Tracking Program

Lighting Challenges

The high speed camera would film the golf ball in different conditions. At different places and weather conditions, the situation would change. This would be important to understand when detecting the golf ball.

Indoors vs Outdoors

Since the preliminary footage used was indoor, the background was dark. When outdoor footage was tested, it was clear early on how bright the sky was. When the golf ball went into the sky, it could not be discerned as the golf ball is bright and the sky is brighter. The program needed to be changed to adapt to this.

Different Weather Conditions Outdoors

As more footage was collected, the lighting became an apparent problem. Since the lighting would change, shadows especially on sunny days created a problem with the identification software. As the golf ball was in motion, it would change in shadow.

Snow

Since this was done in the W21 term, it was difficult to get footage in the February-March time. There was snow and ice in Canada. It is worth noting, golf courses open in April time usually when the snow has already melted. It was important to get outdoor shots and test the Sony high speed camera which was collected in April 2021.

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