Wireless MEMS inertial sensor system for golf swing dynamics

The emergence of accurate MEMS inertial sensors motivates the design of miniature inertial measurement units (IMU) for applications well outside the field of inertial navigation. One promising application concerns novel sports training systems with inertial sensors embedded directly in sports equipment. This paper describes the theory, design, and evaluation of a miniature, wireless IMU that precisely measures the dynamics of a golf club used in putting. The design consists of a complete six degree-of-freedom IMU composed of MEMS accelerometers and angular rate gyros with an integrated microprocessor and RF transceiver. The resulting sensor system has negligible mass (25 g relative to 490 g for the putter) and is a mere 13 mm in diameter allowing it to fit wholly within the shaft of the club at the grip end. The measurement theory enables the computation of the position, velocity, and orientation of the club head at the opposite end of the shaft during the entire putting stroke. Experiments reveal that the three-dimensional position and orientation of the club head can be resolved to within 3 mm and 0.5°, respectively. These achievements yield a highly accurate, portable, and inexpensive sensor system to support golf swing training, custom club fitting, and club design.