Rugby College: The rugby ball with a built-in REFEREE: Smart ball fitted with electromagnetic ...

Monday, 7 July 2014

The rugby ball with a built-in REFEREE: Smart ball fitted with electromagnetic ...

Technology tracks a

ballâ€™s location using low-frequency magnetic fields

A transmitter inside the ball sends signals to antennas around the pitch

This means referees know when a ball has crossed the touchline

Low frequency magnetic fields donâ€™t

interact strongly with the human body

This means they are not affected by

the players on the field or the stadium

By

Victoria Woollaston

Published:

13:12, 7 July 2014

|
Updated:

14:03, 7 July 2014

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Rugby referees will soon be able to know when a team has scored a try, even if the ball is under a crowd of players.

Scientists have developed technology to track a ballâ€™s precise location using low-frequency magnetic fields, when it is otherwise blocked from view.

A low-frequency transmitter is placed inside the ball and antennas around the pitch receive signals from the transmitter to monitor its every move.

Taking rugby into the 21st century: Technology is being developed (pictured) to track a ball

Taking rugby into the 21st century: Technology is being developed (pictured) to track a ball’s precise location using low-frequency magnetic fields when it is otherwise blocked from view

ADIDAS’ SMART FOOTBALL MAKES YOU A BETTER STRIKER

Built-in sensors in the Adidas Smart Ball monitor how hard it is struck, tracks flight trajectories and reveals impact points for penalties and corners.

It syncs with the firmâ€™s miCoach app via Bluetooth, and helps players learn and master various kicking and control skills.Â

The Â£250 ($299/â‚¬ 299) ball is on sale now in the U.S and Europe from Adidas and Apple stores and comes with a wireless charger.Â

Elsewhere on the miCoach Smart Ball app, the dedicated training section features tutorials to help master more advanced techniques, including the â€˜knuckleballâ€™.

American researchers at North Carolina State University and Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania, have begun tests in American Football matches.

And Dr David Ricketts, lead researcher and associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at NCSU, said itâ€™s ready for other sports.

‘This would work in rugby, as well as other sports – itâ€™s just a matter of designing the right transmitter and making it robust for the specific sport,’ said Dr Ricketts.

‘Low frequency magnetic fields donâ€™t interact very strongly with the human body, so they are not affected by the players on the field or the stadium environment.

‘This is part of what makes our new approach effective.’

Researchers at North Carolina State University and Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania, have begun tests in American Football matches (aerial during trial, pictured)

Hi-tech tries: A low-frequency transmitter is placed inside the ball and antennas around the pitch receive signals from the transmitter and track its location (diagram pictured)

The research team, in collaboration with Disney, designed and built the lightweight transmitter and integrated it into an American football.

At present, there are no plans to use it for the National Football League, but Dr Ricketts said Disneyâ€™s ownership of sport broadcasters ESPN provided a possible avenue for their work to be used in the future.

He added: ‘Our goal is to get the precision down to half the length of a football, which is the estimated margin of error for establishing the placement of the football using eyesight alone.’

The research team, in collaboration with Disney, designed and built the lightweight transmitter and antennas (pictured). At present, there are no plans to use it for the National Football League, but Dr Ricketts said Disney’s ownership of sport broadcasters ESPN provided a possible avenue for their work to be used in the future

The ball could help establish when a try has been scored, even beneath a group of players. Ireland

The ball could help establish when a try has been scored, even beneath a group of players. Ireland’s Brian O’Driscoll scores a try during the RBS Six Nations Rugby Championship in Croke Park, Dublin