Predict the next innovation!

[DBdiscgolf]

Ok I've got one. Now I don't know exactly how this would work but it would be awesome. An indoor driving range of sorts that can be used as a complete course by having "trees" that will come out of the floor and baskets that come out of the floor at different locations. This will make it to where you can have a many different looking shots in a samll area.

 

[Jay Dub]

A disc that would have a small led screen. After you throw it would tell the mph, distance you threw the disc and the revolutions per minute. Then they could tell you how fast and how many rpms you need to throw to be able to throw disc x correctly.

I worked at a company a few years ago that made high speed printing units, the number of units the customer bought was equal to the number of colors in their print out/magazine or whatever....anyway.

One customer was there working on coming up with a process that would allow videos on a page of a magazine. (The engineers from this company were the stereo-typical super nerd type, very friggin smart too).
I'm not sure where they are with that technology but I know it's out there.

 

[tt6g72vr4]

The only problem I see, is that with a large warehouse, you'll have to develop some sort of obstacle construction that is not made from metal (wood, perhaps?) so you don't wreck each disc on each drive.

I was thinking along the lines of a combination of nets and foam-encased obstacles. Nets especially would be inexpensive I should think and could easily be suspended and moved around from the ceiling.

 

[bjreagh]

1) a phone ap that gives you walking directions and loads up tee signs for you as you get to the hole, some one make this!

That would be awesome and completely doable right now. GPS for course navigation, basket placement, distance from hole from any spot. Info like hole number, par, distance, hole map, satellite image of the hole, etc. Integrate in stats from this site- what others score, what you usually score...

 

[1Roy]

Beer fountains

 

[Dsplayname]

Not even a real innovation, but a few beer girls on the courses would be nice. At least on the private pay-to-play courses.
I already have designs for a driving range that returns your shots(the easiest thing would be to train a dog or monkey to retrieve discs for you, but that's not my idea). It requires a two two to three tiered deck to throw from though(much like the raised levels at nice driving ranges). I also have plans for indoor/covered disc golf courses. Much like a large warehouse or multilevel parking deck.
You can already get GPS software for your smartphone that you can input course info and it will bring it up for you on each hole. Only thing missing in that is the automatic pin placement detector.
Some sort of UAV to film rounds would be cool, and probably be a great step forward in making disc golf suitable for TV. Cameras in it would simply need color tracking technology to lock onto the disc at the tees, then track it through the air to the pin. Might be expensive for few more years, but we do already have the know-how.
Some sort of glasses/goggles/scope that allows you to actually view the air currents all the way down the fairways. I hate ripping a great drive, only to see it hit a hot air pocket 300 feet down and jump 30 feet higher, then drop off left and die.

 

[MNcyclone]

wide rimmed wide diameter discs. I have never seen one and I am really curious how it would throw. Think a Marauder with a Nuke rim.

 

[superium]

NERF enters the disc golf industry and make foam discs with whistles attached to them!

 

[Martin Dewgarita]

I found an instructions sheet on the course today for a "helium filled disc" It had multiple warnings "do not play with hover disc outside or it might blow away"

I bet a hover disc has mad glide.

 

[drickanderson]

Ok I've got one. Now I don't know exactly how this would work but it would be awesome. An indoor driving range of sorts that can be used as a complete course by having "trees" that will come out of the floor and baskets that come out of the floor at different locations. This will make it to where you can have a many different looking shots in a samll area.

love this .. it could even reverse itself, so you play to the basket, then turn around and play back.

 

[Lewis]

Somebody should develop a coating or surface texture that can be applied to the chains to make them "stickier" when the disc hits them. I'm imagining either a thin veneer of something grippy but not adhesive, or a milled surface like you see on the face of golf wedges. This could reduce spit-outs.

 

[DBdiscgolf]

love this .. it could even reverse itself, so you play to the basket, then turn around and play back.

Perfect idea.....Nice!:thmbup:

 

[jtreadwell]

I'm only talking like 2-4 of them total on the disc, with a gentle slope that dropped maybe 2mm to the next one. That should give you plenty of room for your grip.

got it - that would be spiffy then

 

[jtreadwell]

I work at a 1.5 million square foot warehouse, and I'm always looking for lines towards my destination, akin to the previous poster who would love a RHBH to get through traffic. As a fellow northerner (Minnesota), I would love this option, and with our current economic state, it should be something we could utilize. The only problem I see, is that with a large warehouse, you'll have to develop some sort of obstacle construction that is not made from metal (wood, perhaps?) so you don't wreck each disc on each drive.

There's an indoor course at BAP Disc Golf in Gorham, Maine. They built it inside an old two story barn.

 

[jtreadwell]

Ok I've got one. Now I don't know exactly how this would work but it would be awesome. An indoor driving range of sorts that can be used as a complete course by having "trees" that will come out of the floor and baskets that come out of the floor at different locations. This will make it to where you can have a many different looking shots in a samll area.

Make the trees and baskets on either a point to point track or on a circular track that could be moved with levers or switches. That way you could slide them around and make different setups without having to lug everything around.

 

[Peterb]

Here's my idea.

- lease an underutilized golf course in an urban area. Mandate segway rentals along with greens fee to increase speed of play and wow factor. Quicker play = more rounds and more greens fees per day. Pro shop, snack bar, and booze onsite just like a golf course. Price point around $20. Look to bring in around $2000 a day on greens fees alone because course is well designed and the experience is unique.

Money is the big driver here. If there's a profit to be made, it may just make sense. It may not as well...

 

[Marzac2]

I'm not a physics guy by any means, but I've always wondered how a disc with weight shifting qualities would throw. Say there was a tube in the rim with tiny ball bearings or some sort of liquid in it.

This sounds a lot like some of the newer fishing lure designs that have weight transfer systems built in to increase casting distance without affecting its balance during the retrieve. On the cast, the weight moves to the back of the bait to prevent it from catching too much air and tumbling. It flies more like a projectile. Then, at the beginning of the retrieve the weight (usually a steel or tungsten ball) is moved along a track and fits into another location near the center of the bait to stabilize it.

In a disc, I could see this helping with the initial velocity on a throw (weights forced toward the edge of the disc) and then possibly stabilizing it as the centrifugal force is lessened (the weights transfer back toward the center) to allow it to spin for a longer period of time.

It definitely works in theory.

I was bored and like this idea, so I drew it up. Imagine the groove being just large enough to pop in some small steel bearings (BB's). You could adjust the flight by popping them in and out. With the way the inner groove is designed, it would most likely keep in place even after the landing.

I predict that the bearings will stay in one place along the rim in a high speed throw, causing the disc to OAT. This should make it have a little high speed stability. And when it comes down to slower rotations at the end of the flight, the bearings should start to roll around. Just a guess though.

 

[jenb]

Manufacturers simply have to approach the PDGA with their ideas on why their invention that has electronics or metal should be approved. The main reason for the general metal ban has been concerns that discs might be manufactured with an outer metal rim. Discs with LEDs in the rim and battery in the center are already being discussed for potential approval for night play.

It would be child's play to install one of these in the center of a disc. The homing tags are the size of a dime. It would speed play. http://www.loc8tor.com/primary-products/loc8tor-lite.html

 

[DerekTonn]

Originally Posted by prerube
1) a phone ap that gives you walking directions and loads up tee signs for you as you get to the hole, some one make this!

That would be awesome and completely doable right now. GPS for course navigation, basket placement, distance from hole from any spot. Info like hole number, par, distance, hole map, satellite image of the hole, etc. Integrate in stats from this site- what others score, what you usually score...

You don't even need an app to do this. Basically, if you have a phone with a camera on it, which is connected to the 'net, you can instantly link to hole information, audio/video (think guided tours), and anything else you might be able to get in any typical .htm/.html file.

My company produces maps for everything from campuses to parks and (yep) disc golf courses. And I'm already in discussion with a few people about incorporating this into course maps, hole signage, et al. The best part of it too is that it would be free for all end-users, and would cost courses (developing maps and installing signage) pennies more on the dollar. If that much!

The same technology could (should) be integrated into the manufacturing of all discs as well. You're at the store, you pull out your phone and take a quick-pic, and bam! You've got 20-times more than you ever wanted to know about said disc. Reviews, flight characteristics, whatever. You could have "Bob" selling discs out of the back of his van (who doesn't know much about the plastic besides what it costs), and get to the EXACT same quality of information. Again, would barely cost manufacturers a dime, and it wouldn't add any cost to the consumers (unless manufacturers got greedy).

So all that needs to be done is to do it. And if the equipment manufacturers won't get on-board, then we can still do it...one course/hole at a time.

 

[jenb]

Of course, there are alwys those pesky patents standing in the way of progress. /sarcasm

Here's one on discs that change characteristics during flight: http://www.google.com/patents?id=DK...k_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBTgU

Note that the following patent application for a disc locator device went abandoned: http://www.google.com/patents?id=uG...k_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwATge

This is not legal advice. I am not your lawyer.