HAWK-EYE TECHNOLOGY IN CRICKET
Have you ever tried to know about the technology behind the ball’s trajectory in Cricket?
Hawk-Eye is a camera system that traces the ball’s trajectory during the game. It is the most used tool in sports.
It uses six specially placed cameras around the ground to track the path of the ball, from when it was released from the bowler’s hand right up until when it’s dead. The images captured by the camera are then turned into a 3D image by a special computer to show how the ball will travel on an imaginary cricket pitch.
When a ball is bowled, the system is in a position to automatically identify and find the ball within each and every frame of video from each camera. By combining the positions of the ball in each of the camera frames, the 3d and 4d positioning of the ball is measured throughout the delivery. The delivery is broken down into two independent components: delivery to bounce and bounce to impact. By measuring the position of the ball at multiple frames the speed, direction of travel, post and pre bounce, swing and dip are often can be calculated for that specific delivery.
Examples of Hawk-Eye statistics include:
- LBWs
- Wagon Wheels
- DeSpin
- Pitch Maps
- RailCam
- Reaction time
- Ball Speeds
The Hawk-Eye System comprises two main elements are Tracking System and Video Replay System. The Video Replay System offers the optional component of a high-speed and accurate camera.
In Cricket, the system automatically calculates the following:
- The speed of the ball leaving the bowler’s hand.
- The swing of the ball from the bowler’s hand to its ‘pitch’, or bounce
- How much the ball has bounced
- How much the ball spun sideways off the wicket
- A prediction of where the ball would have passed the stumps
The process is started with some calibration of the cameras. This registers the distance at which cameras will see the pitch and the ball.
Advantages:
- It gives a prediction as accurate as 99.99 percent.
- It’s a very effective system that works in real-time.
- It minimizes the chances of human error in decision-making.
- It helps players to study their past games and improve.
Though this technology has advantages it is a very expensive one to buy. And also the system needs complex arrangements, sometimes Hawk-Eye struggles with predicting the trajectory of a cricket ball after it bounces while spinning.
Hawk-Eye technology is not only used in Cricket, but it is also used in many other sports.
Thanks for reading…!!
