South African inventor Henri Johnson was credited for creating the world’s first radar-based speed gun back in 1992.
Born in the Western Cape, Johnson attended school in the picturesque town of Somerset West, after which he went to Stellenbosch University to study Electrical and Electronics Engineering.
Graduating with a Bachelors in 1981, and a Masters in 1983, Johnson clearly showed potential from an early age.
Straight out of university he went to work for the Institute of Maritime Technology.
Here, he developed radar and sondar sensing systems mostly for the South African Navy, which would play an integral part in the invention that made him famous.
Johnson spent a total of four years and two months at the Institute during which he developed radar technology that could measure the speed and ballistics of in-flight objects, setting the stage for what was to come.
A love for sports
The year 1987 came around, and Johnson realised that his inventions could have real-world applications outside the navy.
However, it was not law enforcement he was thinking of, but sports.
He established an engineering firm in Stellenbosch, Electronic Development House (EDH), where he provided a variety of services focusing on many sectors, including sports.
The first device to gain notoriety was the SpeedBall from 1992, which employed Doppler radar technology to accurately measure the speed and angles of cricket balls.
This device is placed at both ends of the cricket ground and records the location and angle of the flying ball every 1/1,000th of a second.
It was unveiled at The Oval in England during the 1999 Cricket World Cup and has been used in tournaments around the world ever since.
Johnson subsequently applied his tradecraft to other sports including tennis and created the world’s first three-dimensional tennis serve speed measuring device, the RaquetRadar.
With the taste of success firmly engrained into his psyche, Johnson kept expanding his business and eventually got into golf.
In 2004, EDH developed the world-famous FlightScope which, like the RaquetRadar, tracks golf balls in three dimensions.
It broke barriers as the FlightScope was an affordable alternative to the traditional “launch monitors” from the time.
Where’s Johnson today
Today, Johnson remains CEO and lead product developer of EDH and resides in Orlando, Florida in the United States.
EDH specializes in the design, development, and manufacture of Muzzle Velocity Radar Systems for tactical and defense applications, test ranges, and forensics, as well as naval applications.
As expected, however, not much is known of how his invention found its way into law enforcement arsenals around the world as deals of this nature are usually kept quiet.
What is known is that his company is an accredited supplier to Armscor – which was responsible for state equipment procurement during the 1980s – as well as defence procurement agencies in several countries.
With his years of indirectly working for the military, it’s likely that he also built up a few valuable contacts in this industry.
In the company history of FlightScope, it mentions that the “first doppler radar was delivered to defense customers” in 1991, more or less around the same time he was credited for creating the speed-trap gun.
Regardless of how it happened, over the years, Johnson’s knowledge and expertise have helped bring hundreds of thousands of speedsters to book around the world.
Loading ...
