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EP-4736966-A1 - GOLF TROLLEY

EP4736966A1EP 4736966 A1EP4736966 A1EP 4736966A1EP-4736966-A1

Abstract

Golf trolley comprising wheels (40), a drive unit (10) configured to drive the wheels (40) to move the golf trolley, a camera (21), a control unit (30) configured to autonomously control the golf trolley to perform actions, wherein the control unit (30) comprises an object detector (33) and an action trigger unit (32), wherein the action trigger unit (32) is configured to determine an action trigger determined based on a golf club detected in an image of the camera, wherein control unit (30) is configured to control the golf trolley to perform an action in response to the determined action trigger.

Inventors

  • Piraux, Eric
  • VAN MALLEGHEM, Antoine

Assignees

  • Botronics

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20241031

Claims (15)

  1. Golf trolley comprising wheels (40, 41, 42), a drive unit configured to drive the wheels (40, 41, 42) to move the golf trolley, a camera (21), a control unit (30) configured to autonomously control the golf trolley to perform actions, wherein the control unit (30) comprises an object detector (33) and an action trigger unit (32), wherein the action trigger unit (32) is configured to determine an action trigger, wherein control unit (30) is configured to control the golf trolley to perform an action in response to the determined action trigger; characterized in that the object detector (33) is configured to receive an image from the camera (21) and to detect in the image a golf club taken by the golfer, and the action trigger unit (32) configured to determine based on the detected golf club the action trigger.
  2. Golf trolley according to claim 1, wherein the object detector (33) is configured to detect the type of the golf club; wherein the action trigger unit (32) is configured to determine the action trigger based on the detected type of the golf club.
  3. Golf trolley according to claim 2, wherein the object detector (33) is configured to detect the number of the golf club, wherein the action trigger unit (32) is configured to determine the action trigger based on the detected number and/or the action performed depends on the number detected.
  4. Golf trolley according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the action trigger unit (32) determines a first action trigger based on a first type and/or a first number of golf club detected and a second action trigger based on a second type and/or second number of golf club detected, wherein the control unit (30) is configured to perform a first action, when the first action trigger is determined and to perform a second action different from the first action, when the second action trigger is determined.
  5. Golf trolley according to one of claims 2 to 4, wherein, when the object detector (33) detects a putter taken by the golfer, the action trigger unit (32) detects a first action trigger, the control unit (30) controls the golf trolley in response to the determined first action trigger to navigate to a new position between a green of a current hole on which the golf trolley 1 is located and a tee of the next hole.
  6. Golf trolley according to claim 5, wherein the new position of the golf trolley between the green of the current hole and the tee of the next hole is in the zone of the current hole or in a zone between the zone of the current hole and the zone of the next hole of the golf court.
  7. Golf trolley according to one of claims 2 to 6, wherein, when the object detector (33) detects a golf club taken by the golfer from a specific sub-group of golf clubs, the action trigger unit (32) detects a related action trigger, the control unit (30) controls the golf trolley in response to the determined related action trigger to perform a related action.
  8. Golf trolley according to claim 7, wherein the related action comprises the following steps performed by the control unit (30): detect the type and number of the golf club from an image of the camera (21) in the object detector (33); detect the hitting location of the ball; detect landing location of the ball; determine shot data based on the detected hitting location and based on the detected landing location; and store the shot data in association with the detected type and number of the golf club.
  9. Golf trolley according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the related action comprises the following steps performed by the control unit (30): detect the type and number of the golf club from an image of the camera (21) in the object detector (33); detect the hitting location of the ball; detect the potential landing zone based on the hitting location of the ball and based on a distance related to the type and number of the golf club detected; determine potential landing zone information based on the potential landing zone and based on map information of the current hole; and output the potential landing zone information.
  10. Golf trolley according to claim 8 and 9, wherein the potential landing zone is detected based on a user specific statistical shot distance data for the detected type and number of the golf club, wherein the shot data in association with the detected type and number of the golf club are used to update the user specific statistical shot distance for the detected type and number of the golf club.
  11. Golf trolley according to one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the related action comprises the following steps performed by the control unit (30): navigate the golf trolley to a position behind the ball such that the optical axis of the camera (21) of the golf trolley directs in the hitting direction of the golfer; and take a video of the golfer hitting the ball.
  12. Golf trolley according to claim 11, wherein the video taken is recorded in a user space, wherein the user space of the golf trolley is connectable to a user space on a server to send the video taken from the user space of the golf trolley to the user space of the server, wherein the user space of the server is accessible for the golfer to review the video taken.
  13. Golf trolley according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the video taken is used to analyze the swing of the golfer.
  14. Golf trolley according to claim 11 or 12 or 13, wherein the type and number of the golf club is detected from an image of the camera (21) in the object detector (33); wherein the ball landing location is estimated based on a hitting direction detected from the video taken and based on a shot distance detected based on the type and number of the golf club, wherein the golf trolley is configured to navigate to the estimated landing location and to search for the exact ball landing location.
  15. Golf trolley according to one of claims 2 to 14, wherein golf trolley is configured to receive golf club configuration data specifying for the detected type and optionally also the number of the golf club information relating to a specific golf club, wherein the golf club configuration data is used to improve the detection of the type and/or number of the golf club and/or is used to generate statistical shot data based on the specific golf club used.

Description

Technical Field The present invention relates to the field of golf equipment and particularly to a golf trolley for helping golfers in transporting their golf bags across the course. Prior art Golf trolleys of different types are known, including manual golf trolleys, which are pushed or pulled by the golfer, and electric or motorized golf trolleys. Most motorized golf trolleys work with a remote control or a radio distance sensor. There are some automated golf trolleys which try to remove the burden of control of the motorized trolley, especially golf trolleys with a follow function. Some golf trolleys have been proposed in which the golf trolley can travel alone to a certain position input by the user or automatically determined based on the current game situation. US2019/0151725 discloses a follow function which automatically drives the golf trolley around areas where the golf trolley cannot enter, like a bunker so that the golf trolley can continue to follow the golfer, when exiting the bunker on the other side. US5944132 for example automatically drives to the next Tee, when the golfer enters the green. However, this solution could lead to situations where the golfer enters the green without having taken the putter, e.g. when he traverses the green to go to a bunker. It is sometimes also not practical that the golf trolley goes already up to the new Tee, as sometimes the golfer needs something from the golf trolley. KR102607069 discloses a golf cart which follows the golfer at a certain distance. When the golfer prepares the swing, the golf cart moves in front of the golfer to film the swing. US11707657discloses a golf trolley with a golf ball find function wherein the golf trolley is positioned behind the golfer to film the golf ball trajectory to determine the estimated landing position of the golf ball. However, these functions require still the user input to select these functions or the trigger action for those functions do not work reliably. Also, the realizations of these functions are not always optimized for a good golfer experience. Brief summary of the invention It is an object of the invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art, or at least provide an alternative to the prior art. It is in particular an object of the invention to provide a golf trolley being more autonomous and improving the support provided to the golfer. According to the invention, this object is achieved by a golf trolley comprising: wheels; a drive unit configured to drive the wheels to move the golf trolley; a camera; a control unit configured to autonomously control the golf trolley to perform actions; wherein the control unit comprises an object detector and an action trigger unit; the object detector configured to receive an image from the camera and to detect in the image a golf club taken by the golfer; and the action trigger unit configured to determine based on the detected golf club an action trigger, wherein control unit is configured to control the golf trolley to perform an action in response of the determined action trigger. According to the invention, this object is achieved by a method for controlling a motorized golf trolley, the method comprising the following steps of a control unit of the golf trolley: Receiving from a camera an image; detecting in the image a golf club taken by the golfer; determining based on the detected golf club an action trigger; in response to the detected action trigger, control the golf trolley to perform an action. The detection of the taken golf club in the images of the camera allows to detect certain game situations of the golfer. This allows to automatically trigger certain actions of the golf trolley in response to the golf club taken, i.e. in response to certain game situations automatically. This trigger is very robust. The use of the camera for detecting the golf club taken allows to avoid to the use of special golf clubs, e.g. golf clubs with RFIDs to detect the golf club taken. According to the invention, this object is achieved by a golf trolley comprising: wheels; a drive unit configured to drive the wheels to move the golf trolley; a control unit configured to autonomously control the golf trolley to perform actions; wherein the control unit comprises an action trigger unit; wherein the action trigger unit is configured to determine based on the detected golf club an action trigger, wherein the control unit is configured to control the golf trolley to perform an action in response to the determined action trigger. According to the invention, this object is achieved by a method for controlling a motorized golf trolley, the method comprising the following steps of a control unit of the golf trolley: determining an action trigger; in response to the detected action trigger, control the golf trolley to perform an action. According to the invention, this object is achieved by computer program which is configured to perform the steps of the method for cont