Quarterback sneak. One thing I don't understand

[Word]

How would you put a chip in the center of a hollow sphere?

Easy, magnetic levitation.

 

[Word]

was thinking about this. If you put chips in the ball, they would need to be able to detect when any portion of the ball breaks the plane. ergo, if the chip is in the middle of the ball, would that detect the nose of the ball breaking the plane or not? would there need to be multiple chips in the ball?

mind you, I am all for technology being used IF it will be consistent and verifiable. but if it is not consistent and verifiable, then you're just substituting one argument for another. .

Already being done in soccer, accurately.

 

[Ski-U-Ham]

Easy, magnetic levitation.

Maybe some day... Presently, looks like it's just suspended by a relatively basic cable network. Must be pretty lightweight stuff.

 

[Dakota2]

There's been several references to various technologies that could be implemented for spotting the ball or determining whether it crosses the goal line. Just a few clarifying comments and addtional info:

• VAR in soccer is principally built on a 8-12 camera system, and a connected ball was also introduced recently which provides location data to the system. Importantly for soccer, the connected ball also provides inertia measurements, which allow the video assistant referees to check for things like hand ball and also precisely mark when a ball is played so they can determine offside calls. The connected ball technology is what drives the recent semi-automated offside technology. Soccer also uses a seven camera system to support goal line decisions. More here.
• The NFL already puts a chip in the ball, but has yet to utilize it for marking ball placement. The NFL also puts chips on player equipment. You have likely seen videos of "the dots" on X or elsewhere. These are simple animations of the tracking technology.
• Baseball uses the same camera company as soccer (and tennis) -- Hawk-Eye. The Hawk-Eye system in baseball now also supports markerless motion capture of biomechanic data. MLB has introduced animations of plays recorded with this biomechanic motion capture.

If football wants to replace referees as the spotters/markers, they'll need a system that integrates all of the above. Markerless motion capture will be central, because you have to determine when the runner is down before you can spot the ball. This is particularly tricky because more than one body part can be responsible for the runner being "down" and any camera-only system can be shielded from view by other players. Technology will likely take over in most of our lifetimes, but it seems further innovation will be required. Surely the NFL will get there first, so I would expect the NCAA to move playoff games to NFL stadiums to utilize the tech. Then the Power 4 conferences will likely install it. It's possible non-P4 schools never do because of expense and/or because they will seldom host a P4 opponent.

Don't think the Big 10 will ever want to replace referees. A chip couldn't call Simulation of Brandishing a Weapon.

 

[caliGopher]

Why is this not already a thing? Something that can detect the ball and where it is located in relationship with the end zone. And put some kind of sensor on the 1st down line so the same thing can be done for 1st downs also. Then sync it with tv. So, for instance, if it's a situation where a runner's knee is down, you can stop the video at the exact moment the player's knee hits and reference exactly where the ball is at that moment in conjunction with the end zone/1st down.

This was actually the plan in the original XFL. The technology wasn't consistently accurate enough to pull it off at the time and fell by the wayside. We're probably there now from the tech side, but it will likely come from the UFL or one of the Arena leagues before it comes to the NFL/College Football.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

How would you put a chip in the center of a hollow sphere?

That's a fair point.