Disc Golf Invention

[dirtydmix]

they scrape robots!!

invent an app for the i-phone that has an updater for the tournament while youre playing so you can see how everyone is doing. Like a live score card.

 

[Adaven]

they scrape robots!!

Yeah, it must be getting late.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

How about a key chain that when you push the button the disc makes a sound so you can find it.

Love that idea - but it would have to be something that could be added to the disc, rather than a disc with this feature built in. That means it has to be small enough and light enough to fit underneath the disc with some good adhesive. More than a few grams and some people wouldn't want to add the weight to their discs. Has to be loud enough to hear from 100' away if mounted under the disc when disc lands right-side up.

But wouldn't it be great to just let loose on those holes where you were always afraid that if you really one rip, you'll never find that disc again?

 

[prerube]

How about small GPS units in baskets which are solar powered and hidden from view. That could be pretty sweet.

What about a small device on the disc, where if lost you could hit a remote button and the disc would beep. That would save me a ton of time.

Or how about a disc that could tell you the distance you threw and at what the top speed of your throw was. I think that would be great for practice

Give me some time and I will come up with some more.

we may be getting to technical. we have to remember this is a high school kid not the army cor. of engineers

 

[skinner21]

a few thoughts after reading this thread:

I think we all have wanted a disc finder that leads us to our hidden discs, the problem would be that these would not be PDGA approved and illegal in tournament play. Don't get me wrong, FANTASTIC for casual play, but just keep it in mind. If it were built into the disc, totally illegal, if it were something you put on a disc, totally illegal but cheaper to make, sell, and it you used velcro you used use it on different discs.

the robotics is a really cool idea, but may be over the head/too expensive for a high schooler. I have some experience with robots (I'm an engineer myself) and they are not hard to program and operate if you have the time to learn, but buying one, learning it, and tweaking it may be outside of the financhal/time scope of the project.

Something else you could do that is along these lines is a more mechanical throwing system using springs and levers. I may be illegal for your project, but you could either adapt a clay pigeon thrower or use one to get parts and an idea of what you want to do. You could get as technical with this as you wanted. It could be as simple as a single thowing arm like a skeet shooter or as complex as a forearm/hard assembly that gives a little bend in the wrist to simulate snap and some sort of hand that could do different grips. You should leave the elbow alone (as in the attachment to the machine would be the elbow) as you would be focusing on the final aspect of the throw. You don't want to create a cyborg here. You could use this for annys/hyzers or nose up/down throws simply by attaching it to a platform that could have things (i.e. 2x4's or other such props) placed underneath different parts of it to create different angles and throwing planes for throwing arm.

Sorry this got so long, but this is kind of what I do and once I started writing ideas just kept popping up. Thought you might like some of these. I would be really interested if you did something DG related. Please keep us posted on your progress.

 

[billnchristy]

A locator device might be illegal for tourneys but who gives a rats... at a tourney you have a group of people who are supposedly required to help you...in real life you may be alone.

Besides that, if the technology was tested and moldable into discs without harm there would be a good chance that it could be legalized...you damn sure aren't going to get approval on a pipe dream but if you had an actual working product that could help find discs and NOT affect flight, then who could really oppose it?

 

[Dave242]

yah but ball golf is alot more main stream than disc golf. and robotics are very expensive...

I did not have a robotic system in mind. A thrower would be very easy to implement with just a spring-loaded arm. You pull the arm back and let go and BOOM the arm flies forward. When the arm hits a stop, the disc "rips" out and it is on its way.

The most difficult thing to design I imagine would be the "hand" - a gripper mechanism that would provide consistent release for different rim shapes.

If I had a welder (and probably a machine shop would be required to craft the gripper), I could probably make what I have in mind for <$100.

 

[billnchristy]

I agree with you on your machine idea Dave, I feel the same way.

A machine that could actually statistically show what discs do is a great idea and would elminate all the guesswork that has to happen now.

 

[Dave242]

the robotics is a really cool idea, but may be over the head/too expensive for a high schooler. I have some experience with robots (I'm an engineer myself) and they are not hard to program and operate if you have the time to learn, but buying one, learning it, and tweaking it may be outside of the financhal/time scope of the project.

Something else you could do that is along these lines is a more mechanical throwing system using springs and levers. I may be illegal for your project, but you could either adapt a clay pigeon thrower or use one to get parts and an idea of what you want to do. You could get as technical with this as you wanted. It could be as simple as a single thowing arm like a skeet shooter or as complex as a forearm/hard assembly that gives a little bend in the wrist to simulate snap and some sort of hand that could do different grips. You should leave the elbow alone (as in the attachment to the machine would be the elbow) as you would be focusing on the final aspect of the throw. You don't want to create a cyborg here. You could use this for annys/hyzers or nose up/down throws simply by attaching it to a platform that could have things (i.e. 2x4's or other such props) placed underneath different parts of it to create different angles and throwing planes for throwing arm.

shoulda read to end of the thread before posting......

We're on the same wave-length here, Skinner21

 

[kmrynders]

I was telling a newbie disc golfer about glow rounds and he said "wouldn't it be cool if the pin lit up in some way when there was a disc in it?" Not a terrible idea and wouldn't really take too much money to modify a pin, but the pin could be a bit pricey. I just really liked the idea...

 

[gfellerjm]

I love the disc that tell you the distance idea. That would be great in a round to, if you throw it strait it will tell you how far from the hole you are, with a little simple math.

 

[gfellerjm]

sounds like a fun class.

 

[skinner21]

A locator device might be illegal for tourneys but who gives a rats... at a tourney you have a group of people who are supposedly required to help you...in real life you may be alone.

Besides that, if the technology was tested and moldable into discs without harm there would be a good chance that it could be legalized...you damn sure aren't going to get approval on a pipe dream but if you had an actual working product that could help find discs and NOT affect flight, then who could really oppose it?

any disc that contains metal (might be termed non-plastic, I'm not sure) is illegal. There is a line of discs out there that contain LED lights for glow rounds, but they are illegal due to the foreign objects placed into the mold. I agree that this would be something that discers would buy, as evidenced by the interest shown on this thread, but I think the better way to go would be a less permanent devise so that you could use you own discs and the legality wouldn't matter because, like you said, in tournaments you have help/spotters. this devise could be used on all of your discs instead of having to use your one special disc on holes where you think you might lose your disc.

 

[billnchristy]

Couldn't you tape your cell phone to the disc and use the gps to figure out the distance.

Yes that was smart ass, but I imagine this technology is only going to get cheaper...I saw Ripleys had a Lo-jack bra on and the chick said it would only cost $50...considering a bra is usually 20-40 easy anyways you can see that the gps locator technology is cheep.

 

[billnchristy]

any disc that contains metal (might be termed non-plastic, I'm not sure) is illegal. There is a line of discs out there that contain LED lights for glow rounds, but they are illegal due to the foreign objects placed into the mold. I agree that this would be something that discers would buy, as evidenced by the interest shown on this thread, but I think the better way to go would be a less permanent devise so that you could use you own discs and the legality wouldn't matter because, like you said, in tournaments you have help/spotters. this devise could be used on all of your discs instead of having to use your one special disc on holes where you think you might lose your disc.

I understand this, but it is a rule because nobody has put a gps locator in a disc yet and proven its effectiveness AND non-flight altering characteristics. Rules are meant to be changed.

 

[skinner21]

I can't seem to access the PDGA Rulebook right now for some reason, but I believe they are very strict on this on this. It would be impossible for metal to be in a disc with it affecting the flight of the disc because of the different densities. If you could make all of the components out of plastic, it would legal, but also impossible.

There was a time when I was researching the manufacturing of discs because I had the idea of putting a very small ring of metal along the outside of the disc. The thought was that the added weight along the edges would create more torque about the axis, giving it more spin. I then discovered that this is illegal and why metal in discs is illegal.

 

[Dave242]

This is an interesting tidbit, and I realize this is not what you are talking about (illegal to put metal wires and other mechanical fixtures in a disc):

I could be wrong about this (can someone in-the-know confirm?), but in a lot of the high end plastics there IS metal (very small filings). It is used to get the density of the plastic up. I recall this coming up in a discussion about why these discs show up as metal when going through the airport x-rays.

 

[billnchristy]

I would think that this device would have to go in the rim and if there was a small hollowed out cavity that was filled with this device and you could make the device the same weight and density of the surrounding plastic then it would not affect anything.

I understand that they do not want metal (see stupid bikini razor disc movie) for safety reasons but a chip smaller than your fingernail with small battery would not present a danger nor any performance enhancement (except making tournaments run smoother).

On top of that, one could sell the device as a form of "live timing" in that all the locators could be active and you could actually see where each player was on the course at all times. It would bring more viability to the sport by providing a means of tracking "your favorite" player.

In fact, if done correctly it could become a requirement not just a good idea.

You cannot take these rules as set in stone because they are not, they are there to stop a crazy mfr. like quest from coming out with the Classic mega blaze titanium driver...not to stiffle innovation in a non flight related way.

 

[skinner21]

I agree, but the vibe I got from the PDGA was that they are unwilling to open that can of worms.

 

[MotoDj]

how bout a driving simulator like they got for ball golf?