Alan > your message is very encouraging. Thankyou for your interest and detailing.
I’ll have to read up on RFID tags and readers because I’m not sure quite how you mean actual hoops as being involved rather than clips only!
I think you are saying that there are hoop/clip pairs : a device on both the hoop and the clip?
As well as the hoops there is the (central) peg - score = 13 - which could be used for the battery[?].
And remember that some sort of tilt sensor reading would be needed, because each hoop represents TWO scores. For example two and one-back : the clip is at a vertical 90 deg difference!
I suspect that there isn’t a feasible way of doing all this without a large increased bulkiness.
And surely someone would have already achieved a working system by now if it were feasible!?
Any ideas please?
Hi Michael,
Sounds like a very interesting project and everyone has contributed to a very interesting discussion!
Just to bring things back to first principals what were you looking to do? (FYI: I’m not familiar with Croquet, so my terminology might be off)
- If it was sensing if a particular ball moves through a hoop could you use a colour sensor (provided theyre different colours)
- If you’re trying to monitor the state of a clip on the hoop you could use a potentiometer/some latching buttons
- Tracking the balls would be much harder since with each hit there is a risk of busting the electronics on the ball
PS: I’ve bumped up your level on the forum so you are able to post photos, if you have a diagram handy that would help a ton in understanding what you are trying to do!
Liam
Like @Alan73922 I didn’t know much about Croquet, so I read a little about the rules and the various versions. I wanted to understand the clips. My reading was NOT in-depth so I really don’t know how the scoring works. After reading I had a few ideas but nothing that would help so I did not post.
Correct me if I am wrong.
The clips are moved from hoop to hoop as the game progresses giving a visual indication as to where to aim a particular ball. There are six hoops through which the ball must be hit and a middle peg.
So on the field there are 7 fixed locations. Each of these locations will have a varying number of clips during the game. The hoop and clips attached determine the score. The problem is to determine where the clips are at any one time. Also the orientation of the clips needs to be known during the game.
The RFID tag is an excellent idea. Each clip could have a RFID chip (these can be pretty small, like the ones used to tag dogs and cats).
The tag on each clip has a different RFID code. The hoops have a RFID reader. When a clip is attached to a hoop, the hoop detects the code and transmits this to a scoring device located outside the field. Each hoop identifies itself by a unique code.
Therefore the scoring device will know which hoop a particular clip is attached to at any one time. Allowing it to determine the current score.
Problems.
Multiple RFID chips attached to the same hoop all responding at the same time. Imaging trying to use two credit cards at the same time on the same ‘tap and go’ machine. It won’t work. But there are readers that will read multiple tags, but may be expensive.
Orientation of the clip.
ICs to determine this are small and cheap but need power. The RF field generated by the RFID reader may be enough to power them but then it needs to be able to transmit that information. This may make the clip too bulky.
Hoop RFID reader and transmitter.
This requires a battery, RFID, micro device and Transmitter. It may become too bulky to attach to the hoop. The transmitter could be Bluetooth or WiFi and the scoring device could be an App on a phone.
If this was a commercial project, most of these problems could be solved by spreading the cost over sale of systems. As a ‘once of’ they may not be solvable for a reasonable cost.
Anyway, some ideas. (deviated some distance from radio direction finding)
Cheers
Jim
A few responses from me are called for; so …
LIAM > sensing the ball colour(s) wouldn’t work (very fine tolerances in the hoop sometimes); not quite sure what you mean by “potentiometer/some latching buttons”; your third bullet re tracking the balls is humourous indeed! I could post a photo or two - but the situation is simple : clips are attached to the next-hoop-to-make (so the score is nth hoop -1) e.g. clip on third hoop equals a score of 2. The software looks after this. Six hoops are “made” in turn and then again in the opposite direction, and finally the central “peg” - score then equals (2x6)+1=13. Getting the second ball to the peg wins the game (score = 26); but not all finalised (and timed) games reach 26. Games are never drawn.
JAMES > your description is basically correct and I appreciate your detailed suggestions and illustrations.
NOW : the big question is > how is electronic equipment going to be precisely arranged? It has to be small (unobstrusive). Perhaps I should organise a photo of a clip (and a hoop). I can do this when I get down to the club to check the new, hopefully better, GPS module I have received. [I have to refamiliarise myself with the old Arduino setup I had - lousy lat/lon data was recorded with the original module.]
