Aug 26 2015
Sheffield Hallam team testing in the new 43,000 capacity Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux.
Sports engineering experts at Sheffield Hallam University have helped to kick off the new football season in Europe, after being drafted in to help test goal line technology for League 1 in France, Serie A in Italy as well as the English Premier League.
Since 2013 Sheffield Hallam experts have tested the accuracy of goal line technology installations at every English Premier League ground prior to the start of the season. They were also involved in testing the system for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
However, this season the team have expanded their operation to help with the introduction of goal line technology in France and Italy. Staff and students from the Centre for Sports Engineering Research tested in 60 stadiums over the Summer, including in iconic stadiums like the San Siro in Milan and the Parc des Princes in Paris.
Working in partnership with Labosport UK, Sheffield Hallam sports engineering experts put each goal line system through a rigorous protocol of experiments designed to test the technology to its limit.
One of the experiments includes using high speed video techniques to determine if the ball passed the plane of the goal during an event that neither the human eye, nor broadcast video replay can see.
They use a ball launcher to fire balls at high speed towards a specially made rigid wall positioned just inside the goal. We used our high speed cameras to take detailed measurements at 2000 frames per second to determine if we had a goal or not.
Dr David James, Director of the Centre for Sports Engineering Research, said "The expansion of goal line technology reflects the 100% success rate since its introduction. In fact this season most of the top leagues in Europe will have the technology, with Spain being the only major exception."
"It's been a great opportunity for us to be heavily involved with the growth of the technology over the Summer. Apart from many of our staff and students having the chance to travel around some of Europe's most iconic football venues, it's exciting to be part of a new era in which technology is used to make top-level football fairer."