Claims:WE CLAIMS
1. A System and method for an automatic carrom coin collection and scoring unit comprising of
a. Automatic carrom coin collection unit;
b. Automatic carrom scoring unit with sequential logic
2. A System and method for an automatic carrom coin collection and scoring unit according to claim 1, wherein the automatic carrom coin collection unit comprises of a coin travel duct (201) & (202), a destination vent (203) and a coin collection box (204).
3. A System and method for an automatic carrom coin collection and scoring unit according to claim 2, wherein coin travel duct (201) is a semi enclosed tapered structure over entire length of the duct and it covers all the four holes of the carom board; The tapering of coin travel duct is gradually increased from its origin point to the destination vent in order to quick and smooth collection of coins from the all four holes of carom board when the coins are packed; also the corner of the coin travel duct (201) is smoothly bended and tapered in order to avoid the blockage of the coin.
4. A System and method for an automatic carrom coin collection and scoring unit according to claim 2, wherein the destination vent (203) is a cylindrical shape which connects the plurality of coin travel duct (201) originated from carom board coin collecting holes and coin collection box (204); Also it provides the facility of housing the object identification unit (401) and also it avoids the possibility of entering the player’s hand/fingers so as to avoid the malfunction of coin identification unit;
Further the object identification unit (401) is made of artificial intelligence system which is capable of identify the color and size of carom coins and striker which is used in the carom game; each and every game the number of players, striker and all the carom coins used in the game need to be trained using object identification unit (401) before start of game.
5. A System and method for an automatic carrom coin collection and scoring unit according to claim 2, wherein the coin collection box (204) is a polygonal shape and is attached at the end of the destination vent (203) and its size is capable of accommodating at least all the coins along with the striker. The bottom of the coin collection box is made inverted V shape to finely distribute the coins over the collection box so that to avoids the vertical placement of coins. An uplifted semi closed projected part is fixed with the bottom of the collection box to prevent the coin/s exit from the collection box due to force settlement of the coins in it while packing.
6. A System and method for an automatic carrom coin collection and scoring unit according to claim 1, wherein the automatic carrom scoring unit comprises of a Start/Stop switch (301), object identification unit (401), score display unit (601) and an indication lamps (701).
7. The coin identification unit according to claim 6, wherein it comprises of coin counter and sensor/camera. Coin counter counts the number of coins and the sensor/camera sensing the colour of the coins perfectly. Coin identification unit also used as calibration unit. Carrommen such as white coins, black coins, red coin and striker are dropped in the coin identification unit one by one and the controller is trained perfectly for identify the coins at the time of match start.

8. An indication lamps according to claim 6, wherein one indication lamp is fixed at of the carom board. The indication lamps are able to glow in both red and green colour. Green colour indicates the currently playing player. At any instant, indication lamp at any one side of the carrom board glows in green colour and rest of the others are glowing in red colour. Hence it ensures, at any instant, any one player is playing.
9. Automatic carrom scoring unit with sequential logic according to claim 1, wherein the automatic scoring methodology is created through the sequential logic which is upload in the control unit. This sequential logic ensures the automatic score counting and display the score and it also indicate the players to be play at their turn once it gets the information on number players and by pressing the game start switch.

10. Game Start/Stop switch according to claim 1, wherein game Start/Stop switch is a portable one and that can be hold by the umpire or it may be fixed with the score display unit. Score display unit is a human machine interface type of display through which information can be given and the score can be displayed.
, Description:FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The field of this invention relates to electronics, mechanical and more particularly in the development of an automatic carrom coin collection and scoring.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the development of an automatic carrom scoring and a smart coin collection unit. One amongst the popular tabletop indoor games is carom which is believed that originated from India and spreading over other nations. This game is playing about two hundred years. The Carrom is an ancient game, it still continued into the modern world and many numbers of carom tournaments/matches from local body to international level are being conducted in the various parts of the world throughout a year. A meticulous way of playing is important as far as carom concern and it requires high concentration and an excellent accuracy. It is the most favorite game amongst the people of all ages including from children to senior citizens who mostly spend their leisure time. Carom board has a four holes at its each corner and holes are covered with net to hold the packed coins. Packing of coins is the main tasks carried out in this game. The packed coins are dropped in to the net and halt at the net. Each net have the capability of carrying minimum of coins and hence most of the time the coins shall be taken back from the net to make it free so as the coins can be packed in the subsequent hits. This procedure of emptying the nets in many times during playing, disturbing the players and leads to lose their concentration. Also, there might be chance of carrom board vibration and it results in distortion/misalignment of coin therefore the entire match will be collapsed. Another issue in the carom match is scoring the points while packing the coins. While playing the game players needs to memorize the score and/or somebody else i.e., umpire wants to deal the score each and every time. This may causes an inaccurate counting of scores of each players and the audience may also get confused. Even though the carrom is a recognized and popular worldwide game and it is being played at various competitive level in an organized manner, modernization has not been implemented in the carom tournaments/ matches especially in coin collection method and automatic scoring system like other games.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

1. To avoid the carom board vibration so that mitigating the problems of distortion/misalignment of coin during the match.
2. To eliminate the unnecessary time consumption while retrieve the coins from the carom board holes.
3. To provide solution for the inaccurate counting of scores due to manual counting.
4. To modernizing the carrom match and make it as player friendly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The problem mentioned in the back ground can be solved by developing an automatic carrom scoring and a smart coin collection unit.
The aim of the invention is to develop an automatic carrom scoring and a smart coin collection unit which is suitable to carrom match and incorporated with an advanced features. The smart coin collection unit is attached with the carom board which is placed at the bottom of the carom board. The coin collection unit contains coin travel pathway, destination vent and collection box. Coin travel pathway is made such a way that covers all the four holes of the carom board and it is fixed at the legs of the frame. Some angle of downslope is maintained from the origin to the end of the coin collection unit due to which coins packed in any four holes of the carrom board will be smoothly and quickly reach the collection box. A half rounded shape is provided for coin travel pathway and the destination vent is in cylindrical shape. The cylindrical shape of the destination vent doesn’t allow the players or others to enter their hand or their fingers so as to eliminate the malfunction of the coin identification unit. Due to the shape of the destination vent, the coins are dropped one by one through it. It helps to perfectly count the coins and identify the colour of each coins by the coin identification unit. At the end of destination vent, collection box is attached and its size is capable of accommodating all the coins and striker. There might be chance of falling the coins one above the another in the coin collection box and it may leads to affect the function of the coin identification unit. This issue is sort out by providing the inverted V shape to the bottom of the collection box. It also used to finely distribute the coins over the collection box. The coin collection box is made open to easily take the coins back once the match completed. While packing the coins, it reaches the collection box with some force and due to which it may throw out from the coin collection box. This problem is rectified through an uplifted semi closed projected part which is fixed at the bottom of the collection box.
An automatic carrom scoring unit comprises of a game Start/Stop switch, coin identification unit, control unit, score display unit and an indication lamps. Game Start/Stop switch is a portable device and that can be hold by the umpire or may be fixed in the score display unit. Score display unit is a human machine interface (HMI) type of display through which information such as number of players, players position and etc., can be feed and the score also will be displayed. Score display unit has the provision of interfacing computer with it to import the data in it. The score display unit is fixed at the stand so that it can be placed where it is required. An indication lamp is fixed in the right/ left corner of each side in the carom board. Hence, 4 indication lamps were used. The indication lamps are able to glow in both red and green colour. These lamps are used to indicate the player who is currently playing and who are not playing. The green colour indicates the player who is currently playing and the players those are not having their turn indicated by red colour. At an instant, indication lamp at any one side of the carrom board glows in green colour. When any one of the indication lamp turned to green colour then rest of the three indication lamps are turned to red colour. Hence it ensures, at any instant, any one player is playing. The coin identification unit is fixed with the destination vent and it is comprises of coin counter and sensor/camera. Coin counter is used to counts the number of coins and the sensor/camera sensing the colour of the coins. To identify the coins by the coin identification unit perfectly, it is trained to sense the each coins including striker properly. It has been done by dropping the sample coins i.e., white coin, black coin, red coin and striker one by one in the coin identification unit and each colour is assigned to the sensor/camera through score display unit (HMI). It helps for the flawless colour identification of carrom men and striker which are really used in the match.
During the starting of match, the number of players (consider as the variable “x”) are entered through the score display unit or computer. The players’ names and their corresponding position (Say 1,2,3 & 4) are also entered in the score display unit. “x” is the total maximum numbers of players and the variable “i” is the player number. The range of i will be from 2 to x. The match is initiated by pressing the game start switch or through score display unit by the umpire. While game start switch is ON, the coin identification unit is enabled and ready for counting and sensing the coins. Now, the indication lamp fixed at the position i (initially, i=1) of the carrom board glows and the player 1 will hit the coins. Now, there are two possibilities i.e., coin/s may packed or may not. If the coin/s packed at any four holes, it will be reached to the coin collection box through destination vent. The coin identification unit which is fixed at the destination vent is easily and perfectly identify the number of coins and type of coins including striker since this unit has been trained already. The coin identification unit sense and sends the signals to the control unit. Control unit calculate the score for the corresponding player as per the logic uploaded into that and the control unit communicated to the score display unit for an automatic display. The indication lamp 1 is again glow and offer the chance for stroke to the same player (player 1) to continue his/her turn and the is sequence repeating. If no coin/s is/are not packed then the 2nd indication lamp glows and the corresponding 2nd player will get the stroke chance and this cycle is repeated. Once all the four players are completed their turn and no coins packed by the 4th player then the logic checked the condition as whether the number of player exceeding the maximum number of players in the match. Then the stroke chance is given to the 1st player again and this cycle is repeated. Hence through this automatic carrom scoring and a smart coin collection unit the coins are collected in a smart way and the score is calculated and displayed automatically.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features of the invention are described through drawings from Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 in which,

The FIG 1 shows a complete view of an automatic carrom coin collection unit and scoring display.
FIG 2 represents the 3D view of the automatic coin collection unit which comprises of coin travel pathway, destination vent and collection box.
FIG 3 represents the 3D view of the object identification unit comprises of coin counter and sensor/camera.
FIG 4 represents the 3D view of the coin collection unit along with the control unit and the control unit is attached with the backside of the coin travel pathway.
FIG 5 shows the sequential logic for automatic scoring methodology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The FIG 1 shows a complete view of a system, device and a method for an automatic carrom scoring and a smart coin collection unit. The carom board (101) is attached with smart coin collection unit (201) and it is connected at the bottom side of the carom board as shown. An automatic carrom scoring unit comprises of a game Start/Stop switch (301), Object identification unit (401), control unit, score display unit (601) and an indication lamps (701). Game Start/Stop switch (301) is a portable one and that can be hold by the umpire or it may be fixed with the score display unit. Score display unit (601) is a human machine interface (HMI) type of display through which information can be feed and the score will be displayed as well. An indication lamp (701) is fixed in the right/ left corner of each side in the carom board. Hence, there are totally 4 indication lamps. These lamps are representing the each players and have a capability of glowing in both red and green colour. The green colour indication shows the player who is currently going to be play. When any one of the indication lamp turned to green colour, then rest of the three indication lamps are goes to red colour. Hence it ensures, at anyone instant any one player is playing.

FIG 2 represents the 3D view of the smart coin collection unit (201) which comprises of coin travel pathway (202), destination vent (203) and collection box (204). Coin travel pathway (202) is made such a way that it covers all the four holes of the carom board. Its slope is gradually increased from its origin point to the destination vent so that coins packed in any holes will be smoothly, quickly and promptly reach the collection box. A half rounded shape and cylindrical shape is provided for coin travel pathway and the destination vent respectively. The cylindrical shape of the destination vent is intentionally made for housing the coin identification unit (401) and to avoid the unnecessary disturbances which could affect the function of coin identification unit. The collection box (204) is attached at the end of destination vent and is capable of accommodating all the coins and the striker. The bottom of the collection box has the inverted V shape (205) to finely distribute the coins over the collection box so that to avoids the vertical placement of coins. An uplifted semi closed projected part (206) is fixed at the bottom of the collection box. It prevents the coin exit from the collection box due to force settlement of the coins in it while packing.

FIG 3 represents the 3D view of the coin identification unit (401) comprises of coin counter (402) and sensor/camera (403). Coin counter counts the number of coins and the sensor/camera sensing the colour of the coins perfectly. Coin identification unit is also used as calibration unit while start the match. The sample carrommen and striker are dropped in the coin identification unit one by one and the coin identification unit is trained perfectly to identify the coins.

FIG 4 represents the 3D view of the coin collection unit (201) along with the control unit (501) and the control unit is attached with the backside of the coin travel pathway (202). Coin counter (402) and sensor/camera (403) are connected with the control unit. Control unit (501) is an electronics device/controller to which game Start/Stop switch (301), object identification unit (401), score display unit (601) and an indication lamps (701) are connected. The signal from the coin counter and sensor/camera is given to the control unit and it can be programmed for automatic score counting. Control unit (501) and the score display unit (601) are interconnected either through wire or wireless.

FIG 5 shows the sequential logic for automatic scoring methodology. Before the match start, the number players are entered in the score display unit (601) and this value is consider as the variable x. Assigning the players for each side of the carrom board through score display unit by entering the players’ names and their corresponding position (Say 1,2,3 & 4). x is the total maximum numbers of players and the variable i is the player number and its range is from 2 to x. The match shall be start by pressing the game start switch or through score display unit by the umpire or any appropriate authority. Coin identification unit is enabled when game start switch is ON. Now, the indication lamp (701) fixed at the position 1 of the carrom board is starts glowing and the player 1 will hit the coins. There are two possibilities i.e., coin/s may packed or not. When coin/s packed, the coin identification unit identify the number of coins and type of coins including striker. Control unit calculate the score for the corresponding player by collecting the information from coin identification unit and as per the logic uploaded into the control unit. The same is displayed in the score display unit automatically. The indication lamp 1 is glow again and the chance for stroke is given to the same player (player 1) and the sequence is repeated. If no coin/s is/are not packed, then the 2nd indication lamp glows and the corresponding 2nd player will get the stroke chance and this cycle is repeated. Once all the four players are completed their turn and no coins packed by the 4th player then the logic checked the condition as whether the number of player exceeding the maximum number of players (x) in the match or not. Then the stroke chance is given to the 1st player since the variable i exceeds the maximum number of players (x) i.e, 5 and this cycle is repeated.