CageLane
One batting-cage lane that measures every swing, runs itself and sets the machine's speed for each hitter
One kit per batting-cage lane does the jobs of CageTrax and LengthLock: it measures exit velocity, launch angle, distance and pitch speed for every swing, runs the lane without a desk (tap-in, gate, person-near-machine pause, 20-pitch rounds), and turns the facility's own pitching machine's speed knob to each hitter's speed, never past their age cap, with one Pi 5 brain and one app.
- Who buys it
- Owners of batting-cage facilities and travel-ball academies with 4–12 machine lanes, who sell tokens or bookings and want lanes open late with fewer staff.
- Why it pays
- CageTrax with CageGuard ($2,739 + $79/month) and a LengthLock Kit ($449) bought separately cost $3,188 + $79/month a lane; CageLane is $2,790 + $79/month. A programmable touchscreen machine (I-Hack Attack) lists at $4,598.99 each, and a used facility token/card control package at $35,000.
- Target price
- $2,790 per lane + $79/lane/month (target)
- First-minute wow
- A 13-year-old taps in at the door of the 70 mph lane: the kiosk says 'speed change to 60 mph', the dial turns before the first pitch, and the radar shows 59.8 mph on the screen as they swing.
What the research found
And how this design answers it
- Two Pi 5 brains (CageTrax node, LengthLock SightCam) → one Pi 5 in the lane node; the SightCam and its camera are dropped because the radar and the stereo bar already measure every pitch
- LengthLock's NetKey pod (NFC reader, e-paper, battery) → the kiosk's PN532 already at the door reads the coach card and every hitter's wristband
- CageTrax 'speed too high: stop the machine and see the desk' → the DialDrive turns the knob down to the hitter's cap, announced, and the lane keeps running
- LengthLock's speed loop closed on a camera track → closed on the OPS243 radar (±0.5 %), every pitch
- LengthLock needed a coach present → CageGuard's gate, zone and PAUSE rules let the dial work in an unattended lane
Use case
Lane 4 on a Friday night
Hitter (13)ParentFacility owner
- 01Trigger: a 13-year-old taps a wristband at the door of a lane last set to 70 mph
- 02Detect: the kiosk reads their age band (cap 60 mph); the radar's last pitches averaged 69.5 mph
- 03Act: the kiosk says 'speed change to 60 mph', the DialDrive turns the knob, the first three pitches read 61, 60 and 59.8 mph
- 04Log: 20 pitches, 14 swings with exit velocity and distance go to the parent's phone; a person-near-machine pause at pitch 9 is logged for the owner
Outcome: The lane stayed open without staff, the hitter got a speed that suits them, and nobody had to stop the machine and fetch the desk
How it works
Architecture
- 01
Sense: two 120 fps stereo cameras, the OPS243 radar, the door kiosk card reader, the LD2450 zone radar and the gate contact
- 02
Decide: the lane node's Pi 5 tracks swings, counts the round, applies the lane rules and runs the speed loop
- 03
Send: Ethernet MQTT to the facility Edge Hub; Wi-Fi MQTT to the kiosk, CageGuard pod and DialDrive
- 04
Tell: the kiosk at the door, the hitter and parent app, the desk app and the facility TV
Hardware
Real parts, buyable today
Bill of materials: about $848 per lane at qty 1, Edge Hub shared per facility (est.).
| Block | Part | Why this part |
|---|---|---|
| Brain | Raspberry Pi 5 (4 GB) | Runs every job of the lane: tracking, radar, rules and speed loop |
| Cameras | 2 x Arducam OV9281 + 850 nm strobes | Ball in 3D for exit velocity, launch angle and distance |
| Speed | OmniPreSense OPS243-A | Every pitch speed: the dial loop's target and the age cap |
| Door | Waveshare ESP32-S3 7 in + PN532 | Tap-in, coach card, speed-change notices |
| Guard | HLK-LD2450 + XIAO ESP32-C3 + listed smart plug | Pause the machine when someone walks out to it |
| Dial | DS3218 servo + XIAO ESP32-C3 (DialDrive) | Turns the machine's own speed knob, nothing drilled or wired in |
Mechanical
Printable CAD
17 parts, generated from code and checked as closed solids. Pick a part to inspect it, or download the STL files to print.
Loading the CAD…
Real CAD · drag to rotate · scroll to zoomReal CAD · swipe sideways
Bought hardware fitted inside this part (checked in the CAD: nothing collides with the plastic)
- Camera pod shell (x2)cam-pod-shell.stl · ASA
- Camera pod back (x2)cam-pod-back.stl · ASA
- Lane node base (Pi 5)bar-node-base.stl · PETG
- Lane node lidbar-node-lid.stl · PETG
- Radar housingradar-base.stl · PETG
- Radar radomeradar-lid.stl · PETG
- Cage pipe clamp halfframe-clamp-half.stl · PETG
- Arm socket clampframe-clamp-socket.stl · ASA
- Bar saddlebar-saddle.stl · ASA
- Kiosk frontkiosk-front.stl · PETG
- Kiosk backkiosk-back.stl · PETG
- CageGuard pod caseguard-pod-case.stl · ASA
- CageGuard pod lidguard-pod-lid.stl · PETG
- Gate reed clip (x2)reed-clip.stl · ASA
- DialDrive framedialdrive-frame.stl · ASA
- DialDrive liddialdrive-lid.stl · ASA
- DialDrive knob couplerdialdrive-coupler.stl · PETG
Open risks we are working on
- Cage machines' speed knobs differ (some are keypads or touchscreens); rev A fits rotary knobs only, each model gets its own coupler bore
- Hardwired or 240 V machines need an electrician-fitted listed contactor for CageGuard; the kit covers cord-connected 120 V machines
- Not a safety device: helmets, the L-screen, the maker's own switch, posted rules and staff policies all stay; CageGuard only ever removes power and never starts a pitch
- Two 120 fps streams, the radar and the speed loop on one Pi 5 are unproven (test T10)
- The dial loop depends on the radar reading the inbound pitch from behind the plate; a hitter blocking the beam is unproven
Design stage only: nothing on this page is for sale. Specifications and prices are targets.