ninth_at_nine

Thanks for the feedback! Its been a popular question so far (about bringing your own PC / Projector) so I can definitely elaborate here and let everyone know how I'm thinking about this. From the start of the design, I wanted to make the Chip Caddie as much as a console like experience as possible, where setup consists primarily of positioning the components, and turning it on. For the launch bundle, I wanted to stay clear of having users install software onto various hardware as nailing down bugs becomes a question of, "is this issue our software, or this specific piece of hardware?" Now, having said that - I think there's absolutely a world where Chip Caddie can support a bring your own PC and bring your own projector model. I've jotted down some thoughts specific to each of these below. 1) Bring your own Projector - If you notice from our videos, Chip Caddie is a vertically oriented projection (we flip the projector 90 degrees). Being made for tight spaces, this allows us to make the most efficient use of the small amount of required space. There are not really any off the shelf floor mounts for projectors that accommodate flipping projectors vertically. This exact problem is what led us to design own our Chip Caddie projector mount and PC tray, which also had the added benefit of being able to design it with a ball holder and slots for the controllers. The other complication is that if a user wanted to use their own projector, it would need to have a throw ratio that falls into the correct range that would allow the image to fill the screen while at the same time not interfering with the shot. I do think you would be able to find a position that would work on most home projectors, but it would require some thought by the end user. In contrast, the bundle we offer allows the PC + Camera + Projector to all to be positioned together in roughly the same area on the floor. 2) Bring your own PC - Our simulation and ball tracking software currently runs on Linux. We have tested this on both Mac and Windows, and we do have prototypes running on these operating systems. Windows shows a bit lower performance while compared to the builds on Linux and Mac. I believe we can get this software running on all 3 OS's sufficiently well to one day allow a user to supply there own computer. However, as I said above, setup would require users doing quite a bit more leg-work on their own to install our software and make sure its running and integrated well with the rest of the system. Be eliminating 1+2 and making sure the install is still seamless enough to support from a customer service perspective, I do think we could offer something incredibly compelling price wise. I'm thinking about both of these options into next year, but right now were mostly focused on making the bundle the best product it can be.

The red balls (both real and foam balls) do two main things: 1. ensure consistent tracking under vastly different lighting conditions (living room, basement, etc. Less misreads, and more accuracy. 2. allow us to do the above on a modestly priced camera and lower end cpu for processing. Being able to use these will help us be more competitive on price as we scale. To be clear, the price includes all system components (Chip Caddie is the full system, not just a launch monitor). Chip Caddie is very accurate with regards to distance and trajectory of ball flight. Chip Caddie is the first launch monitor to my knowledge that tracks ball strike to ball impact position on the screen. Generally, other camera based systems are measuring the ball flight within a 2 foot box from the strike location. What this means is that the user will see their shot pop right out at the spot they were aiming to on the screen. An advantage of only focusing on smaller distances has allowed us to really fine tune the bounces and rollouts of the ball (think roll out of a pitching wedge versus a higher lofted club). In my opinion shot trajectory, aim, and rollouts for chipping is our competitive advantage right now.

Hey all - I’m Tim, wanted to introduce myself as inventor of this product. I wanted to make myself available for any technical questions about Chip Caddie. I’m a hardware and software engineer and this has been my passion project for some time. I started building Chip Caddie with the idea of bringing a legitimate chipping and putting practice area into any home - something that didn’t require much space and would fit in the majority of homes and apartments. The above info about spin is correct - Chip Caddie is a one camera system and currently estimates spin from the launch angle of the ball. I’m working hard to get pricing down - I’m hoping to be able to start placing larger orders for components and this should help a lot here. Great to meet you all!