Description
The implementation of the radar gun to measure baseball speed has created a profusion of awe and interest in and around the game of baseball. Thus far, the advent of the radar gun has been in use in major league ballparks around the nation to measure the speed, or linear velocity, of a baseball as released from a pitcher’s hand. Whereas the differences between the transmitted frequency of a signal and the return frequency determine the linear velocity, it is proposed that the addition of reflectors on the baseball will help determine the spin rate, or angular velocity, of the baseball. Through the use of a baseball pitching machine, a baseball with aluminum foil reflectors, a radar gun (The Stalker ATS), a data acquisition system (LabVIEW), and a simulation program (MATLAB), baseball spin will be considered.
Researchers
Albert Jordan and Garrett Toy