SkyTrack - Full Metal Jacket protection shield

[awisnia]

Finally had a chance to finish a prototype of my SkyTrak protection. (I had my last unit take a ball to the IR lens while IN the protective case from SkyTrak - it didn't work again.)

Being lucky enough to own a business with a good bit of sheet metal equipment, and finally the time. (having a party this weekend and need to protect my unit!) The leveling feet need a bit wider spacing, and I need to test that the unit still reads shots. I went with a minimum of openings to try to keep balls from sneaking through the front. I popped off the IR lens so that it's easy to see the parts that need to "see" - I'll obviously be putting it on before testing. Still unsure if I'll screw the unit to the base and leave an air gap, or use foam on 5 sides to isolate the SkyTrak from the steel.

I added a lip in the front so I can drop an alignment rod in for a visual reference.

Holes on bottom need adjustment, and maybe slotting to allow the SkyTrak to be adjusted to the base for alignment.

Interested in comments!

[awisnia]

Hi guys greetings from Burlington Vermont. The feedback is really appreciate it, I'm concerned about the off center issue in the hole pattern. I'll be back in the office on Tuesday and will dig into it. The pattern on the skytrack is indeed off centered , perhaps it was overlooked or the base part was bent up instead of down in the hurry to get them out before the new year.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[TorchRedRob]

Hi guys greetings from Burlington Vermont. The feedback is really appreciate it, I'm concerned about the off center issue in the hole pattern. I'll be back in the office on Tuesday and will dig into it. The pattern on the skytrack is indeed off centered , perhaps it was overlooked or the base part was bent up instead of down in the hurry to get them out before the new year.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

After further investigation:

1) You got the bend the right way. You can't even bolt the ST on from the other side, because the 2 outermost holes on the bottom of the ST are asymmetric.

2) The 4 holes on the bottom of the ST unit: the center 2 holes are lined up perfectly with the center of the laser aperture area on the ST box. (A plane would cut through the two holes and the center of the laser pointers.)

3) The hole pattern on your base plate appears to be shifted about 5/32 to 3/16 from the centerline of the plate (to the right), as compared to the back leveling foot location

4) The top shield was welded right in the middle (on ctr line) of the baseplate, so no issue there.

My input based on my particular Skytrak and my particular FMJ case:
If the hole pattern were centered on the baseplate, then the skytrak would be right where it needed to be in the FMJ window cutouts. More correctly, I guess I should say the center two holes on the bottom of the ST should be centered perfectly within the FMJ upright shield to make it line up.

I'll probably slot the holes over to the left on mine.

Is this what everyone else is seeing?

[Ken Robie]

So we should be able to open the slot with my Dremel tool and fix it then?

[TorchRedRob]

Yes. I would take a steel rule and scribe some guide lines first though. Also, you'll need some washers for the 2 adjustment slots (or else don't use them). Another option would be to line the sides with foam or weatherstripping and center the ST with an interference fit, not using any screws at all.

[awisnia]

Thanks for the detailed feedback - just got back from skiing, went straight to the basement to check out my skytrack. Indeed, the hole pattern is slightly off center. Mine reads everything fine, the initial prototype had issues with the hole pattern itself, so when all four screws fit - and it was reading shots for me perfectly - I didn't notice the offset. It's interesting that for some it's causing balls to read, but track way off center. I was wondering if all four screws were really overkill, but tossed them all in there for people to play with. Opening up the large hole, and the small one just next to it should give enough tolerance to move it over - for a field fix.

[acn684]

Hi guys greetings from Burlington Vermont. The feedback is really appreciate it, I'm concerned about the off center issue in the hole pattern. I'll be back in the office on Tuesday and will dig into it. The pattern on the skytrack is indeed off centered , perhaps it was overlooked or the base part was bent up instead of down in the hurry to get them out before the new year.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

I think i see where the issue is. The center hole screw and the center of the laser measures 2 7/8" from the left edge of the skytrak when looking straight at it.

On your case the laser cut out is measure 2 7/8" from the left which is correct. But thr center screw hole is measured 2 7/8" from the right. This is causing it to not align correctly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[acn684]

Awsina, This is head on when you screw in the unit. Just fyi.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[awisnia]

Yeah - you got it. were you getting mis-reads or no reads with it screwed down?

[acn684]

Awisnia, I was getting mixed readings with it screwed in. Like the other poster, i think shots that start left looked fine but the shots that started maybe 3-4 degrees right of center ended up going 30-40 degrees right. Noticed this happens more on half swings. chips and pitches had the most issues with misreads as compared to a full swing - perhaps the launch angle and its off-centeredness causes misreads? I've also noticed that with the case, sometimes a topped shot doesn't register as well but this happened maybe once or twice. Those don't bother me though since skytrak isn't good on its own when dealing with poorly struck shots anyway.

What I ended up doing was centering the case using the midpoint of the lasers and the midpoint of the cutout without screws, then taking a few playing cards and taped them to the sides and front of the case. I don't think I had any misreads this way. In fact, I think I almost prefer it this way since I don't like the idea of needing to unbolt the entire unit to get it out of the case and then worrying about aligning it again since you designed it to have adjustments for those units with potentially mis-aligned sensors.

I might try to redo this with foam but I'm not entirely convinced I'll get able to get the same amount of precision compared to using playing cards.

[awisnia]

Awsina, This is head on when you screw in the unit. Just fyi.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah..pretty obvious the pattern is off where it should be..unless for some reason there are different skytracks out there. Bit embarrassing, but will blame it in the excited rush

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[acn684]

In the meanwhile. What ive done was to grab a deck of playing cards and just packed in the sides of the case with a few playing cards so the skytrak "squeezes in" center without using any bottom screws. Kinda nice too since i can just pull out the skytrak whenever i need and put it back in alignment instantly without messing with screws.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GungHoGolf]

Just got my FMJ, have same problem with misaligned holes and wildly mistracked shots when unit is screwed in. These were mostly 50 yard push slices on what I know was a pured shot down the middle, like this one:



Will try the playing cards method mentioned above to fix it in place, or may try to re-drill the holes. Here is where the holes are when unit is flat against the front and centered:



Otherwise very impressed with build quality, and the groove for the alignment stick is genius and very helpful.

[awisnia]

Great feedback - indeed - the pattern got slightly displaced. I won't be back at my plant until Tuesday, but obviously, opening up the big hole and the one below it will give enough wiggle to center the sytrack better. Mine reads fine with the offset - probably why I didn't notice it.

[awisnia]

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the operation of the Skytrack itself...I had assumed that failed reads occur when the unit does not trigger (no-capture) or when the app does not like what was captured by the cameras (no-read).

I'm trying to grasp how "strange" reads occur - and how a case might interfere with the process in such a way that ball fight is traced inaccurately. I always envisioned a binary failure (i.e. no-read) not "too much draw" or "no spin".

I know that the ball reflects the trigger line laser back into the sensor and then ST fires the IR flash to take, I assume, two photos of the ball in flight. These photos are then passed to the app for analysis where changes in the position of features on the ball are used to extrapolate ball flight. I've always thought that the size of the ball or something would be needed to determine azimuth (i.e. did the ball get closer to the camera?)

So, if there's interference from the shield that distorts an image, why does the app just not fail? I guess I'm trying to imagine the photo and what could be "wrong" with it to fool the app into thinking there was a slice.

There's always a degree of "I hit it better than that" in all of us...but trying to understand what's going on here. It was a much easier problem when it was a read/no-read issue.

Thoughts??

[awisnia]

SwedishGuy this is right up your alley - any theories how obstructions in front of the cameras or IR flash could cause a "strange" ball flight??

[bongta029]

I received mine yesterday and I got a few miss reads with solid 3 wood and hybrid shots. I want to try putting some padding around it before I drill a bigger hole but this does feel more protective than $129 I spent for skytrak case.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[erikh5014]

Just get some 2mm foam from amazon and glue it in to center the unit. Thats what I used on my diy case.

[acn684]

Just got my FMJ, have same problem with misaligned holes and wildly mistracked shots when unit is screwed in. These were mostly 50 yard push slices on what I know was a pured shot down the middle, like this one:



Will try the playing cards method mentioned above to fix it in place, or may try to re-drill the holes. Here is where the holes are when unit is flat against the front and centered:



Otherwise very impressed with build quality, and the groove for the alignment stick is genius and very helpful.

I dont think you want it flush on the front. I used about 3 giftcards to stack the front and create a "cushioning" and it worked perfectly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jtangm04]

Overall love the case. Skytrak still picked up all my hits. Look a lot more professional than my lexan shield. Wasn't planning on screwing in the skytrak to reduce any shock transfer so the misaligned holes weren't a big deal. Will add some adhesive furniture felt pads on the inner part tomorrow and probably a velcro strap on the back to prevent the skytrak from falling out from a bad shank.

[Fawley]

Mine has the same alignment issue that everyone else is reporting. I wound up not using the center holes, and just used the two outside holes to try to center the unit and align it parallel to the front of the FMJ as best as the hole pattern would allow.

The Skytrak is still clearly offset to the right (when looking at the unit front on), but it seems to be reading just fine. I've hit maybe 100 balls since putting the Skytrak in the FMJ, and had zero misreads, and the ball flight has been as expected for the swings I made.

If I have any problems, I'm planning just to slot the holes a little to move the unit across towards the center of the FMJ. So far, so good though, and no modifications are needed.

[awisnia]

BETA testing updates

1. Determined that the issue with the hole location came from the the original 3D model of the Skytrack that we then used to build the shield around. By the time we had built the prototypes, the cover had been snapped back on our Skytrack and we just didn't notice the offset (0.113 for you engineers out there.) I was reading all shots and played two rounds and had a party with no issues. Other than that it was actually a gorgeous model! (below) You should have received an eBay message with option for you if you are having issues with the screw holes. Most people are doing fine as-is, actually preferring Velcro or the like.

2. Plan on removing the ability to adjust the angle that the unit sits in the case unless somebody can be compelling about its need. There will be two screws - the large one, and the small on right behind it - with no arch to adjust.

3. Need more feedback on results - I assumed it would be a binary issue read, or no read. The data points that suggest strange ball flight because of the case are concerning and I'm trying to grasp how that could occur given limited understanding of the app.

Does anyone have theories here??

4. Should be making another batch later in the week if I can understand the strange reads that some are seeing.

[FaultyClubs]

Also backscatter from the flash progressively degrades the image. With the air gap and if the skytrak is angled this could cause a problem with degraded readings too. Something I would spend some time checking anyway.

[awisnia]

FaultyClubs - Indeed - very concerned about the flash bouncing back off of the case and "blinding" or otherwise effecting the image capture. It's the reasoning behind the textured low gloss black powder coating. But you are correct - the gap and angle will likely increase the bounce. I've abandoned the adjustment and gone with a fixed 0.100 gap. I actually got some IRT plastic and did some quick tests but too much IR reflected - didn't get as far as light gasket around the camera lenses, but that cold possibly work, too - eliminating the need for cutouts. Just a simple 12x8 piece of IRT lexan with something to locate the Skytrak and gasket the cameras. There's a reason that the cameras are pressed right up against the lens.

[Jtangm04]

So playing Tcg I did have a few hits where I thought I had a great swing but skytrak showed a less desirable ball flight. Now I am a pretty bad golfer so I am not at that level of second guessing the skytrak. However I am wondering if removing the 2 center grills would be worth improving the accuracy of the skytrak.

Awisnia have you tried tinkering with this on any of your beta versions?

[erikh5014]

I read somewhere on here where SkyTrak_Seth said that the lasers may not be perfect to align with properly. I believe he said always square the unit with the mat. I have seen lots of people comment on needing to face the the unit to the right or left to get the lasers to align.

I just screwed a board to the stand and level with the mat and push it tight to the mat. I wonder if people just arent getting aligned correctly. The only time i notice a crazy push or pull is usually just the occasional chip shot.

[awisnia]

erikh5014 Some people are certain that the unit itself is not aligned and suggested that an adjustment would be helpful. I think I'll leave it a DIY thing and they can leave the back screw out and tighten it wherever they like.

[erikh5014]

I wish I could find the thread where skytrak directly quoted that the lasers are just a reference point and there is a chance they may not be perfect. I think aligning the unit is the best bet. I know when i align my lasers my unit is pointed to the right and ever shot that hits center of my screen will show a pull. I agree with you let them decide. Maybe just widen the screw holes so the unit can be swiviled and just use a lock washer to keep it from sliding.

[erikh5014]

I'm not sure how thick your sheild is but definetly the closer to the front the unit sits the bigger the image should be for the cameras. I would just get some 2mm foam from amazon for a few bucks and glue it in just enough padding so when a ball hits the sheild there isnt metal to skytrak contact. This is great awisnia that you not only designed this but are offering to build and sell to other people who may not have the access to equipment or knowledge that you do. Two thumbs up for you. You will probably save a lot of peoples units and money for repairs by taking the time do all this.

[Sledge0001]

So I played 9 holes tonight with the 3 smaller screws in and had several odd shots and several missed shots were my results. I then removed the screws, placed it right against the front plate with no screws and played another 9 and it was perfect. No misreads and shot shaping was just like with the plastic protective case. Just need to sort those screw holes out and you have an incredible product.

I am all for the fixed option as Seth from Skytrak has mentioned to use the unit not the alignement lasers.

[awisnia]

Sledge0001 -- appreciate the feedback!

[Greasegun]

If your going to make another run of these I would be interested awisnia. Just ordered a ST yesterday.