Ex-baseball player makes pitch to turn iPhone into radar gun

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The Scoutee can attach to an iPhone and record pitch speeds and other data it sends to an app.
The Scoutee can attach to an iPhone and record pitch speeds and other data it sends to an app.
Photo: Scoutee

Miha Uhan’s dream of standing on a big league mound is dead. But he’s still got a big pitch that could impact the game of baseball.

The former Slovenia national team player now leads a team of developers who have created a small device that can turn an iPhone into a radar gun to clock the speed of a thrown baseball.

Scoutee claims to record as accurately as a traditional radar gun.
Scoutee claims to record as accurately as a traditional radar gun.
Photo: Scoutee

The Scoutee claims to have the accuracy of the large radar guns used by baseball scouts, but in a package the size of a deck of cards. It attaches to an iPhone or can be mounted nearby, sending speed information to an app on the phone.

The app will record speed, pitch count, location and pitch type. It uses a doppler radar sensor and is accurate within 1 mph, according to the Scoutee team.

Uhan is making his pitch to bring the device to production on Kickstarter, where he has raised more than $21,000 towards a $50,000 goal. The device will retail for about $300, but early backers can get a Scoutee for $129.

Scouts have been using radar guns to clock pitches since the mid 1970s and since than, there have been a couple of attempts to bring the technology to the smartphone. On the iTunes store, two apps, Baseball Radar (free download) and Baseball Pitch Speed (99 cents) gets mixed reviews for accuracy.

The Scoutee app records video and information like pitch count and pitch types.
The Scoutee app records video and information like pitch count and pitch types.
Photo: Scoutee

Rather than rely on the sensors of a smartphone, the Scoutee team spent a nearly two years trying to downsize the technology used in large radar guns.

According to the Scoutee kickstarted page, the device is scheduled to be shipped in time for the 2016 baseball season in April.

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