MR. ARCHIE

We present you our putting robot.

Por Inesis

10 de November de 2022

TESTING ONE, TWO, THREE

When developing golf products, there is always a time when you need to test. This can be testing of competitive products, prototypes, finished products, and testing for perception, performance, wear, etc. In fact, there are a lot of tests to do. And that's Clément's job, field test engineer at Inesis.

There are some products that are easier to test than others and putters fall into the second category. Why is that? Because the human factor is preponderant. That is, what makes a good putt is above all a good golfer and vice versa. To be able to isolate the material factor in this equation, you would have to produce a perfect gesture, repeatable ad infinitum. Clément is a very good player, but not a machine either! This is the problem when a putter test is done with players: the importance of the variations in the gesture does not allow the differences linked to the material to emerge.

Clément starts looking for a solution that would allow him to do more accurate putting tests. He identifies several putter machines and contacts their manufacturers. That's when we met Archie.

MISTER ARCHIE

Height : 4'2''
Weight : about 65lbs
Shoe size : 10
Distinguishing feature : a real putting machine !

Named "Iron Archie" in reference to the famous golf robot "Iron Byron" and the fact that it putts with a perfect arc, this machine is the invention of a retired American surgeon, passionate about golf and a genius handyman.

He built 15 copies of the Iron Archie. At 80 years old, he agreed to build one last one for Inesis.

After about 1 month of manufacturing and a 7000km trip in economy class, Iron Archie was ready to be installed at Inesis Golf Park in early October.

Mr. Archie is a metal structure resembling a golfer's putting position, with a shaft at the top that allows the putter attached to the end of the arms to swing freely in a slight arc.

The putt is triggered without having to touch the machine by means of a push button activating an electromagnet.

A PUTTING MACHINE

The result is a perfect putt that can be repeated identically on demand.

This will allow Clément to analyze the performance of the putters and balls when putting in the smallest detail: dispersion, tolerance on off-center hits, roll, distance, etc.