System for remotely swinging a golf club

Abstract

A method, system, and computer program product for remote golf club swinging is provided. The method can include receiving in a robotic golf club swing fixture from a remote operator over a computer communications network a set of swing parameters defining different aspects of a golf club swing. The method also can include directing a plurality of robotic arms of the fixture to swing a coupled golf club according to the received swing parameters. The method yet further can include sensing a result of the swinging of the coupled golf club. Finally, the method can include transmitting data derived from the sensed result to the remote operator over the computer communications network.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A remote golf club swinging method comprising:
 receiving in a robotic golf club swing fixture from a remote operator over a computer communications network a set of swing parameters defining different aspects of a golf club swing;   directing a plurality of robotic arms of the fixture to swing a coupled golf club according to the received swing parameters;   sensing a result of the swinging of the coupled golf club; and,   transmitting data derived from the sensed result to the remote operator over the computer communications network.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the result is a sensed performance of the golf club. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the result is a resulting location of a golf ball struck by the coupled golf club subsequent to the swinging of the coupled golf club. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a swing parameter is direction. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a swing parameter is power. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a swing parameter is velocity. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a swing parameter is shot shape. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the robotic golf club swing fixture has one robotic arm. 
     
     
         9 . A remote golf club swinging system comprising:
 a server configured for communicative coupling to a web server and a computing device;   a robotic golf club swing fixture comprising at least one servo motor coupled to a controller and at least one data capture apparatus coupled to the controller, each servo motor coupled to a plurality of robotic arms, each of the plurality of robotic arms coupled to a golf club; and,   a golf club swinging module coupled to the server and the fixture, the module comprising program code enabled to receive from a remote operator over a computer communications network a set of swing parameters defining different aspects of a golf club swing, to direct the plurality of robotic arms of the fixture to swing the coupled golf club according to the received swing parameters, to sense a result of the swinging of the coupled golf club, and to transmit data derived from the sensed result to the remote operator over the computer communications network.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the result is a sensed performance of the golf club. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the result is a resulting location of a golf ball struck by the coupled golf club subsequent to the swinging of the coupled golf club. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein a swing parameter is direction. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein a swing parameter is power. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein a swing parameter is velocity. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein a swing parameter is shot shape. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the robotic golf club swing fixture has one robotic arm. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising a golf simulator coupled to the server. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising a golf simulator coupled to the controller. 
     
     
         19 . A computer program product for remotely swinging a golf club, the computer program product comprising:
 a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising:   computer readable program code for receiving in a robotic golf club swing fixture from a remote operator over a computer communications network a set of swing parameters defining different aspects of a golf club swing;   computer readable program code for directing a plurality of robotic arms of the fixture to swing a coupled golf club according to the received swing parameters;   computer readable program code for sensing a result of the swinging of the coupled golf club; and,   computer readable program code for transmitting data derived from the sensed result to the remote operator over the computer communications network.   
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein a swing parameter is direction. 
     
     
         21 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein a swing parameter is power. 
     
     
         22 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein a swing parameter is velocity. 
     
     
         23 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein a swing parameter is shot shape. 
     
     
         24 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein the result is a sensed performance of the golf club. 
     
     
         25 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein the result is a resulting location of a golf ball struck by the coupled golf club subsequent to the swinging of the coupled golf club. 
     
     
         26 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein the robotic golf club swing fixture has one robotic arm. 
     
     
         27 . A remote golf club testing method comprising:
 receiving in a robotic golf club swing fixture from a remote operator over a computer communications network a set of swing parameters defining different aspects of a golf club swing;   directing a plurality of robotic arms of the fixture to swing a coupled golf club according to the received swing parameters;   sensing performance of the golf club; and,   transmitting data derived from the sensed performance to the remote operator over the computer communications network.