Burngate wrote:I don't play pool, but I gather the balls are different colours, some with stripes, some with numbers. When one goes down a pocket, you want to identify which one.
But surely, under the table, it's dark - no light, so they're all black. Even with a light, detecting a stripe could be uncertain if it happens to be oriented in the wrong direction.
LED's could light the balls. Those colour sensors use RGB LEDs and a single photosensor. Ideal for use in dark places.
Of course the roll and the stripe and number rule out a single sensor (excluding some fancy manipulation of the ball.)
I think several sensors could sample enough points to get a signature, but one ball will have many signatures, depending on it's orientation on the track, hence the 'fancy software' requirement.
Burngate wrote:I wouldn't expect attaching an RFID tag to a ball to do wonders for it's rolling, even if it's buried inside.
That is certainly an issue, but it may not be out of the question. Those capsule tags they use for pets are very small and it might be feasible to maintain balance.
Burngate wrote:Would it be possible to have a camera looking at the table top, and see what's left? You should have plenty of time between shots.
Yes, that is definitely possible. There are
pool playing robots that use that technique. If there is some open source code to do that reliably that would be worth investigating. Implementing the ball ID yourself could be tricky.
Putting the camera inside to view balls on the track is also viable, and since the balls are rolling you get multiple views that will show the stripes etc. Not an easy vision task though.
Maybe there are some
good hits in here
