|
IPRO ‘fields’ team in the big leagues with home run measurement system.
Problem
As the Chicago White Sox prepared to host Major League Baseball's 2003 Home Run
Derby and All-Star Game,
management realized it had a problem in a sport where precise statistics matter. The organization
was using an unsophisticated manual system to calculate the distance a ball would have traveled on
the ground had it not landed in the outfield seating or concourses. The system also relied on
outdated contour maps of the stadium, making it even more difficult to obtain accurate measurements.
Solution
Pressed to improve its outdated home run measurement system, the White Sox turned to an IPRO team.
The assignment? Design, test and implement a computer-based grid system for measuring distances of
home runs hit at U.S. Cellular Field and deliver the system in time for the July 14 Home Run Derby.
The team surveyed the stadium for distances and elevations and applied physics and aerodynamics
formulas to estimate the behavior of a baseball, particularly the terminal angle of the ball as it
hits the stands. These distances were added to the surveyed measurements to create a database of
distances from home plate and a “look-up map” for seating and concourse areas.
Finally, the team
overlaid contour lines onto a scale drawing of the ballpark to depict the distance of a home run if
the ball had completed its trajectory. Next the team developed a low-cost computer software-based
application that uses trajectory algorithms to calculate home run distances. The system was up and
running in time for the Home Run Derby.
Sponsor
Chicago White Sox
Faculty Advisor
Tom Jacobius, director of Interprofessional Studies
Collaboration with Professors:
Eduardo DeSantiago (Civil Engineering)
David Grossman (Computer Science)
Michael Hites (Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering)
David Williams (Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering)
Porter Johnson (Physics)
Robert Krawczyk (Architecture)
William Ornt (Office of Technology Services)
|
