1. Fig 2: System in action with athlete
ECE Computer Engineering Design Project
Curling Coach
Nicole Stodola, Gerry Finlay, and Chris Pederson
2013
Project Motivation
40+ years of curling experience between Nicole and Chris
Wanted to improve the current delivery verification method
Level shoulders is very important to the curling delivery
Project Overview
Video processing of a curling delivery
Provide a method of instant notification of misaligned shoulders
Ability to add in more target body parts for tracking
Video display with markings showing target positions and feedback
Project Design
Nikon Coolpix P5000 digital camera captures the video of the curler
Image is displayed onto the VGA monitor with red boxes marking the targets
Image processing module detects if there is a vertical deviation in the shoulder targets
If the deviation is above the 5 pixel threshold an alarm is triggered
The system alarm, a short audio clip, is played and green LEDs are turned on
Components
Altera DE2 FPGA board
Digital camera with NTSC video capability
VGA Monitor
Speakers
Testing
VHDL Testing
Test each module separately
Camera
Audio
Image Processing
Test benches for all VHDL
System Testing
Testing in the lab
Testing in a curling rink
Edge case considerations:
Different slides
Obscure targets
Group 15 would like to thank Dr. Duncan Elliott, Nancy Minderman, Michael Shoniker and Jessica Cao.
For colour ideas, University Visual Identity Guidelines can be found here:
Fig 2: System in action with athlete
Image Processing
Video frame is split into two sections for target detection
In each section the system scans from the top left for the greenest pixels
Once the pixels are detected it draws a red box on the video as shown in Figure 2
The system tracks X and Y coordinates of the targets with red boxes and monitors the Y value for a predefined deviation in vertical position
Once a deviation in the targets has been detected, trigger the alarm condition
Fig 1: Athlete sliding out
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering