UPDATE: Deputy Group Editor, Laura Griffiths got the golf club demo live on the #CES2017 show floor, watch the video above. Keep up-to-date with the official CES 3D Printing Marketplace Live Blog
CRP Group and CRP USA will be showcasing their innovations, which this year includes a Smart Golf Club, at the CES 3D Printing Marketplace for a second year running.
CES 2017, hosted in Las Vegas, will commence between January 5th and January 8th.
This year, among CRP’s 3D-printed products to be presented at CES, is what they believe to be the world’s first Smart Golf Club. Their prototype, made in collaboration with Krone Golf, possesses a dual 9-axis motion sensor, Launch Monitor and a Professional Instructor seamlessly integrated into the club.
Incorporating motion sensors in the head and grip of the club, with sensors active to take data in real-time, it can detect inefficiencies in a player’s swing. Using a mobile and tablet app, which holds all the data, the user can then be coached on how to improve with a series of tips and drills.

KD1
The KD-1 golf club, to be showcased alongside CRP and Krone Golf's Smart Golf Club at CES 2017
The Krone Linked system can precisely measure the location and speed of the club head and grip during a complete swing. Meanwhile, the mass of the sensors has been carefully calculated and strategically positioned. More than 500 data points are collected and instantly processed through proprietary algorithms to calculate golf metrics such as club path at impact, face angle, angle of attack, ball speed, launch angle, spin rate, carry distance and total distance. This data will then be wirelessly transmitted to the user’s smartphone or tablet.
Golfers are not even required to turn the sensors on. They are smart enough to detect when the club is in use, when the user is practising their swing and when they are actually hitting a ball. When the club is not in use the sensor return to sleep mode to conserve battery life.
The Smart Club is made with Windform Additive Manufacturing and Titanium CNC machined by CRP Group on behalf of Krone Golf, similar to the KD-1 launched earlier this year. The KD-1 is a functional golf club, also made in collaboration with Krone Golf, which is more lightweight. Additive manufacturing techniques, along with the use of Windform, have also improved the speed, precision, design flexibility and part optimisation. By next month, the KD-1 will have been swung over 2,000 times, proving its strength and durability.
Both clubs will be presented together at CES, alongside a range of other technologies CRP have been involved with. CRP will also exhibit the latest end-use and prototype parts built from the Windform family of high-performance composite materials, cutting-edge solutions made with direct metal laser sintering technology. Additionally, the revolutionary superbike, Energica EVA and the leisure drone, Bebop 2, made in collaboration with Parrot, will also be showcased at CES.
CRP Group, and its North American arm, will be located at booth #42909 in the CES 3D Printing Marketplace presented by TCT.