PI-Link is a smart Doppler radar system designed specifically for baseball training, transforming any compatible smartphone into a professional-grade speed measurement tool. This compact module connects directly to a user's phone via USB-C, leveraging the device's existing processing power, display, and storage to deliver precise velocity readings for pitches and throws. It is engineered for athletes, coaches, and player development programs seeking an affordable, portable, and data-rich alternative to traditional, expensive radar guns. The product's core purpose is to integrate seamlessly into modern training workflows, providing not just speed data but also automatic video recording, session history tracking, and personalized training missions to foster measurable athletic improvement.
Traditional speed measurement in baseball has relied on standalone radar guns that incorporate all necessary hardware—processor, display, battery, and sensor—into a single, often costly unit. This approach burdens the device with embedded computing limitations and separates the measurement tool from the athlete's digital ecosystem. PI-Link addresses this by questioning why we rely on tiny embedded processors when everyone carries a smartphone, a veritable pocket supercomputer. The product eliminates the need for duplicate hardware components, reducing cost and complexity while unlocking more advanced data processing and a richer, app-native user experience centered around athlete development rather than just a momentary speed readout.
The first major feature group is the modular, smartphone-connected hardware design. The PI-Link module itself is an ultra-lightweight, compact Doppler radar weighing only 45 grams and measuring 70 by 38 by 15 millimeters, making it pocketable and easy to clip onto any phone without adding bulk. It operates on the 24.150–24.25 GHz K-band frequency to detect moving objects and generate speed candidates from the Doppler shift. Critically, it contains no separate battery, drawing power directly from the smartphone via USB-C, which eliminates charging cycles and battery anxiety. This design philosophy shifts the computational burden—signal analysis, filtering, and display—to the smartphone's powerful CPU, enabling more sophisticated processing than possible with traditional embedded systems and significantly lowering the hardware cost and complexity of the unit itself.
The second major feature group revolves around the comprehensive PI-Link mobile app, which creates an integrated training workflow. The app handles advanced calculations, using the smartphone's processor to filter radar candidates, discard noisy reflections and false reads, and surface a single, reliable speed reading displayed in real-time as mph or km/h. It automatically pairs each speed reading with a video clip if recording is active, turning every rep into a reviewable, coachable, and shareable moment. The app maintains complete pitching records and performance trends, organizing data into daily, weekly, and monthly logs so athletes and coaches can track velocity and training volume over time. This transforms raw speed data into contextualized athletic insight directly on the device used for measurement.
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Additional capabilities include structured training missions and multi-player management. The app features guided baseball development workflows that turn speed readings into purposeful training sessions, offering daily missions and performance context within a unified training hub. Users can create and switch between multiple player profiles, keeping units, data, and session context neatly organized for teams or individual athletes. The app also provides a library for browsing, favoriting, and sharing recorded clips, visualizations like strike zone context, calendar analytics for progress tracking, and more training controls such as voice announcements, auto-save, 120FPS recording, and data export options, creating a complete mobile-first training environment.
PI-Link works through a four-step technical process engineered for reliability. First, the radar module emits a 24 GHz K-band Doppler signal to capture motion within its field of view. Second, the module's signal processing generates a set of speed candidates from the detected Doppler shift, covering the measured range. Third, the connected smartphone's compute power analyzes these candidates, applying filters to discard reflections and false reads, thereby isolating the most reliable measurement. Finally, PI-Link outputs a clean, single speed reading on the app's display, accompanied by a synchronized video clip if recording was enabled during the session, completing the cycle from signal detection to actionable result.
The benefits and measurable outcomes for users are substantial. Athletes and coaches gain a portable, affordable speed radar that integrates directly into their existing smartphone ecosystem, eliminating the need for separate, expensive hardware. They receive not just velocity numbers but automatically generated video clips paired with each reading, enabling detailed technique review. The system maintains comprehensive historical records, allowing for precise tracking of performance trends and training volume over days, weeks, and months. This data-driven approach supports structured player development, helping to optimize bullpen sessions, arm-care programs, and long-toss routines with concrete, reviewable metrics and visual feedback.
Concrete use cases include bullpen pitching sessions where a coach can measure each pitch's velocity while simultaneously recording video for immediate or later review. For player development on the field, athletes can use PI-Link during long-toss or throwing practice to track speed progress and maintain a personal velocity log. In arm-care and training workflows, the training missions feature can guide specific drills based on historical performance data. For team environments, the multi-player management allows coaches to swiftly switch between athlete profiles, keeping each player's data, preferred units, and session history separate and organized, all from a single smartphone and module.
The target users are baseball athletes, pitching coaches, player development staff, and training facilities seeking a modern, connected speed measurement solution. It integrates with the user's existing iOS or Android smartphone tech stack, requiring no additional standalone hardware. The product was validated through a successful Kickstarter campaign, raising $80,340 from 511 backers and achieving 4,017% of its funding goal, with additional regional crowdfunding planned for Korea (Wadiz), Japan (Makuake), and Taiwan (Zeczec), plus global post-campaign access via Indiegogo Pledge Manager. Pricing plans are not explicitly detailed in the provided content, but the campaign traction indicates strong market demand for this innovative approach.
In summary, PI-Link represents a fundamental shift in sports radar technology by modularizing the hardware and leveraging ubiquitous smartphone power. It moves beyond being a simple measurement tool to become an integrated partner in baseball training, combining reliable Doppler radar sensing with a powerful app that manages video, data, history, and guided improvement. The product validates its concept through successful public funding and is purpose-built to fit naturally into the mobile-first, data-driven workflows of modern athletes and coaches, offering a comprehensive solution for measuring, reviewing, and improving pitching performance.
The primary target audience is baseball athletes, pitching coaches, and player development staff at all levels, from youth to professional. It is also designed for training facilities, academies, and sports programs seeking an affordable, portable, and data-rich speed measurement tool. The product appeals to users who already utilize smartphones in their training workflow and want to avoid the cost and complexity of traditional standalone radar guns. It is built for those who value not just a speed reading but integrated video capture, historical performance tracking, and guided training missions to support measurable athlete development.
Updated 2026-02-28