicative of motion of the elongated member;    processing the signals to eliminate or reduce an effect of gravity, generating a multi bit digital number indicative of the angular velocity raised to a power at at least two positions along the elongated member, and mapping the bits into a plurality of groups each having an associated tonal composition and an amplitude indicative of bit content;    synthesizing a sound signal having the tonal composition associated with a group and amplitude indicative of the bit value of the group; and    outputting the audio signal.    
   
   
       7 . A biofeedback system for converting motion characteristics of an elongated member into sounds, the biofeedback system comprising: 
 a plurality of sensors positioned along the elongated member to capture motion parameters as multi-bit digital numbers;    a processor to map the bits of each of the numbers into a plurality of groups each having an associated tonal composition and an amplitude indicative of bit content;    a synthesizer for generating an audio signal responsive to the mapped bits; and    means for outputting the audio signal.    
   
   
       8 . A method for providing biofeedback signals to a user using sensors to capture motion characteristics of an elongated member, the method comprising: 
 providing a plurality of sensors positioned along the elongated member for capturing motion parameters thereof as multi-bit digital numbers;    mapping the bits of each of the numbers into a plurality of groups each having an associated tonal composition and an amplitude indicative of bit content;    synthesizing a sound signal responsive to the mapped bits to produce a signal having the tonal composition associated with a group and amplitude indicative of bit content; and    outputting the signal.    
   
   
       9 . The system as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the elongated member is a golf club.  
   
   
       10 . The system as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the elongated member is a golf club.  
   
   
       11 . An elongated member for use in the biofeedback system as claimed in  claim 1 .  
   
   
       12 . An elongated member for use in the biofeedback system as claimed in  claim 4.