Stay on the Ball – Sports tracking using High-Speed Vision Systems
The human eye is often not capable of capturing and evaluating all the details of a sporting activity, especially when it comes to fast and complex movements. For this reason, state-of-the-art 3D imaging systems are increasingly being used in competitive sports. With machine vision technologies specially developed for sports tracking, STEMMER IMAGING makes it possible to reliably capture and analyse players and sports equipment even at the highest speeds.
The task
Capture and analyse the movements of players and equipment to enable reliable analysis and fair referee decisions.
The challenge
Identifying precise position and enabling detailed motion analysis even at ultra-high speeds and in changing light conditions.
The solution
With many years of experience in the field of machine vision, the STEMMER IMAGING experts have set the standards in sports tracking right from the beginning. Whether for player analysis or real-time tracking officiating - our extensive knowledge and portfolio are now used in almost all leading sports tracking solutions on the market:
- Goal line technology in football
- Automated linesman on the tennis court
- Player analysis on the golf course
- Real-time dart detection
- Automated robot goalkeeper
- Player tracking in football matches
Hawk-Eye - reliable goal line technology in football
For goal line technology, developed by Hawk-Eye Innovations and with assistance by STEMMER IMAGING, the system is continuously monitoring images from 7 cameras focused on each goal. Control software combines the information from all cameras and is able to give an accurate 3D trajectory of the ball in real time using triangulation (cameras’ position and angles are known). In this way, the ball can be tracked located within the goal area at high speed down to the millimetre. As soon as the system detects that the ball has crossed the goal line, it instantaneously sends a signal to the officials’ watch.
Advantage machine vision – Automated linesman on the tennis court
The world record for serving in tennis is over 260 km/h. Outdoor lighting conditions can change dramatically during a match. Challenges like these require state-of-the-art vision systems providing millimetre positional accuracy at the highest speeds. High-speed cameras and sophisticated software can clarify beyond doubt whether the ball is still touching a line or has already crossed it. In this way, all referees' decisions can be reliably validated when questioned.
Enhancing sports coaching – Analysing putting performance of golfers
The Quintic Ball Roll system developed by Quintic Consultancy Ltd enables the analysis of putting performance in golf. The systems utilise a high-speed camera (360 – 1080 frames per second) in combination with a custom-designed LED bar light to track the putter and golf ball. The data is instantly displayed within the software for immediate analysis, review and real-time coaching. STEMMER IMAGING not only supplies the cameras used by Quintic, but has also worked closely with them to ensure successful integration of the cameras with the software.
The world's fastest goalkeeper relies on artificial vision
One of the most impressive examples of high-speed ball tracking comes in the form of RoboKeeper, an automated goalkeeper developed by the Fraunhofer Institute of Material Flow and Logistics. It tracks the trajectory of footballs using a high-tech camera system put together by STEMMER IMAGING. RoboKeeper only needs about 300 ms to reach the calculated goal-saving position. This means that it can stop the ball reliably at a distance of 9 metres from the penalty taker, even when it is kicked with a speed of 100 km/h and a flat trajectory – and even deflect the majority of penalties kicked by international football stars such as Messi and Neymar.
„The main challenge when assembling the system outdoors is the sunlight and therefore the illumination intensity of the scene varies a great deal, both over the course of the day and in the short term … Market research into Gigabit cameras with motorised iris control then led us to the products from STEMMER IMAGING, which have proven to be ideal in the current set-up."
Timm Ulrich, Managing Director of the sports marketing agency 4attention
Hit the bull’s eye – Real-time dart detection
Together with UK-based supplier Flight Club Darts, STEMMER IMAGING assisted in the development of an automated darts scoring system, which is powered by a highly sophisticated 3D vision system utilising 3 high-performance colour cameras. The vision system automatically tracks the darts, recording where they land on the dartboard and immediately displaying the score, removing the need for a chalkboard and calculator. Cheating is impossible as darts cannot be hand placed quickly enough to simulate the visual impact of a thrown dart.
Real-time analysis of professional football matches
STEMMER IMAGING has been involved in the development of a player tracking system that has been used in professional football matches. Up to ten cameras and a combination of multicast imaging and intelligent image processing on multiple computers is used to monitor position coordinates for every player, the ball and the referee at all times during the game to allow calculation of players’ total running performance including average and maximum speeds, number and intensity of sprints and the distance covered.
Looking for advice?
If you have any questions regarding your future projects, you can always contact our experts at STEMMER IMAGING. Of course, we also offer a wide range of cameras, optics, illumination and software for your individual machine vision solution.