Sensor System for Precision Shooting Evaluation and Real-time Biofeedback

Abstract

Shooting training is one of the most important trainings in public or private structures such as police, army, security companies, and similar. Shooting is a discipline where precision is of the outmost importance. Technology supported shooting training brings several benefits to the trainees and to the organizations. Trainees spend less time on average for training and the organization potentially saves funds for shooting ranges, coaches, and charges spent. We have designed an application that measures pistol movements during aiming, firing, and post firing phases of each shot. Each successful shot is represented as a hit in a standardized shooting target. The acquired sensor signals are evaluated through target hit results. The measurements include 46 subjects of different ages and different shooting skill levels. The first results show that the hand movement during the aiming phase correlates with the shooting precision. The next step is to find signal features are the most usable for the prediction of shot precision. By using the selected features to detect the unwanted or excessive pistol movement during the aiming phase a trainee can be warned to suspend the current shot and try again later. Such training, incorporating real-time biofeedback application, can lead to accelerated learning, reduces the number of poorly performed shots, and consequently saves time and money.