Technology In Sports

Technology in Sports

Hawk-Eye is a computer system used in cricket, tennis and other sports to track the path of the ball. It was developed by engineers at Roke Manor Research Limited in 2001; the patent being held by Paul Hawkins and David Sherry. SkyScope is a very similar system developed by some other company.

Snick-o-Meter

A device used to measure the distinct sound generated when a batsman snicks the ball. The distinct sound is shown as a high spike (like one generated by a seismograph during an earthquake) on the Snick-o-Meter.

Cyclops (computer system) is a system used on the ATP and WTA tennis tours to help determine whether a serve is in or out. It was invented by Bill Carlton. The machine projects five or six infra-red horizontal beams of light along the court 10 mm above the ground to determine this.

The most famous involvement with this technology was when Ilie Năstase got down on his hands and knees at Wimbledon and looked at and talked to the equipment after it judged one of his serves to be out that he believed was in.

The cyclops computer system was introduced to the Wimbledon Championships in 1980 and has been used ever since. But, it has recently been removed from court No1 and centre court to allow the use of the Hawk-Eye.

Trinity is a device used to indicate net faults in tennis during a players' service. It sits on the net and measures vibrations, when the vibrations exceed a certain value this is indicated to the referee visually and audibly. The circuitry is designed in such a way that it is not sensitive to atmospheric conditions (wind). The introduction of TRINITY in 1995 meant that net judges were no longer required. However, a net judge is often called upon during a match if it is thought that the device is not working properly.

In F1 Racing :-

Total Computer Systems & Solutions Ltd (TCSS) is marketing a system called 'Gamebreaker' that could detect when a car has completely left the track at the inside of a corner. The officials judge the corner to have been cut when all four wheels have left the track. Inexpensive cameras would be mounted at each corner. The 'Gamebreaker' system would detect that a car has cut a corner by analysing the video footage. Race Marshals or another computer system would compare sector times to judge whether an advantage had been gained.

In Football :-

Another potential future system called 'Sportrack', used to track the players, officials, and ball, is under development by Israeli electronics company Orad Hi Tec Systems. This system works by placing a transponder about half the size of a credit card into the shirts of players and officials. This device receives microwaves from a transmitter a small distance away from the pitch and it transmits to two receivers at the side of the pitch. This allows a computer to accurately find the position of a player. Although this system is marketed for use in the broadcast of games over the Internet it could equally be put to use in offside detection.