IP Library Granted Patent US 12,647,541
Granted Patent B2
US 12,647,541 · App. 18/914,819 · Granted Jun 2, 2026

Systems and methods for previewing golf courses

Inventor: Brian David Wanta (North Augusta, SC)
Assignee: TEXTRON INC.
H04N7/183A63B71/02G01C11/04G06F16/587
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,647,541
App. No.
18/914,819
Granted
Jun 2, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A golf course previewing system includes a vehicle and one or more processing circuits. The vehicle includes a camera configured to generate image data corresponding to an environment surrounding the vehicle as the vehicle drives about a golf course and a telemetry sensor configured to facilitate acquiring telemetry data associated with the vehicle. The one or more processing circuits are configured to acquire the telemetry data and the image data, assign a location to the image data based on the telemetry data, provide the image data and the location to an image database, receive, from a user device, an image request associated with a first location, acquire, from the image database, first image data corresponding to the first location, and generate and provide, to the user device, a display interface corresponding to the first image data.

Claims (70)

1 . A golf course previewing system comprising:

a vehicle comprising:

a camera configured to generate image data corresponding to an environment surrounding the vehicle as the vehicle drives about a golf course along a ground surface of the golf course; and

a telemetry sensor configured to facilitate acquiring telemetry data associated with the vehicle; and

one or more processing circuits configured to:

acquire the telemetry data and the image data;

assign a location to the image data based on the telemetry data, the location corresponding to a position of the vehicle when the camera generated the image data;

provide the image data and the location to an image database to include the image data in the image database with the location assigned to the image data;

receive, from a user device, an image request associated with a first location on the golf course;

acquire, from the image database, first image data corresponding to the first location, the first image data generated by at least one of the camera of the vehicle or another camera of another vehicle as the other vehicle drove about the golf course along the ground surface of the golf course; and

generate and provide, to the user device, a display interface corresponding to the first image data.

2 . The golf course previewing system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to:

determine if the image database includes previous image data associated with the location;

responsive to the image database including the previous image data associated with the location, assign the image data an image score, the image score corresponding to a quality of the image data; and

responsive to the image score being higher than a previous image score associated with the previous image data, provide the image data to the image database to replace the previous image data included in the image database.

3 . The golf course previewing system of claim 2 , wherein the image score corresponds to at least one of a clarity associated with the image data or a recency associated with the image data.

4 . The golf course previewing system of claim 1 , wherein:

the one or more processing circuits are configured to determine site attribute data corresponding to the first location on the golf course; and

the display interface includes an element corresponding to the site attribute data.

5 . The golf course previewing system of claim 4 , wherein:

the one or more processing circuits are configured to determine, based on the site attribute data, a distance between the first location and a hole of the golf course; and

the display interface includes an element corresponding to the distance between the first location and the hole on the golf course.

6 . The golf course previewing system of claim 4 , wherein:

the vehicle includes a topography sensor configured to acquire topography data as the vehicle drives about the golf course;

the one or more processing circuits are configured to acquire the topography data from the vehicle, wherein the site attribute data includes the topography data; and

the display interface provides the element based on the topography data associated with the first location.

7 . The golf course previewing system of claim 1 , wherein:

the display interface includes one or more actionable items, each of the one or more actionable items associated with moving from the first location to a another location on the ground surface of the golf course; and

in response to receiving a selection of one of the one or more actionable items from the user device, the one or more processing circuits are configured to:

determine, based on the one of the one or more actionable items, a second location on the ground surface of the golf course associated with the one of the one or more actionable items;

acquire, from the image database, second image data corresponding to the second location; and

generate and provide, to the user device, an updated display interface corresponding to the second image data.

8 . The golf course previewing system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is a mower or a golf vehicle.

9 . The golf course previewing system of claim 1 , wherein the user device is a golf simulator.

10 . The golf course previewing system of claim 1 , wherein the user device is a display installed in a golf cart.

11 . The golf course previewing system of claim 1 , wherein the user device is a personal computing device.

12 . A golf course preview system comprising:

an image database; and

one or more processing circuits configured to:

receive, from a user device, an image request associated with a first location on a golf course;

acquire, from the image database, first image data corresponding to the first location, the first image data depicting a portion of the golf course from a perspective of a golfer positioned at the first location on a ground surface of the golf course, the first image data generated by a vehicle as the vehicle drove about the golf course along the ground surface of the golf course; and

generate and provide, to the user device, a display interface corresponding to the first image data.

13 . The golf course preview system of claim 12 , wherein:

the display interface includes one or more actionable items, each of the one or more actionable items associated with moving from the first location to a another location on the ground surface of the golf course; and

in response to receiving a selection of one of the one or more actionable items from the user device, the one or more processing circuits are configured to:

determine, based on the one of the one or more actionable items, a second location on the ground surface of the golf course associated with the one of the one or more actionable items;

acquire, from the image database, second image data corresponding to the second location; and

generate and provide, to the user device, an updated display interface corresponding to the second image data.

14 . The golf course preview system of claim 12 , wherein:

the one or more processing circuits are configured to determine site attribute data corresponding to the first location on the golf course, the site attribute data including at least one of weather conditions associated with the golf course or a hole position of a hole of the golf course; and

the display interface includes an element corresponding to the site attribute data.

15 . The golf course preview system of claim 14 , wherein:

the one or more processing circuits are configured to determine, based on the site attribute data, a distance between the first location and a hole of the golf course; and

the display interface includes a distance element corresponding to the distance between the first location and the hole on the golf course.

16 . The golf course preview system of claim 14 , wherein:

the one or more processing circuits are configured to determine, based on the site attribute data, an altitude difference between the ground surface at the first location and a hole of the golf course; and

the display interface includes an altitude element corresponding to the altitude difference between the ground surface at the first location and the hole on the golf course.

17 . A method for operating a golf course preview system, the method comprising:

acquiring, from a vehicle, image data generated by the vehicle as the vehicle drives about a golf course along a ground surface of the golf course and telemetry data associated with the vehicle;

assigning a location to the image data based on the telemetry data, the location corresponding to a position of the vehicle when the vehicle generated the image data;

providing the image data and the location to an image database to include the image data in the image database with the location assigned to the image;

receiving, from a user device, an image request associated with a first location on the golf course;

acquiring, from the image database, first image data corresponding to the first location, the first image data generated by at least the vehicle or another vehicle as the other vehicle drove about the golf course along the ground surface of the golf course; and

generating and providing, to the user device, a display interface corresponding to the first image data.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein prior to providing the image data to the image database, the method comprises:

determining if the image database includes previous image data associated with the location;

responsive to the image database including the previous image data associated with the location, assigning the image data an image score, the image score corresponding to a quality of the image data; and

responsive to the image score being higher than a previous image score associated with the previous image data, providing the image data to the image database to replace the previous image data included in the image database.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the image score corresponds to at least one of a clarity associated with the image data or a recency associated with the image data.

20 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising determining site attribute data corresponding to the first location on the golf course, wherein the display interface includes an element corresponding to the site attribute data.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 6, 2026
From: TEXTRON INC.
To: TEXTRON INNOVATIONS INC.
Reel/Frame 075652/0326 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 8, 2024
From: WANTA, BRIAN DAVID
To: TEXTRON INC.
Reel/Frame 069210/0308 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20260106952A1 · Apr 16, 2026
References Cited (32)
US 6331872B1 · Hyuga · 2001 [cited by applicant]
US 7100190B2 · Johnson et al. · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 7272501B2 · Dorfman et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 7872593B1 · Rauscher et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 8125529B2 · Skoskiewicz et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 9103671B1 · Breed et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 10048384B2 · Griffiths et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 11032473B2 · Axson et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 11644830B1 · Gate · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 11893734B1 · Nessim · 2024 [cited by examiner]
US 20050037872A1 · Fredlund et al. · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 20060055775A1 · Nou · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 20060075442A1 · Meadow et al. · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 20070219654A1 · Frink et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 20100245582A1 · Harel · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20100309047A1 · Balardeta et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20110182465A1 · Baker et al. · 2011 [cited by applicant]
US 20120071277A1 · Denton et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120115650A1 · Balardeta et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20140136098A1 · Stroila et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140143819A1 · Chu · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20150084755A1 · Chen · 2015 [cited by examiner]
US 20160337573A1 · Chan · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20170080319A1 · Bastawros · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20170280105A1 · Malik et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20200139216A1 · Lee et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20220083921A1 · Brkic et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 20230075621A1 · Shinohara · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 20230171314A1 · Onti Srinivasan · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 20240217546A1 · Joubert · 2024 [cited by examiner]
US 20240262392A1 · Kan · 2024 [cited by examiner]
US 20250315050A1 · Van Hout · 2025 [cited by examiner]