EP 45 · 17:30

Why the ball sensor is off-center

From The Physics of the World Cup: VAR, Smart Balls, and Soccer Aerodynamics

Episode
12/44
Watch The Physics of the World Cup: VAR, Smart Balls, and Soccer Aerodynamics
Transcript

232 words · auto-generated from the episode video

17:30doesn't make sense to me because it's kind of lopsided now. >> And and so just for folks who may be listening, you know, the the 2026 ball basically has like an AirPods size case, an AirPods case, or like a wireless headphone case size just nodule just below the surface on one particular spot in the ball. Versus in 2022, it was sort of looks like the structure of um when you when we talk about there's a center point in the center of the ball where the sensor is. And again, naively, it's like, yeah, the center point. >> Cuz you want to tell where the ball is going. >> balls on all sides. Why if it's on one side, how would it know on the other side? >> And it's like And if it's on one side, wouldn't it be like lopsided? It would like affect the rotation, right? Um so, there's a reason why the sensor

18:10should be right underneath the surface. And this kind of also makes sense. I just thought it it was it was it was a bit weird that they didn't do it even in the beginning then if this is the reason. And the reason is that you want higher linear speed. Like if if you've got the sensor right at the center, right? And the ball is not moving and just spinning,

From the episode
  1. EP 45

    The Physics of the World Cup: VAR, Smart Balls, and Soccer Aerodynamics

    A World Cup special on the science behind the beautiful game, from VAR and smart-ball sensors to soccer ball aerodynamics, pitch engineering, and match momentum analytics.

    The Physics of the World Cup: VAR, Smart Balls, and Soccer Aerodynamics

PhysicsSports ScienceWorld CupTechnology