Bringing IoT to Sports Analytics

Explore the intersection of IoT and sports analytics in this USENIX conference talk focusing on cricket ball tracking. Discover innovative solutions for monitoring a ball's 3D trajectory and spin using affordable sensors and radios embedded within the ball. Learn about the challenges faced in applying existing localization and motion tracking techniques to this unique problem. Delve into the iBall system, which combines wireless technology, inertial sensing, and motion models in a non-linear error minimization framework to overcome these obstacles. Examine the impressive results achieved, including median ball location errors of 8cm and rotational errors below 12 degrees, without relying on calibration or training. Gain insights into the potential applications of these core techniques in other sports, such as baseball, with domain-specific modifications. The talk covers topics including spin tracking, foundations of 3D orientation, challenges in free fall scenarios, wireless signal utilization, motion models, and evaluation methods.