Sports

NFL may track footballs using magnetic fields

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The actual path traveled by a football (yellow), and its path as determined by the magnetic field-based system (orange)
The actual path traveled by a football (yellow), and its path as determined by the magnetic field-based system (orange)
More examples of the actual and estimated paths of the magnet field-emitting football
The setup for the experiments
A diagram of the augmented football
A football used in the study
View gallery - 5 images

Have you ever wondered how game officials know if the football has passed the goal line, in situations where it's hidden under a pile-up of players? Well, sometimes they don't know, and they just have to hope that it isn't moved as the players get up. A team of researchers from North Carolina State University, Carnegie Mellon University and Disney Research, however, may have a solution. They're developing a method of tracking a football via low-frequency magnetic fields.

The system involves equipping the football with a battery, magnetic transmitter, and loop antenna. Even with that extra gear on board, the ball still falls within the accepted weight range for use in National Football League games in the US.

A series of loop antennas placed around the field are subsequently able to pick up the ball's transmitted signal. By analyzing the strength of the signal as it's received by the various antennas, it's possible to determine the football's location in three-dimensional space.

A football used in the study

In previous studies, researchers have tried to track footballs using high-frequency radio waves. The problem is, those waves can be deflected by the structure of the stadium, and absorbed by the players' bodies.

Low-frequency magnetic fields don't have those drawbacks, although they do present another challenge. When they come into contact with the ground, they can be absorbed by it and re-emitted. This can result in the re-emitted field interfering with the original one, leading to a lack of locational accuracy.

To get around that problem, the team uses an existing technique known as complex image theory. It allows the system's software to compensate for the secondary fields being emitted from the ground.

The technology is still being refined, with the hope that it will ultimately be accurate down to half the length of a football. It could also be used to help viewers of televised football games to see the ball in low-visibility conditions, or in applications such as video games and the tracking of athletic performance.

A paper on the research was recently published in IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine.

Sources: North Carolina State University, Disney Research

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3 comments
christopher
The Accension Flock-of-Birds tech does 3D tracking like this.
I'm not sure if this is new tech, or the article isn't accurate, but the magnetic field generators don't do the tracking - they just send out mag pulses, which are tracked by the device (ball) itself.
Jaesun_1
Referee and player errors are part of the game. It's worked for over a hundred years without removing human judgement. Technology should be applied to equipment to make the game safer for players.
Don Duncan
Jaesun_1: Player errors are a necessary part of the game. Referee errors are only necessary until technology can remove them in the interest of fairness and accuracy. I am guessing you have never bet on a game. There are billions riding on some games. Some "games" are more than a game.
Technology does not remove judgement, it enhances it.