DESCRIPTION

Wearable device for monitoring the game of padel and method for analysing data related to the game of padel

The present invention relates to a wearable device for monitoring the game of padel and a method for analysing data related to the game of padel.

The present invention thus applies to the technical-sports field of the world of padel.

The game of padel has recently developed a great deal. Padel is played in teams made up of two players each, and every match is divided into three sets, with seven-point tie-breaks in the event of a 6-6 draw in the first two sets played.

Padel follows the rules of tennis; the player who receives the ball is positioned as occurs in tennis, i.e. on a diagonal with and on the opposite side of the player who serves the ball to start play. Before hitting the ball, it is necessary to wait for it to bounce just once on the floor. When in flight, the ball cannot touch either the metal part or the glass walls of the opponents’ side of the court. Every padel match lasts an hour and a half and involves four people.

Some problems presently tied to the game of padel are the following.

From the player’s viewpoint, one of the main needs of padel players consists in monitoring the score in a simple and intuitive manner, without making mistakes or raising doubts. At present, in fact, there do not exist any devices for automatically counting the points.

From the viewpoint of a padel centre operator, there are a series of management and monitoring requirements tied to maintenance and control:

- the turf must be replaced every 5,000-6,000 hours; - the lights on the court must be periodically replaced and it is necessary to monitor their consumption;

- it is necessary to manage a system for controlling access to the padel court;

- systems for capturing videos of a match, for example by means of a camera system, are useful; there exist video capture systems in some facilities, but real-time display during the match cannot be achieved.

The object of the present invention is thus to propose a wearable device for monitoring the game of padel and a method for analysing data related to the game of padel which overcome the problems of the prior art.

This and other objects are achieved with a wearable device for monitoring the game of padel whose main features are defined in claim 1 , and a method for analysing data related to the game of padel as defined in claim 3.

Particular embodiments form the subject matter of the dependent claims, whose content is to be understood as an integral part of the present description.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will emerge from the detailed description that follows, provided purely by way of nonlimiting example, with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a padel court in which at least one wearable device according to the present invention is present;

- Figure 2 shows a block diagram of the steps of a method for analysing data related to the game of padel according to the present invention; and

- Figure 3 shows an example of a display device.

In summary, the wearable device for monitoring the game of padel and the method for analysing data related to the game of padel according to the present invention have been developed with digital solutions from an industry 4.0 perspective, exploiting loT (Internet of Things) technologies and wearable technologies. Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a padel court 2 in which at least one wearable device 4 for monitoring the game of padel, adapted to be worn by a respective player 6 during a padel match, is present.

In Figure 1 , the wearable device 4 and the player 6 are shown outside the padel court 2 for the sake of clarity, but they must obviously be present inside said padel court 2.

Figure 1 further shows at least one reading device 8, such as for example an RFID reader, positioned along one of the four sides of the padel court 2.

The wearable device 4 comprises a wristband, preferably made of fabric or silicone, and a signal emitting device 4a.

Figure 2 shows a block diagram of the steps of a method for analysing data related to the game of padel according to the present invention.

In a first step 100, the player 6 wears the wearable device 4.

In a subsequent step 102 said player 6, upon each scoring of a point during a padel match, brings his or her wearable device 4 closer to the reading device 8.

At step 104 the reading device 8 acquires from the wearable device 4 a signal emitted by the signal emitting device 4a, representative of a score data item.

Step 102 of bringing the wearable device 4 closer to the reading device 8 enables a continuous and constant collection of the game points scored by the player 6. Advantageously, if four players are present, the game points of the players of the two teams are acquired, by repeating steps 100 - 104 indicated above.

In a step 106 the score data item is automatically displayed on a display device 10, such as, for example, a monitor present on the padel court 2. In particular, the signal acquired by the reading device 8 is sent to the display device 10, preferably via a wi-fi connection 12 from wi-fi repeaters 14 positioned around the padel court 2. In Figure 1 the display device 10 is shown enlarged relative to the padel court 2 for the sake of clarity.

Advantageously, a point can be removed as soon as it has been scored if there have been errors and/or challenges.

The wearable device 4, the reading device 8 and the display device 10 are adapted to be connected, preferably via the wi-fi connection 12, to a remote processing station 16 such as a data collection platform.

In a step 108, the score data item (signal), after having been displayed on the display device 10, is sent to the remote processing station 16.

The remote processing station 16 is adapted to process, in a step 110, said score data item together with a plurality of additional data representative of game parameters, acquired in a way that is known per se by means of sensors placed on the padel court 2 or pre-loaded into storage media of the remote processing station 16, such as, for example:

- the score of each team;

- the score of each player;

- the set number;

- the game;

- the golden point (killer point);

- the game advantages;

- the name of the player who is to make the next serve thereby obtaining a plurality of output data.

In a step 112 the output data are sent from the remote processing station 16 to the display device 10 for the display thereof.

Figure 3 shows two examples (3a and 3b) of a display device 10.

The output data are adapted to be used:

- by a player: to derive personal and performance statistics and rankings, and to create and customise a virtual identity based on user/player data;

- by an operator of a sports facility in which the padel court 2 is located: to manage the members thereof (players), and to manage an automatic booking system for the padel court 2 or managing maintenance operations on the padel court 2;

- by a sponsor: to manage advertising to be associated with the padel court 2.

The remote processing station 16 is advantageously a back-end management platform provided in the PaaS mode (plausible AWS, system that provides on-demand cloud computing services on a platform of the same name). The platform is preferably managed with different types of accounts according to the type of use:

- operator;

- platform (for example, booking/management platforms such as web applications intended for sports centres and designed above all for the booking of available facilities by members registered on the portal);

- sponsor;

- player (end user).

The storage media of the remote processing station 16 contain, in a way that is known per se, the players’ personal data with a logical data structure supported by a predefined database management system.

In an industry 4.0 perspective, the device and the method according to the present invention enable the implementation of an on-court data collection such as to achieve an industry 4.0-style sports system.

The wearable device 4 is preferably personal and associated with a name, in a way that is known per se, by means of an identification device fixed to the wearable device 4, a unique identifier ID.

Alternatively, the wearable device 4 is adapted to be configured in real time for occasional users by means of a configuration device fixed to the wearable device and not shown in Figure 1 .

The display device 10 is moreover set up to display, in real time, further game information and game statistics that are part of the output data, preferably including: - name of the participants/teams: provided by the remote processing station 16 or acquired by portable devices of the players such as smartphones or smart bands;

- court number, current date and time, ambient temperature;

- team, set or game scores;

- central clock with a countdown of a booking time preloaded into the remote processing station 16;

- game statistics (in real time, the data of each hit);

- advertising and promotional content (also exploiting user-player profiling);

- content and activities related to the playing court/ centre (in real time).

The remote processing station 16 allows user data to be collected according to the MES (Manufacturing Execution System) concept, today used in industry 4.0, for the collection of on-court data. The MES serves to gather all the information tied to the production cycle and to monitor production in real time (within an industry 4.0 framework).

The MES is a system that acquires and distributes information which enables the optimisation of activities using data in real time.

In the present invention, the data are collected in real time directly from the “production” items, i.e. the players on the court, as occurs in an industrial setting.

MES software is thus the component that enables communication between systems and provides complete visibility of what is taking place on the court.

The output data processed by the processing station 16 are adapted to be made usable to define openings of the centre where the padel court 2 is located or rendered monetizable through ADV campaigns, marketing activities, co-branding, etc.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the following components are used:

- display device 10: Smart TV 55775” (unbreakable version, IP67)

- remote processing station 16: Raspberry or PC; - switch (eight PoE ports): network device that handles switching at the datalink level (data connection); it is used on an loT basis to connect the on-court devices with the Internet world. In the present invention an industrial switch with eight ports (for example, PoE model) is advantageously used;

- wearable device 4: PoE RFID reader;

- Wi-fi repeater 14: WiFi 4G+ router;

- wi-fi connectivity backup system (not shown in the figure) or, in case of the lack of an internet connection:

- remote access;

- log repository: file in which events are recorded in chronological order and used to indicate:

• the sequential chronological recording of the operations carried out;

• the file or database in which such recorded data are stored.

- maintenance;

- data SIM (data bundle) enabled through a subscription or rechargeable SIM contract with a telephone operator, set up to provide a pre-established monthly amount of megabytes or gigabytes in order to be able to exchange data by downloading or uploading;

- mains wiring and power supply to the padel court 2 (preferably in ducts of the pre-existing metal structure).

Thanks to the wearable device for monitoring the game of padel and the method for analysing data related to the game of padel according to the present invention it is possible to cover numerous areas, including:

A. DIGITAL PLAYER IDENTITY AND PROFILING WITH GAME DATA COLLECTION;

B. PRESENCE DETECTION;

C. PLAYING COURT DATA COLLECTION; D. PROXIMITY MARKETING;

E. SMART COMMUNICATION;

F. DIGITAL PAYMENTS;

G. EQUIPMENT MONITORING;

H. INFORMATION AND MANAGEMENT OF COURT/CENTRE STATUS;

I. PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE SERVICE;

J. BOOKING OF SERVICES;

K. TAILORED ADVERTISING.

The device and the process according to the present invention allow the creation of a unique experience for the player (digital experience), without any wastes of time, thus generating a high degree of satisfaction in the customer/player.

Thanks to the present invention, back-end and front-end services are connected, improving the time to market of the business of: operators, platforms and sponsors. The progressive digitalisation of the world of padel will boost the business value of this sport, but the data must be integrated, standardised, shared and shareable to a maximum degree. To support data collection, the wearable device 4 uses coding systems such as one- and two-dimensional barcodes, RFID tags, etc., mobile technologies and systems that are part of the loT.

Naturally, without prejudice to the principle of the invention, the embodiments and details of implementation may vary greatly with respect to what has been described and illustrated herein purely by way of nonlimiting example without going outside the scope of protection of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.