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DE-202026000747-U1 - Device for phase-based shot analysis in sport shooting using dual inertial measurement units and correlation with electronic hit evaluation

DE202026000747U1DE 202026000747 U1DE202026000747 U1DE 202026000747U1DE-202026000747-U1

Abstract

(Main claim): Device for analyzing shot quality in sport shooting, comprising: • at least two inertial measurement units (IMUs), each comprising at least one 3-axis accelerometer and one 3-axis gyroscope, wherein the at least two IMUs are arranged at two positions spaced apart from each other along the longitudinal axis of the firearm, wherein a first IMU is located near the grip and a second IMU is located near the barrel or muzzle, • a data interface to an electronic hit evaluation system (EST) that records the hit position as a coordinate on a target, • a processing unit configured to calculate a differential motion from the signals of at least two IMUs, where the differential motion is defined as the difference between the acceleration vectors and/or the rotation rate vectors of the at least two IMUs, and to divide the firing sequence into at least three temporal phases and evaluate each phase independently, • wherein the processing unit is further configured to derive a sighting error as a residual by correlating the phase rating with the hit position measured by the EST using an exclusion procedure, by calculating an expected scatter range from the phase ratings and diagnosing a hit position outside the expected scatter range with simultaneously high phase quality as a sighting error, • a feedback unit configured to display phase-specific feedback to the shooter on a display device after completion of the firing cycle.

Assignees

  • ZILL MICHAEL

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20260218
Priority Date
20260218

Claims (12)

  1. (Main claim): Device for analyzing shot quality in sport shooting, comprising: • at least two inertial measurement units (IMUs), each comprising at least one 3-axis accelerometer and one 3-axis gyroscope, wherein the at least two IMUs are arranged at two positions spaced apart from each other along the longitudinal axis of the firearm, with a first IMU located near the grip and a second IMU located near the barrel or muzzle, • a data interface to an electronic scoring system (EST) that records the hit position as a coordinate on a target, • a processing unit configured to calculate a differential motion from the signals of the at least two IMUs, wherein the differential motion is defined as the difference between the acceleration vectors and/or the rotation rate vectors of the at least two IMUs, and to divide the shooting sequence into at least three temporal phases and evaluate each phase independently, • wherein the processing unit is further configured to derive a sight error as a residual by correlating the phase evaluation with the hit position measured by the EST using a process of elimination. by calculating an expected dispersion range from the phase assessments and diagnosing a hit position outside the expected dispersion range with simultaneously high phase quality as a sighting error, • a feedback unit configured to display phase-specific feedback to the shooter on a display device after completion of the firing cycle.
  2. Device according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the processing unit is configured to infer the cause of the weapon movement from the temporal sequence in which a motion impulse is measured at the grip-adjacent IMU and at the barrel- or muzzle-adjacent IMU, wherein an impulse measured first at the grip-adjacent IMU indicates a disturbance caused by the shooter and a simultaneous impulse at both IMUs indicates an external influence.
  3. Device according to Claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that the processing unit is configured to adaptively derive the phase boundaries from signal characteristics of the IMU data, in particular by monitoring variance thresholds, jerk values (time-dependent change in acceleration) and/or frequency band analysis, wherein the phases in an embodiment for supported shooting include: stance setup, aiming process, trigger pull and follow-through.
  4. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the processing unit is configured to analyze a pattern of diagnosed sight errors over several shots of a series, wherein a systematic offset in one direction is diagnosed as a consistent sight error, an increasing offset as a fatigue indicator and a randomly distributed offset as an inconsistent sight image.
  5. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the feedback unit is configured to implement a priority hierarchy of instructions, wherein sight error diagnoses take precedence over phase-specific diagnoses, and wherein the feedback includes a context-sensitive, discipline-specific instruction that identifies the most probable cause of the error.
  6. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electronic hit evaluation system and the sensor analysis are integrated on a common processing platform, wherein the analysis results of the sensor unit including phase indicators, sight error diagnosis and action instructions are displayed on the same display device on which the hit image is displayed, and wherein the display of the hit image is extended by sensor-based annotations and contextual information from the EST is passed to the sensor analysis.
  7. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that shot detection is carried out by at least one of the following methods: (i) acoustic detection using a MEMS microphone, (ii) detection of a jerk peak and/or rotation rate maximum in the IMU data, (iii) reception of a hit input event from the EST, wherein, if several detectors are available, plausibility is verified by coincidence testing within a defined time window.
  8. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least two IMUs each have a sampling rate of at least 200 Hz and are connected via a digital bus (SPI). and/or I 2 C) are connected to a microcontroller of the sensor unit, and that the sensor unit communicates with the processing unit via a wireless interface (WiFi and/or BLE) and/or a wired interface (USB).
  9. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the processing unit is configured to determine shooter-specific base values for the phase evaluation and the expected dispersion radius in an initial calibration phase over a defined number of shots (e.g. 10-30), so that the quality evaluation is relative to the individual performance of the shooter.
  10. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the processing unit is configured to store the IMU raw data in a ring buffer with a history of at least the longest expected shot cycle, so that upon arrival of the shot detection signal the complete setup and aiming phase can be retrospectively analyzed.
  11. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the processing unit is configured to calculate the direction of the diagnosed sighting error from the hit coordinates as angle α = atan2(y, x) and to display it to the shooter as a clock position on the display device.
  12. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the device is configurable for different disciplines of sport shooting, wherein the phase model (number, duration and definition of the phases), the threshold values for the phase evaluation and the parameters of the exclusion procedure are adaptable to the respective discipline, in particular for supported shooting, freehand shooting, small-bore and large-bore disciplines as well as dynamic disciplines.

Description

I. Technical Field The present invention relates to a device for real-time analysis of shot quality in sport shooting, in particular in supported shooting with air rifles according to the rules of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) and the German Shooting Federation (DSB). The invention combines two spatially separated inertial measurement units (IMUs) arranged at different positions along the barrel axis of a firearm with the hit data of an electronic target evaluation system to form an integrated analysis system that provides the shooter with real-time phase-specific feedback on the shooting sequence, including sight error diagnosis by means of a process of elimination. II. State of the art 11.1 Optical trainer systems (SCATT, Noptel, RIKA) Optical training systems such as SCATT Expert, Noptel ST-2000 The RIKA Home Trainer uses a weapon-mounted optical sensor that tracks the muzzle movement relative to a target. These systems capture the aiming action (trace) as an absolute position on the target. Their disadvantages are: they require a defined optical axis to the target, do not function or function with limitations with live ammunition on real targets, and can only indirectly detect the trigger pull and follow-through via the resulting tracking deviation, not the force exerted on the grip. Furthermore, these systems do not offer an open data interface and store data in proprietary, sometimes encrypted, formats. 11.2 IMU-based trainer systems (MantisX, HoldMaster) The MantisX system (Mantis Tech, LLC, USA) uses a single inertial measurement unit (3-axis gyroscope and 3-axis accelerometer) that attaches to the weapon via a Picatinny rail or adapter. The system analyzes weapon movement before, during, and after trigger pull and provides feedback on trigger quality via a smartphone app (Bluetooth connection). The disadvantages of the current state of the art in MantisX are: • Use of only a single IMU, which makes it impossible to differentiate between grip and muzzle position and to distinguish the cause of weapon movement (grip vs. external influence). • No connection to an electronic hit evaluation system. The system does not know the actual hit position and therefore cannot establish a correlation between sensor quality and hit result. • No possibility of diagnosing sighting errors, as no process of elimination is possible without hit data. • Insufficient sensor sensitivity for precision disciplines such as supported shooting, where weapon movements are extremely small. • Generic three-phase model (before/during/after the shot) that is not tailored to the specific requirements of individual disciplines. II.3 Electronic disc systems (DISAG, Meyton, SIUS, Intarso) Electronic scoring systems (ESTs) such as DISAG OptiScore, Meyton, SIUS, and Intarso TrueScore record the hit position (X/Y coordinate) on a target using acoustic triangulation, optical light barriers, or camera-based methods with an accuracy of typically 0.1 mm or better. These systems provide the shooter with the ring value and the hit position, but offer no information about the shooting sequence, trigger quality, or possible causes of error. II.4 Known patents The US Patent 10,502,531 (Erange Corporation, 2019) describes a training system in which IMU data from sensors worn on the shooter's body are correlated with the shot result determined by image processing from a camera. This patent differs from the present invention in several essential aspects: (a) the IMU is placed on the body (wrist, compression sleeve), not on the weapon; (b) hit detection is performed by optical image analysis from a camera, not by a certified electronic target system; (c) a dual IMU arrangement on the weapon with differential motion analysis is not described; (d) an elimination procedure for sight error diagnosis is not described. The US patent US 2016/0033221 (Firearm Accessory) describes a weapon accessory with IMU, GPS and magnetometer for general motion detection, but without connection to a hit evaluation system, without dual sensor arrangement and without phase-based analysis. III. Object of the invention The present invention is based on the objective of providing a device that enables the sport shooter to perform a comprehensive, causal analysis of the shooting sequence in real time, including the diagnosis of sighting errors that cannot be directly measured with conventional sensor systems. In particular, the invention is intended to solve the following sub-problems: • Differentiation of the cause of a weapon movement (force on the grip by the shooter vs. movement of the entire weapon on the support) by spatially separate measurement at the grip and muzzle. • Real-time correlation of IMU sensor data with the hit data of an electronic target system to validate the sensor diagnostics. • Derivation of a parameter that cannot be measured directly (sighting error) by means of an exclusion procedure, in which the difference between the hit positi