Golf ball with GPS built in?

[darkhunter139]

I have a school project coming up where I have to write a 6 page proposal and then do a presentation on it. I thought it would be a good idea pick something golf/technology related so I am interested in it. I am sure everyone has thought of this but as far as I know no one has actually made anything like this yet.

Just wondering if you guys think this would be a good idea or if it is too cheesy/unrealistic?

Thanks for any input

[The Road Dog]

What exactly is your idea? You can't put a GPS receiver in a Golf ball currently they are too big and need big batteries. Are you suggesting a way to track the ball's location with a GPS receiver?

[darkhunter139]

Yeah a way to track a golf ball on an LCD screen with a map of the course. It does not have to be possible right now but it can't be too far fetched. There are some pretty small GPS chips out there but they still require a power source and antenna.

[M2R]

http://www.rf-golf.com/home.htm

[zeg]

A GPS wouldn't be feasible. It'd probably be technically possible to get a receiver, battery, and antenna in a golf-ball sized package, but it's going to be far too expensive and probably not mechanically robust enough to work when you start whacking it.

A more feasible approach is to put a passive microwave RFID tag in the ball. These can be manufactured pretty cheaply (well less than a dollar, though that is only true if they're made in extremely large numbers), and are very simple, so could probably be made to withstand the beating they'll take.

The trick is then finding a way to locate them. The obvious thing to do is to just have a reader that gives a hot/cold indication. Ranges for these will probably be in the 30 foot ballpark, so you'd have to know roughly where it was and then use a metal detector-like approach to find it. If you really want positioning, you'd have to lay out a large number of readers around the course and network them to track where the balls end up. This would be expensive, but not so expensive as to be completely absurd. A reader capable of doing this could be had for perhaps ~$100 (in principle, at least). That'd only tell you which reader it was near, though doing RFID + location is possible.

You could also put an active RFID in the ball, which would substantially boost the range, though you now need a battery in the ball. Presumably you'd have some magnetic one-time switch that you'd use to keep the battery off until you peel off the magnetic sticker on the ball. Otherwise the battery life is going to be dismal. Hmm, I guess you could use an inductive charger to recharge a battery in the ball also.

I don't think this is terribly feasible, but is probably moreso than embedding a GPS in the ball itself.

Edit: just saw M2Rs link, and that's sort of what I'm talking about in my last suggestion, pretty much. Turning the transmitter on after impact is clever. They're using a pretty simple system, though, which doesn't ID the ball. It's probably just a low-power RF transmitter with some other electronics inside, just barely qualifying as RFID (in my book). It works for the "metal detector" approach, but you'd need ID to do a mapping application. That wouldn't be much more difficult, though the range for reading the ID would be lower than the 50 meters they're claiming.

Also, of course, all this is illegal under the rules of golf...

[newtogolf]

GPS implants are being developed and RFID implants are available now, though their tranmitting distance is limited to about 30 feet. It's a cool idea but the technology isn't quite there yet. The transmitting distance you'd need for a golf ball would likely require a battery and antenna which would have to be capable of surviving the impact and compression of multiple club strikes.

[allin]

Instead of GPS, why not consider something in the golf ball paint that is sun reactive (absorbs sunlight as an energy source) and gives off a weak signal that can be captured if you are within 50-100 feet. Given the photo voltic paint research being developed I bet it is at least theoretically possible, and probably cheaper than GPS which sounds like over kill to me.

[Bryan SD2]

There are several models of (somewhat) wireless charging "pads' for smart phones. Could you consider a "pad" which would charge the batteries in your golf balls wireless before you hit the course? Perhaps a mobile version? A little out there, but like you said, not completely over the top.

[plum]

any help finding a golf ball would be a big help and profitable...lol

[Nutbusters27]

Go to radargolf.com they already have it.

[zeg]

That product is what I described previously, a very simple passive RFID-type chip embedded in the ball, with a reader that gives hot/cold indications when you move / point it around.  Cute, neat, probably better (though much lower range) than an the active system that was linked to earlier.  Still against the rules, and not even approaching GPS in technology (don't be fooled by their "BPS" name for it, it's not a positioning system).

[Vinsk]

I guess this and 'Genius' topics can be merged now. Seems impractical for on course use. But interesting idea.