Smart scoreboard: tennis challenges, lets and foot faults, pickleball calls, cricket checks
Software: Basic alerts included · optional plans up to $5 per court per month (optional clip cloud)
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How it fits together
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01
The whole ScorePost
A net-post scoreboard keeps score; on a challenge, cameras find the ball bounce and show its distance from the line.
02Brain
Raspberry Pi 5 2GB
The brain: it runs the scorepost-head program
03
Two global shutter cameras
Film the lines in two directions with no motion blur
Raspberry Pi 5 2GB · CSI ribbon cables (two ports) · High-speed video
04
4 mm CS-mount lenses
Give each camera a 64° wide view of the court
Raspberry Pi 5 2GB · CS-mount thread · Light onto the sensor
05
Three IP67 buttons
Score game A, game B and challenge
ESP32 driver board · GPIO to driver board · Button presses
06
E-paper ESP32 driver
Keeps the score and powers the Pi on for challenges
ESP32 driver board · Wi-Fi (MQTT) · Challenge and call messages
07
7.5 in e-paper
Shows the score, then the call drawing in sunlight
ESP32 driver board · SPI from driver board · Screen image
08
20,000 mAh USB-C bank
Powers the head for about 5 camera matches
Raspberry Pi 5 2GB · USB-C power lead · 5 V power
09
BaseClip fence camera
Watches one baseline from the fence and calls its bounces
Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W · Wi-Fi (MQTT) · Bounce calls and clips
10
All connected
8 key parts, one program, and your phone
What it is
A battery scoreboard for tennis, pickleball and club cricket, with optional line cameras, score pads and an umpire ball counter.
What it does
Who it's for
Tennis, pickleball and cricket clubs, park and school courts, and league venues.
How the parts connect
Every part, what links it to the brain, and how the data reaches your phone. A solid line is a cable; a dashed line is a radio link.
The program
ring = FrameRing(seconds=20)
cams = [Picamera2(0), Picamera2(1)]
while True:
for cam in cams:
ring.push(cam.capture_request())
if mqtt.poll('sp/+/challenge'):
results = []
for view in all_views(): # head cameras + BaseClips
track = ball_track(view.last(seconds=3)) # background subtraction + CNN
bounce = find_bounce(track) # incoming/outgoing path fit
results.append(gap_to_line(bounce, homography))
best = min(results, key=lambda r: r.sigma_mm)
mqtt.publish('sp/court1/call', best.json())To your phone
Any phone browser, from the QR code on the post
One screen for each job ScorePost does.
Keep scoreIn club doubles with no umpire, players tap the net-post buttons after each game. The e-paper board shows the score in sunlight.
Line challengeA ball lands near the centre service line and the players disagree. One press of CHALLENGE draws the bounce against the line.
Baseline callA deep shot lands by the far baseline. The fence camera there gets the closest view and makes the call.
App screens with sample data. The interface is in development.
| Score | 6-4, 3-2 | Each point |
|---|---|---|
| Line call | OUT by 14 mm | Each challenge |
| Replay clip | 4 s video | Each challenge |
| Uncertainty | ±4 mm | Each challenge |
| Battery | 82% | Every few minutes |
No cloud by default and no face recognition. Clips are deleted after 24 hours.
CAD design · Rev A4 design complete (RallyCall pickleball pads, OverCheck and RetireCall cricket scoring, and LetCall + FootCheck tennis lets and foot faults added 26 Oct 2026), all hardware fit-checked in CAD, not built
| AI processor | Waveshare e-Paper ESP32 Driver Board (scoreboard); Raspberry Pi 5 2GB (head cameras, switched on only in Camera mode); Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W (BaseClip) |
|---|---|
| Camera | Raspberry Pi Global Shutter Cameras (Sony IMX296): 2 per head with 4 mm lenses, 1 per BaseClip with a 6 mm lens |
| Sensors | 3 × 22 mm IP67 metal pushbuttons (GAME A, CHALLENGE, GAME B) · RallyPad: 60 mm lit dome button and 40 mm speaker per team (pickleball) · Cricket OverCheck: 4x4 membrane keypad and 2.13-inch e-paper (TallyPad); 2 buttons, 6 ball LEDs and a buzz motor (OverClick) · Junior RetireCall: 4.2-inch e-paper order board with fence hooks · Tennis LetTap: LIS3DH accelerometer on the net band and an I2S microphone for the racket strike |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi via the club access point or the head's own hotspot · MQTT events and short H.264 clips · Phone web page by QR code · ESP-NOW between the OverClick, the TallyPad and the RetireCall order board (about 80 m to the scorer, est.) |
| Power | 20,000 mAh USB-C PD bank in the head (about 5 Camera matches per charge, or months of scoreboard-only use, est.); 10,000 mAh bank per BaseClip; 2 AA per TallyPad (about 255 h, est.) and a 250 mAh USB-C LiPo per OverClick (about 100 h, est.); 2 AA per RetireCall order board (about 212 h, est.) |
| Enclosure | Black ASA head with a 2 mm UV polycarbonate window and V saddle for the net post; camera pods in deep lens hoods; white ASA BaseClip on a fence clamp |
| Dimensions | Head about 250 × 320 × 66 mm; BaseClip about 130 × 56 × 50 mm; RallyPad about 80 × 150 × 92 mm; TallyPad about 110 × 160 × 24 mm; OverClick about 48 × 87 × 26 mm; order board about 136 × 150 × 34 mm |
| Display | 7.5 inch e-paper, 800 × 480 |
|---|---|
| Digits | 60 mm, sun-readable |
| Power | About 5 mW average in scoreboard mode (est.) |
| Buttons | GAME A, CHALLENGE, GAME B; long press to undo |
| Baseline (BaseClip) | 2–8 mm per pixel, about ±3–5 mm (est.) |
|---|---|
| Near sideline (post) | 5–9 mm per pixel, about ±5–10 mm (est.) |
| Too-close threshold | Under 10 mm shows 'TOO CLOSE TO SHOW' |
| Challenge to drawing | Within 8 s (to be tested) |
| Net posts | 3 and 3.5 inch round (square posts in rev B) |
|---|---|
| Camera matches per charge | About 5 of 1.5 h (est.) |
| Clip storage | 4 s clips, deleted from the head after 24 h |
| Scoring | Side-out doubles from 0-0-2, to 11 win by 2; rally-scoring setting |
|---|---|
| Dispute | Both pads within 3 s = CHECK; hold both 2 s = undo |
| Voice | About 66 dB at the farthest corner (est.) |
| Battery | About 37 h of play per 2 AA (est.) |
| Posts | Round Ø32–76 mm with hose clamps |
| Keys | 0 1 2 3 4 6, W, WD, NB, B, LB, UNDO, ACK, next bowler |
|---|---|
| Over check | Scorer's legal balls vs the umpire's OverClick, every over |
| League settings | Wide and no-ball penalty 1 or 2 runs; 6 or 8 balls per over |
| Cross-check | Batting + extras = bowling + byes + leg byes = total, every ball |
| Battery | About 255 h per 2 AA (pad), 100 h per charge (counter), est. |
| Limit | Runs or balls faced, any number the league sets |
|---|---|
| When | Straight away, or at the end of the over |
| Return | In the order they retired: after everyone has batted, or from a set wicket |
| Pairs | Pairs formats with runs off per wicket (Kwik Cricket: 5) |
| Board | 4.2 inch e-paper, about 212 h per 2 AA (est.) |
Targets for production units; they may change during development.
Hardware: $99–$1,990 per OverCheck set, RallyPair, head or Court Kit
Software: Basic alerts included · optional plans up to $5 per court per month (optional clip cloud)
Target prices: $249 scoreboard-only head, $649 head with camera pods, $1,990 Court Kit (2 heads and 2 BaseClips). $129 RallyPair (2 pickleball pads). Parts cost at quantity 1 is about $411 per head and $153 per BaseClip, and about $94 per RallyPair (est.). $99 OverCheck for cricket (TallyPad + OverClick), $39 per extra OverClick; parts about $72 per set at quantity 1 (est.). $79 RetireCall order board for junior cricket; parts about $54 at quantity 1 (est.). $79 LetTap per court for service lets; parts about $41 at quantity 1 (est.). FootCheck is a free firmware feature on Court Kits.
$249 (target)
The e-paper net-post scoreboard without cameras.
$129 (target)
Two pickleball score pads, one per team, for the same net post; works alone or with a head.
$99 (target)
A scorer's TallyPad and an umpire's OverClick for club cricket; works alone or with a head as the boundary board.
$649 (target)
Scoreboard head with two camera pods for sideline and centre-line calls.
$1,990 (target)
Two heads and two BaseClips for a full court.
Indicative launch pricing in USD, excluding taxes and shipping. Final pricing is confirmed before any balance is charged.
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From the product lab · ideation phase
No. ScorePost is a concept in the in-house design and testing stage. It is designed and fit-checked in CAD, but nothing has been built, printed or measured, and all accuracy figures are estimates.
LetCall hangs a LetTap on the net band between the post and the singles stick. It hears the serve and feels the cord, and beeps only when a serve touches the net, so the players can call the let in time. FootCheck uses the BaseClip cameras that already look along each baseline to check the server's feet against the line up to the moment the ball is struck.
No. Under the USTA Code the receiver may call only flagrant foot faults, after a warning and after trying to find an official; Tennis Australia does not let the receiver call them at all. FootCheck is evidence: in self-check mode only the server sees it, and in league mode it goes to the referee or court supervisor, who decides. It is off by default.
Only in-house in software and CAD. The logic was replayed over known points and 300 random points (no missed or false let beeps in the logic), and the parts were fit-checked in CAD. Nothing has been tried on a real net yet, and the cord threshold and foot-line accuracy are estimates.
The club sets the league's rule once: the retirement score or ball limit, whether it applies straight away or at the end of the over, and when retired batters may come back. The TallyPad then checks every batter after every ball. When one reaches the limit, the umpire's OverClick buzzes and the order board shows who retires, who is next in and the order the retired batters come back.
No. Retirement is set by each competition's playing conditions, and the umpires and captains apply them. RetireCall is a reminder: the scorer can change any line, and nothing is sent off the ground. It has been tested in software only (11 checks, including 50 random innings); the board is drawn and fit-checked in CAD but not built.
The scorer keys each ball on the TallyPad and the umpire presses BALL on the OverClick. Both records go into one ball log, so the batting and bowling sides of the sheet always add up to the total, and any over where the book and the umpire's count differ shows CHECK while the over is still fresh.
It is a tool for the scorers, not a scorer or an official record: Law 3 still needs scorers, and the scorer still acknowledges every signal by hand. Under Law 17.5 the over as counted by the umpire stands, so a CHECK never asks the umpire to change anything. Leagues that restrict umpires' electronic devices would need to allow the OverClick in their playing conditions.
In software only: wides, no balls, byes and leg byes, undo, a random 20-over innings where batting, bowling and total agreed on every ball, and a seven-ball over and a missed dot that were both flagged. The TallyPad and OverClick are drawn and fit-checked in CAD but not built; radio range and battery life are estimates.
Two RallyPads clamp to the net post, one for each team. The team that wins the rally taps its pad once. The pads work out side-outs and server 1 or 2, the serving pad calls the 3-number score aloud before the serve, and a head (if fitted) shows who serves from which side.
If both pads are pressed within 3 seconds the score does not change and CHECK is shown, so the players can replay or agree the point. Holding both buttons for 2 seconds undoes the last rally. It is a score aid for recreational play, not a referee.
The scoring logic has been tested in-house in software: a worked game sequence, 200 random rallies checked against the even-score rule, a dispute and an undo. The pads are drawn and fit-checked in CAD but not built, and loudness and battery life are estimates.
No. It is evidence the players agree on and never overrides a player's call. It is not ITF classified and does not claim to meet USTA electronic line-calling requirements, so sanctioned leagues may not allow it.
From 1.2 m on the net post a camera judges baselines poorly, at 53–117 mm per pixel. A BaseClip on the side fence looks along the baseline at 2–8 mm per pixel, which is the view a line judge uses.
No. Cameras keep a 20-second ring in memory that is overwritten. Nothing is saved unless CHALLENGE is pressed, clips are 4 seconds and cropped to the ball path, and they are deleted from the head after 24 hours.
From a USB-C power bank in the head. Scoreboard-only use lasts months; in Camera mode it manages about 5 matches per charge (est.), so a busy court needs a weekly charge.
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