new ball?

[TheBFG]

what are the thoughts on this? Not sure if the technology would work for rugby, as the article says it's used in American Football, where the ball only needs to cross the line, how it deals with grounding is beyond my physics/engineering knowledge :wink:

http://www.espn.co.uk/scrum/rugby/story/232995.html

 

[Browner]

Hmmnn, straight scrum feeds , forward off the hand, double movement , forward pass. etc?? If might be the thin end of this wedge



Phil E would soon be employed in producing MI5 style 'signal intercepting' technology to adjust all signals 10% in Tigers favour

 

[Taff]

My thoughts are that some scientists are talking out of their arse; or have too much time on their hands or a good grant budget to blow.

So what if the referees know its "precise location"?

It still won't tell the referee if there's a hand or a leg under it, or whether a non ball carrier has downward pressure, or whether a ball carrier has touched the ground with the ball.

The current system doesn't give 100% certainty, but I think the vast vast majority of rugby players and spectators can happily live with it. "If it aint broken - don't fix it" as they say.

 

[Phil E]

American football doesn't need to touchdown, just break the plane. So it wouldn't neccesarily work in rugby.

This isn't really any different to the technology looked at (and in use) in the Premier League (football) to see if the ball has crossed the line.
There are various ways of doing it. Some with a smart ball, some with cameras (hawkeye) and an ordinary ball.

I think the Americans are a little behind the curve on this.

 

[OB..]

It is not enough to know where the ball is, you also need to know who is handling it (and so they do in gridiron too). However there are situations where you can clearly see a player holding the ball under a pile of bodies, but it may or may not have touched the ground.

I doubt if that situation occurs often enough to justify any great expense.

 

[4eyesbetter]

My thoughts are that some scientists are talking out of their arse; or have too much time on their hands or a good grant budget to blow.

It strikes me more that he's given a statement to some American journalists thinking solely about college football, then some smartarse has said "do you think this can be used in other sports?", his mental filing index has popped up a card reading "RUGBY: Foreign sport that's kinda like football and kinda not", and so he's said something vague to ensure that his research product isn't shut out of any potential future markets.

 

[ddjamo]

cricket really seems to have it nailed. sight and sound. now that's impressive.

personally I wouldn't trust this bozo if he makes a statement like this, "Low frequency magnetic fields don't interact very strongly with the human body, so they are not affected by the players on the field or the stadium environment. This is part of what makes our new approach effective."

VERY STRONGLY?????? total bs.

 

[Ian_Cook]

cricket really seems to have it nailed. sight and sound. now that's impressive.

personally I wouldn't trust this bozo if he makes a statement like this, "Low frequency magnetic fields don't interact very strongly with the human body, so they are not affected by the players on the field or the stadium environment. This is part of what makes our new approach effective."

VERY STRONGLY?????? total bs.

Ever heard of an MRI scan?

Do you know what "MRI" stands for?

 

[Camquin]

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging - but they drop the Nuclear as it worries people.
It was always called NMR while I was being taught about it in Geology and it took me a while to realize that this MRI thing the medics were doing was really NMR.

The the important thing is MRI is tuned to specific frequencies. It is perfectly possible to pick frequencies that do not resonate with flesh.

Frankly if you can track the ball and determine whether it is going forwards or backwards and 'all' the TMO has to do in the case of a forward pass/ knock on is to determine is whether came off the hands would be an interesting experiment.

Yes it would be a different standard of proof to current interpretation - but as soon as you introduce ARs rather than touch judges you are looking at a different standard of proof and the TMO doubles that.

It may cause a lot of tries to be called back in the first few games of the season - but players should soon adapt.
Of course a flat pass - which in many cases is actually forward - is a great attacking pass, so it might favour the defence too much.

It would also show up the drops that are not knock ons but get called as such and the little nudges as balls are handled that get missed - which may mean that it is impractical to use without making the ref look poor.

I would also be interested to know if the ball does go forward in a drop kick.


Camquin

 

[ChrisR]

Yes!!! Then we could wire up all the players so that they would get an automatic beep if they ventured into offside territory or were ahead of the kicker and they would change to a different color on the TMOs monitor or start blinking or a sharpshooter in the stands could pick them off or ....

Gimme a break!

 

[ddjamo]

Ever heard of an MRI scan?

Do you know what "MRI" stands for?

I am saying that any little magnetic field can disrupt our energy balance. very strongly to me means that he knows there is at least some effect on the body and that would lead to health issues especially someone with - say - a pacemaker. it could also disrupt a fan's pacemaker or instrument and even minerals within anyone's body near the magnetic field. not a real good idea.

 

[Browner]

Yes!!! Then we could wire up all the players so that they would get an automatic beep if they ventured into offside territory or were ahead of the kicker and they would change to a different color on the TMOs monitor or start blinking or a sharpshooter in the stands could pick them off or ....

Dismissive as eccentric .........or visionary clairvoyant ?

Phillidelphia experiment theorists anyone?

Shirts that tazer the wearer whenever offside or foul play happens is planned in PlayStation Rugby 2075. National rugby has been replaced with franchises and a world 'draft' system exists.

 

[Rushforth]

I am saying that any little magnetic field can disrupt our energy balance. very strongly to me means that he knows there is at least some effect on the body and that would lead to health issues especially someone with - say - a pacemaker. it could also disrupt a fan's pacemaker or instrument and even minerals within anyone's body near the magnetic field. not a real good idea.

Are you concerned about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_radiation_and_health#Radio_frequency_fields ?

If so check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_field - in particular "The [electromagnetic] field can be viewed as the combination of an electric field and a magnetic field. The electric field is produced by stationary charges, and the magnetic field by moving charges (currents); these two are often described as the sources of the field."

Anyway, the obvious best candidate for a new ball for the purpose of detecting grounding the ball is to make the surface conductive and for the in-goal to be made of conductive artificial turf, with 50% positive and 50% ground terminals, such that they cannot touch each other accidentally. A low voltage should be perfectly safe to players (let alone spectators), although 100 kV for Chris Ashton might be appropriate.