What you need to know
- YouTuber and engineer Shane Wighton built a basketball hoop that automatically adjusts to help shots go in.
- The system uses Windows and a Kinect camera, among other components.
- The system uses linear algebra to figure out how to maneuver the backboard.
You might not have a silky smooth jumper like Steph Curry, but there's hope for you and anyone else who wants to improve their shooting percentage. YouTuber and engineer Shane Wighton developed a basketball hoop that automatically adjusts to make shots go in. It uses a camera to detect the speed a trajectory of a ball and adjust the backboard to bounce the basketball through the hoop.
Wighton explained how the hoop works in a video on his "Stuff Made Here" channel. The system requires a large amount of calculations in a short amount of time. A shot on the hoop only takes about 600ms to reach the basket, so the system has to figure out how to move the backboard to make the shot go in. Wighton wrote the linear Algebra for the system to help it calculate its maneuvers. While it isn't perfect, it seems to work very well based on the video. Wighton does say that occasionally Windows is laggy and makes the system react too slow. So, you actually can miss the hoop, but it still drastically improves shot percentage.
The system can detect people's faces, movement, and the ball using sensors. Above the system is a Kinect camera. Previously known for working with the Xbox, the Kinect can now be used as a sensor camera. You can see the Kinect camera mounted above the hoop and Wighton explains its role within the video.
