"Our inspiration is to mediate innovative technologies and their application in sports for our students," says Prof. Dr. Martin Lames. The habilitated sport scientist is a full professor at the Chair of Performance Analysis and Sports Informatics of the Technical University of Munich. In the module 'Methods of performance analysis and testing' and in accordance with the goals, students in the master's course of studies in 'Sport and Exercise Science' learned how a drone can be used for the collection of positional data.
Comparatively economical, with quite a good precision
"The advantage of a drone is that the technology is relatively economical - in particular if one compares these with other systems like, for example, radar which require a very complex installation in stadiums or sport halls. At the same time, the precision of the measurements is quite good," explains Prof. Lames. This technology, for example, can be used for the evaluation of training units or for the collection of matches in different types of sport. Prof. Dr. Tiago Russomanno, for instance, has made a first attempt at applying this technology in ultimate Frisbee matches. The Brazilian sport scientist from the Universidad do Brasilia has been a guest scientist at the Chair of Performance Analysis and Sports Informatics since last fall. He explained to the students, which possibilities exist for the drone.
For the measurements, the students first had to measure points of reference on a soccer field and calibrate the measurement instruments. Subsequently, each student received a GPS sensor. Doctoral candidate Daniel Linke positioned the drone to a height of 51 meters over the playing field. The students then moved over the playing field in order to make the measurements. With the aid of image recognition software, the video stored by the drone is used to compare the positions with the GPS data.
Research Project from the Federal Institute of Sport Science
Lames and Russomanno submitted a mutual project request with the Federal Institute of Sport Science (BISp) to investigate the possibilities of using drones in more detail, which is to be decided upon over the course of the next year.
To the Homepage of the Chair of Performance Analysis and Sports Informatics
Contact
Prof. Dr. Martin Lames
Chair of Performance Analysis and Sports Informatics
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 Munich
Tel.: 089 289 24501
E-mail: Martin.Lames(at)tum.de
Text & photos: Dr. Fabian Kautz