Ball in hand detection

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) Hardware Interfacing
1

There are various players in a field which play a ball to each other by hand (like in basketball). I want to be able to track which person is holding the ball.

I do not want to use gloves because they limit the play. A wristband or and other type of clothing with the integrated sensor is not a problem.

I was wondering if this sensor:

can be placed on the wristband, aimed up, and track the color a little bit in front of the hand. If the color corresponds to the ball color it is a match. My question is, would I need to re-calibrate the sensor over and over again according to different light settings? Or can a create a large enough range so that it will always work but other things (like the hand) do not interfere?

Maybe you have any other suggestions to track if the ball is in the hand?

Thanks..

2

It sounds to me like it would not work. Those sensors generate their own light but range would be difficult.

How about putting an RFID reader in the ball and using that to track what player is close to it?

3

Thanks for the reply. I hoped to keep my hands off the ball but I already doubted whether that was possible. Anyway, if I decide to use the ball in the system, do you have any idea how I can integrate the RFID (in this case the RFID tag might be better off in the ball since it is smaller)? It is partially an electronics, partially a mechanical question, I am aware of that. Are there any tags really small so I can mount them in a way on the inner ball? I do not want to effect the way the ball behaves off course.