Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
7 Motion Analysis and Trajectory Reconstruction of Smart SoftBall with UWB Positioning and Inertial Sensing
 Chenhan Yang
Tianyang Sun
Yuxing Wu
# Problem
Traditional softball and tennis games or training rely on human umpires or cameras to determine the ball's landing point and status. Human judgment is susceptible to error, resulting in low efficiency in training and game statistics. Camera-assisted systems (such as Hawk-Eye) require 3D modeling of the venue, at least 8-10 ultra-high-speed cameras, and a range of other equipment. This is costly, requires fixed locations, and is not mobile, making it difficult to widely apply to daily training or amateur matches. Furthermore, it cannot record the ball's speed, and trajectory in real time, resulting in incomplete training data.

# Solution overview
This project proposes a general-purpose intelligent softball system based on UWB:
1. A miniature UWB transmitter is embedded in the ball to transmit positioning signals in real time.
2. UWB receivers are placed at the four corners of the field to calculate the ball's three-dimensional coordinates using the TDoA algorithm.
3. Using fusion algorithms such as Kalman filtering combined with UWB data, the system can restore the ball's continuous trajectory and velocity direction.
4. The system can determine in real time whether the landing point is out of bounds, providing training and game data analysis.

# Solution component
1. **Ball module: Miniature UWB transmitter + ultra-small battery **
2. **Lightweight Design for Guaranteed Ball Flight Performance**
3. **Field Receiver Module:**
* Four or more UWB receivers, fixed at the four corners of the court.
* Receives ball-transmitted signals and calculates TDoA (Total DoA).
4. **Data Processing and Fusion Algorithm:**
* Uses Kalman filtering and UWB data fusion.
* Reconstructs the ball's 3D trajectory, axis of rotation, and rotational speed.
5. **Visualization and Analysis Platform:**
* Real-time trajectory display.
* Landing point and out-of-bounds determination.
* Training data statistics (number of hits, speed, spin).
* Report generation and technical improvement suggestions.

# Criterion for Success
The evaluation criteria for project success include:
1. **Hardware Implementation:** The embedded UWB module in the ball functions normally without affecting the ball's flight performance.
2. **Positioning Accuracy:** Using the four corner receivers, centimeter-level 3D position determination is achieved.
3. **Trajectory and Spin Recovery:** Continuous trajectory and rotational angular velocity can be accurately reconstructed.
4. **Real-time Out-of-Bounds Determination:** The system can automatically determine whether the ball is out of bounds, and the error is ≤ 5 cm compared with the accuracy of manual determination.
5. Data Statistics and Visualization: The system can generate training data such as ball speed, spin, and landing point, and display it visually.
6. Scalability: The system is suitable for multi-venue, mobile deployment, and is ideal for training and recreational matches.

High Noon Sheriff Robot

Yilue Pan, Shuting Shao, Yuan Xu, Youcheng Zhang

Featured Project

# MEMBERS:

- Yuan Xu [yuanxu4]

- Shuting Shao [shao27]

- Youcheng Zhang [yz64]

- Yilue Pan [Yilvep2]

# TITLE:

HIGH NOON SHERIFF ROBOT

PROBLEM:

Nowadays with the increasing number of armed attacks and shooting incidents. The update for public places needs to be put on the agenda. Obviously, we could not let police and security to do all the jobs since humans might neglect some small action of threat behind hundreds of people and could not respond quickly to the threat. A second of hesitation might cost an innocent life. Our team aims on making some changes to this situation since nothing is higher than saving lifes not only victims but also gunners. We find some ideas in the Old western movies when two cowboys are going to a high noon duel, the sheriff will pull out the revolver quicker than the other and try to warn him before everything is too late. If we can develop a robot that can detect potential threats and pull out weapons first in order to warn the criminal to abandon the crime or use non-lethal weapons to take him down if he continues to pull out his gun.

# SOLUTION OVERVIEW:

In order to achieve effective protection in a legal way, we have developed the idea of a security robot. The robot can quickly detect dangerous people and fire a gun equipped with non-lethal ammunition to stop dangerous events.

The robot should satisfy the following behavioral logic:

- When the dangerous person is acting normally and there is no indication of impending danger, the robot should remain in standby mode with its robot arm away from the gun.

- When the dangerous person is in a position ready to draw his gun or other indication of dangerous behavior, the robot is also in a drawn position and its arm is already clutching the gun.

- When the dangerous person touches his gun, The robot should immediately draw the gun, move the hammer and finish aiming and firing to control the dangerous person. This type of robot would need to include three subsystems: Detection system, Electrical Control system, and Mechanical system.

# SOLUTION COMPONENTS:

## [SUBSYSTEM #1: DETECTION SUBSYSTEM]

This subsystem consists of a camera and PC. We are going to use YOLO v5 to detect object, determine the position of human and the gun. Use DeepSORT to track the object, let the camera follow the opponent. Use SlowFast to detect opponent’s behavior.

## [SUBSYSTEM #2: ELECTRICAL CONTROL SYSTEM]

This subsystem consists of a STM32, two high speed motors, two gimbal motors, one motor for revolver action and position sensor. The STM32 serves as the controller for the motors. The high speed motor will be used to move the mechanical grab to grab the revolver and pull it out as fast as possible so that it will use the position sensor as the end stop point instead of PID control. The gimbal motors serve as Yaw and Pitch motion for the revolver to control the accuracy of the revolver so that it needs encoders to give the angle feedback.

## [SUBSYSTEM #3: MECHANICAL SYSTEM]

This subsystem consists of a three-degree-of-freedom robot arm and a clamping mechanism fixed to the end of the arm. The clamping mechanism is used to achieve the gripping of the gun, the moving of the hammer and the pulling of the trigger. The mechanical arm is used to lift and aim the gun.

# CRITERION FOR SUCCESS

- Move Fast. The robot must draw its gun and aim faster than the opponent；

- Warning First. If opponent’s hand moves close to the gun on his waist, the robot should draw the gun and aim it at the opponent without firing. If the opponent gives up drawing a gun and surrender, the robot should put its gun back in place. Otherwise, the robot will shoot at the opponent.

- Accurate shooting. Under the premise that the opponent may move, the robot must accurately shoot the opponent's torso.

# DISTRIBUTION OF WORK

- EE Student Shuting Shao: Responsible for object detection and object tracking.

- EE Student Yuan Xu: Responsible for behavior detection and video processing.

- EE Student Youcheng Zhang: Responsible for electrical control system.

- ME Student Yilue Pan: Responsible for the Mechanical system.