Glossary
This glossary defines technical terms used throughout the PiTrac documentation. All definitions are based on explanations found within the existing documentation.
A
- ActiveMQ
- Open source multi-protocol messaging platform used by PiTrac for inter-process communication. Provides message brokering, routing, subscriptions, and tracking between PiTrac components.
- Auto-calibration
- PiTrac feature that automatically determines focal length and camera angles empirically using a physical calibration rig with golf balls at known positions.
B
- Ball Speed
- One of the three primary measurements provided by PiTrac - the velocity of the golf ball as measured by the launch monitor system.
C
- Camera Calibration
- Process of determining camera angles, focal lengths, and distortion correction matrices needed for PiTrac to accurately locate balls in 3D space.
- Calibration Rig
- Physical device that positions golf balls at known, fixed distances and angles from PiTrac cameras for the auto-calibration process.
D
- De-distortion
- Process of correcting fish-eye-like lens distortions using matrices calculated during camera calibration. Particularly evident around image edges.
- Distortion Matrix
- Mathematical matrices used by PiTrac to correct lens distortions in camera images during calibration and operation.
E
- E6/TruGolf
- Golf simulator software that PiTrac can interface with. Uses port 2483 for communication.
- Extrinsic Calibration
- Camera calibration process that determines camera position and orientation in 3D space relative to the scene.
F
- Flight Camera
- Camera 2 in the PiTrac system - points straight ahead to capture the ball in flight after being hit.
- Focal Length
- Camera parameter that determines the field of view and magnification. Calculated during camera calibration process.
G
- Global Shutter Camera
- Type of camera sensor that captures the entire image simultaneously, avoiding rolling shutter artifacts. Required for PiTrac’s high-speed ball tracking.
- GsPro
- Golf simulator software that PiTrac can interface with for golf course simulation.
H
- Hough Transform
- OpenCV algorithm used by PiTrac for circle detection in strobed ball images. Can be sensitive and may require tuning for reliable operation.
- HSA (Horizontal Side Angle)
- One of the launch angle measurements provided by PiTrac, indicating the ball’s horizontal trajectory direction.
I
- Intrinsic Calibration
- Camera calibration process that determines internal camera parameters like focal length and lens distortion characteristics.
L
- Launch Angle
- Ball trajectory angle measurements provided by PiTrac, including both vertical and horizontal components.
- libcamera
- Open-source camera stack and framework used by PiTrac for camera control on Raspberry Pi systems.
M
- MsgPack
- Platform-independent message serialization standard used by PiTrac’s Open Interface for encoding data payloads.
O
- OpenCV
- Computer vision library used by PiTrac for image processing, including circle detection via Hough transforms.
- Open Interface (POI)
- PiTrac’s messaging interface built on ActiveMQ and MsgPack that allows third-party applications to communicate with the launch monitor.
S
- Spin Rate
- Measurement of golf ball rotation in three axes provided by PiTrac’s analysis system.
- Strobe Light
- Infrared LED lighting system that provides short, high-intensity pulses to illuminate the golf ball for high-speed imaging.
- Strobed Image
- Photograph taken during strobe light pulse showing multiple ball positions for motion analysis.
T
- Tee Camera
- Camera 1 in the PiTrac system - angled to watch for the initial ball hit and teed-up ball position.
- TomEE
- Apache TomEE application server used by PiTrac for web interface hosting on port 8080.
V
- VSA (Vertical Side Angle)
- One of the launch angle measurements provided by PiTrac, indicating the ball’s vertical trajectory angle.
All terms and definitions in this glossary are derived from explanations found within the existing PiTrac documentation.