Hawk-Eye has final word on Wimbledon Central Court
I had no idea what was going on, Murray was reported as saying later. He had slammed the ball down the middle of the court, and started to moved towards the net. Malissehad raised his hand. Malisse wanted to challenge the call with the Hawk-Eye ball-tracking system. Umpire Lars Graff thought that he was indicating that he had not been ready to receive. Graff did not react. Malisse sat on his racket thinking there was a gremlin in the Hawk-Eye computer, and Murray carried on being applauded.
Finally, the Swedish official understood Malisse's hand-signal had meant. Replay confirmed that Murray's serve had landed in. So, with the wait over, it was game, set and match to Britain's No 1, with his 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory taking him through to a third-round meeting with Germany's Tommy Haas.
Hawk-Eye emerged in 1999 from research at Roke Manor Research Ltd. a company with over thirty years of vision processing expertise. Led by Dr. Paul Hawkins and funded by The Television Corporation, the concept of “Hawk-Eye” was born, ffirst making its name in Cricket broadcasting, yet the brand has diversified into Tennis, Snooker and Coaching and is currently developing a system for Football (Soccer).
Hawk-Eye now has 40 full-time employees, together with numerous experienced freelance operators. The company is based in Colden Common, near Winchester in the UK, but its operators travel to high profile tennis and cricket fixtures all over the world.
How does it work?
During ITF testing in 2006 Hawk-Eye made the correct call in 100% of all tests, showing an average error of only 3.6mm. The system recorded 100% of all rallies. Tests have always been conducted outdoors, encompassing situations that take the following factors into consideration: Wind (and therefore camera wobble); bright sunlight at different times of the day; shadows covering part or the majority of the court; dark or overcast conditions; and artifical floodlights.
It uses 2D (x,y) Vision processing to identify the centre of the ball within each frame of each camera. Camera movement is compensated for by also tracking the lines of the court. Then 3D (x,y,z) allows the system to triangulate the information from each calibrated camera to provide the 3D position of the ball.
In 4D (x,y,z,t) this process is repeated for each frame so that the 3D positions of the ball can be combined to produce a single trajectory of the flight of the ball. The trajectory is then used to calculate an exact bounce contact area the ball made with the court.
In Tennis the technology is an integral part of the ATP, WTA and ITF tennis tours, featuring at the Masters Cup in Shanghai, the US Open, the Australian Open, the Wimbledon Championships and all high-profile events. Hawk-Eye is the only ball-tracking device to have passed stringent ITF testing measures.
Hawk-Eye's Cricket systems were used by host broadcasters at the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, the 2007 World Cup and have been present at major Test and ODI series around the world since 2001.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Web:http://www.hawkeyeinnovations.co.uk