On July 11, amidst media buzz surrounding a botched decision in the match between Pavlyuchenkov and Kartal at Wimbledon, Professor Giamou was featured on the McMaster engineering Instagram account’s new “Ask an Engineer” segment:
ARCO Lab is studying some fundamental problems in computer vision that are related to the operation of autonomous systems in sports. For example, we are developing tools to quickly and certifiably calibrate many sensors fixed to a mobile robot or mounted to infrastructure. When properly designed and deployed, these multi-sensor systems can be valuable tools for enhancing spectators’ viewing experience and decrease the number of incorrect calls. Wimbledon officials revealed that Hawk-Eye, the automated system used to make calls, was accidentally turned off by a human operator for the point in question. Although the missed call generated a lot of heat, major tennis tournaments were some of the earliest adopters of this exciting technology. In fact, Hawk-Eye has been successfully used in a more limited, challenge-based form for the better part of two decades!
While the stakes in sports are lower than applications like autonomous passenger vehicles, the cultural impact of incorrect calls is significant (e.g., “the hand of God“). Our objective here at ARCO Lab is to build algorithms which form the foundations of a safe science of autonomy with theoretical guarantees for performance. We think our approach is one that many sports fans might appreciate!