Summary

Case Study

Case Study
Freescale Semiconductor worked with Indiana University and sporting good manufacturer, Spalding, to showcase a prototype of the world's first “intelligent basketball.” The project was launched in 2006 by engineering students and a professor at Indiana University, who contacted Freescale with the idea and a request to obtain necessary electronic components. As the project evolved, Freescale engineers continued to work with engineers at the university and at Spalding to seamlessly incorporate the technology in a production-grade basketball.

The Challenge
There are two factors that determine the probability of making a free throw: the player's height, and the player's control over the ball's release angle and velocity. A basketball was needed that could provide information to prospective players about the nature of their shooting—specifically, the velocity and angle of each shot. Once the ball leaves the player's hand, a sensor is needed to track the acceleration and then an MCU is needed to make calculations of velocity. Software programming would need to be utilized to extract the acceleration due to motion and integrate the values to approximate velocity. The data would also have to be transferred without wires to a nearby computer to display the results.

The Solution
It was determined that a basketball could achieve these requirements by incorporating three Freescale components: a three-axis accelerometer, a ZigBee transceiver and an eight-bit microcontroller. With the use of these three components, the basketball can help a player improve their shot by providing feedback information on the velocity and angle of their shooting. By understanding how an accelerometer is oriented inside the basketball, engineers could determine the initial release angle. Once the ball leaves the player's hand, its accelerometer tracks the acceleration and then uses a microcontroller to integrate the area under the acceleration curve. It calculates velocity and then employs a transceiver to send the info to a laptop computer.

Implementation
Freescale sent Spalding a ZSTAR module, which incorporates an MMA7260QT triple-axis accelerometer controlled by an 8-bit MCU (MC9S08QG8) and is connected via a wireless link to a computer through USB 2.0. Spalding began designing the necessary features for a basketball that could hold the small dimensions of a ZSTAR module. Utilizing its knowledge in putting devices inside sports ball based on experience with its INFUSION line of micropump-outfitted balls, Spalding designed and produced a prototype ball that will effectively hold the Z-Star and delivered a basketball in June 2007. Freescale then calibrated the ball based on the location of the ZSTAR board within the ball volume. Freescale successfully demonstrated the technology at the Freescale Technology Forum in Orlando in June 2007.

Contacts
Lynn Luczkowski
Spalding Public Relations
860-313-1426
West Hartford, CT

Lisa Bradley
Sensor Marketing Communications
480-413-8819
Tempe, AZ