Help with ball tracking

Hello,

I have a small project at home to measure the speed and direction of a softball hit off a tee for my daughter so she knows where the ball went and how far by calculating the initial velocity and the direction with Raspberry Pi.

I have tried camera solutions but none of them provided reliable results. High speed camera with right exposure was needed but high speed cameras are too expensive that I cannot afford and the detection of a ball and the velocity was quite tricky when dealing with 3D space where the camera can only capture 2D surface.

I almost gave up my project after looking for a solution for months . Then I came across the product RD-03D radar. It looked very promising so I contacted core-electronics support, but I was told this radar sensor isn’t suitable for detecting high speed objects.

I was wondering if anyone has a good advice.

Hi Hisa
Golf teaching professionals use a similar device when analysing a student’s performance.
This seems to measure velocity, direction and spin direction and rate then predicts the flight of the ball for display on a screen. Probably measures other things too.

Some research might turn up how this all works and might give you some ideas.
Maybe worth a look.
Cheers Bob

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Maybe I just wasn’t looking in the right place.
I’ll try again.

Thanks for your input.

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Mapping objects moving in 3D real time is no easy task. Anything that does this would have some very fancy algorithms to calculate all the vectors, probably has a custom chip just for that purpose. Would use AI to recognise the ball path and track it. I would not even know where to start considering the maths involved.

Finding a commercial product for a cheap price would be the best option.

Cheers
Jim

H ALL

Good luck with that. But you never know with these clever Chinese these days.
Cheers Bob

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RD-03D Radar is a short-range presence and motion detection sensor, not optimized for measuring fast-moving small objects.I think you need to use Multiple Radar Sensors or a Microphone Array. Doppler Radar Sports Sensors like the Velocity Radar by Pocket Radar, or industrial sensors like InnoSenT IPS-245 or HB100 with custom processing will be best.

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