Automatic Shuttlecock Fall Detection System in or out of a Court in Badminton Games—Challenges, Problems, and Solutions from a Practical Point of View

Abstract

We built an Instant Review System (IRS) for badminton, also named a Challenge System. It allows players to verify linesmen in/out decisions and makes the game fairer. Elements such as lighting, the influence of air-conditioning on the flight trajectory, or the moving mats can significantly impact the final in/out decision. Due to the construction of the shuttlecock, it behaves differently during the flight than, for example, a tennis ball. This publication discusses the problems we encountered during our work with the proposed solution. We present the evolution of the system’s architecture: the first version with the cameras mounted above the court and placed around the court close to the lines, tracking the shuttlecock in 3D; and the second, improved version with cameras placed only around the court, without 3D reconstruction. We used our system during the BWF World Senior Badminton Championships in Katowice. We present the system’s results from this tournament and compare them with linesmen’s decisions. We describe the system’s verification process by the Badminton World Federation and Polish Badminton Federation and discuss evaluation methods for such systems. Our solution is comparable to the commercial product used in the biggest badminton tournaments in regard to processing time and accuracy. Still, our architecture and algorithms make installing it much easier and faster, making the system more adaptive, reliable, flexible, and universal in relation to the practical requirements of sports halls.