First Down Laser Line Company has nine new football tech products, all with patents either filed, built or in development, ready for the 2021 or 2022 seasons should the sport and competition company find a first user. The chain gang on the field is not going away because the well thought out plan is to upgrade the third team with the latest technologies for this cherished American sport beginning with the FIRST DOWN LINE used in-stadium. Officials currently use the human eye to place the ball, check for first downs, watch for fumbles hitting the ground, and the all-important call that may decide a game or season, a goal line touchdown. Did the ball actually cross the goal line for six points underneath thousands of pounds of linemen? This pile of humanity makes it literally impossible to actually see the covered up ball causing human interpretation to become a complete guessing game no one likes. The Sports Techie community blog caught up with Alan Amron, First Down Line, founder, after last chatting seven years ago to find out more about the latest upgrades to their proprietary sports technology making it more of a complete system and more appealing to both the NFL and college football. “A new safer laser line system has been designed, is in development, along with eight other related breakthrough football technologies.” said Amron.
First Down Line, and eight other related real time on field in-stadium technologies
Green Line On-Field Adoption
The NFL wants and is helping to normalize society after the COVID-19 pandemic. Why not normalize the green line. Think of it as the unofficial, yellow first down line on television becoming official with the lines displaying on the field in green while monitoring the ball.
Assisting refs, players and coaches, and rabid fans, all while adding to league and media partner revenues through the activation of a product sponsor is a proven formula for success. Alan said he once had a deal with Coors Lite in the works as a sponsor.
Amron added, “through my nine NFL league office, football operations, competition committee, and team-owner meetings I have concluded, the NFL needs more accurate real time officiating technology methods.”
The new technologies create a combination of detection and reporting.
FIRST DOWN LASER LINE SYSTEMS AND METHODS GOAL POSTS, GOAL LINE, FIRST DOWN LINE, KNEE DOWN AND LINE UP LINE FOR ACCURATE QUICK BALL PLACEMENT AFTER EVERY PLAY, AR VIEWER.
1. The safe first down laser line projected directly onto the playing field. Computer algorithm controlled up and down the field. To eliminate or augment the present old fashioned and time-consuming flag chain sets measurements.
2. Knee sensor (painted ink sensor on the uniform knees of all players) to detect and report when a player’s knee touches or hits the playing field, before or after the ball is caught, goal line is broken or a first down is made. Under a pile of players its not easy to do now.
3. Painted inside ball sensor, to track the balls location for catches, touchdowns, first downs, extra points and 3 points kicking between the goal posts.
4. Goal line painted sensor, for touchdown monitoring before or after the knee hits the ground. Goal Line painted sensor. Under a pile of players, its not easy to quickly tell now.
5. First down line painted sensor, to detect knee position when ball breaks the plane of the first down laser line, or that programed location first down on the field. Programmed real time location of the first down flags
on the field.
6. Goal posts sensors, for kicking, to accurately detect and report a good kick between the goal posts, from high in the sky.
7. Augmented Reality AR First down Yellow graphic Line viewer, in stadium.
Allows the players, coaches, referees, officials and fans in the stadium to all see what we are now used to seeing on a football television telecast at home. The first down yellow line graphic.
To Install in those polarized shields the players put in their helmets. It would be an AR (augmented reality) system, which would show them the first down yellow line graphic now painted on the games television broadcast, as if it were there right in front of them.
Allowing everyone in the stadium wearing these polarized shield, glasses or goggles to see and utilize the first downs position on the field.
Alan believes the real first down Laser line on the field, is the best. However, he wanted to also offer augmented reality work, to the NFL and College Football – as an alternative method.
8. Accurate Ball Placement NEW laser “line up line“.
NFL today with no “line up line”
a. First down from the 32
b. Runner tackled at the 35 near the sideline after gaining 3 yards
c. Linesman puts his foot down where the runner was tackled, tosses ball to another official who tosses it to another official. This official then looks 20 yards across the field to see where the original linesman foot is & places the ball (approximately) where the foot is
NFL with the laser “line up line”
a. First down from the 32. The first down laser line is at the 42
b. Runner tackled at the 35 near the sideline after gaining 3 yards
c. Linesman puts his foot down where the runner was tackled and ball is marked down, our NEW laser “line up line” automatically appears at the linesman’s foot showing the exact position where the runner was tackled and ball is downed. The linesman tosses ball to another official who tosses it to another official. This official then places the ball at the NEW laser “line up line” at the exact spot marked by the original linesman. The NEW laser “line up line” then automatically shuts off.
9. Catch or not a catch real time monitor, when any receiver catches a ball, this indicator will show if the ball touched or hit any part of the ground, before the catch. Reporting instantly to the officials, if it was a catch or not a catch.
Used to accurately call first downs, touchdowns, fair catches, and splitting the uprights on kicks
X-Ray Football Tracker
Used to accurately call first downs, touchdowns, fair catches, and splitting the uprights on kicks. Should any part of the ball touch the ground, or break the first down line flag marker, (continuous moving then marked either side of the field, on computer grid) or breaks any part of the goal line, the action is recorded and reported in real-time to the referee on the field, as well as the more and more important, booth officials.
The X-Ray process uses a Wilson football for example, and paints a 360-degree, x thin line inside the football cover causing NO weight gain, nor balance change, through use of a safe, radioactive like material continually tracking no matter the weather conditions. The football field computer grid then tracks the odd shaped ball, no matter the actual PSI, (sorry for the dig Tom Brady) to within 1/16th of inch accuracy.
As a further check and balance, the data coordinates with Knee sensor TM trackers on the players, the first down line to gain flag placement on each play, the goal line on the field and the goal posts for kicks.
Augmented Reality First Down Yellow Line
Viewer allows the players, coaches, referees, officials and fans in the stadium, to all see what we now are used to seeing on a football television telecast at home. The first down yellow line graphic.
It is designed to install in the polarized shields, (more and more common because of COVID-19) the players now add to their helmets. The shield screen acts as an AR (augmented reality) system displaying to anyone in the stadium, the first down yellow line graphic, that is now televised, as if it were right there in front of them.
Players, referees, officials, coaches and fans in the stadium wear the AR lenses, glasses or googles to see, use and follow the first down yellow graphic line, presently seen on the television broadcast, as if it were real (and official).
First down line lenses for helmets, glasses or goggles, can show the yellow first down graphic line, at all times, from any line of sight. As the broadcast moves and positions the yellow graphic line, so it will also be rendered and seen in AR shields/goggles/glasses.
This compelling feature allows everyone in the stadium wearing these polarized shields, glasses or goggles to see and utilize the first downs position on the field.
The first down yellow graphic line is followed, up and down the field (as it is on the television broadcast) in the AR lenses in helmets, glasses or goggles.
The real first down Laser line on the field, is the best, however, Alan and his team wanted to offer the augmented reality work around, to the NFL and College Football – as an alternative method for now.
Please visit: http://www.FirstDownLaserLine.com
Sports Techie, NFL Operations and their skilled officials do the best they can with first down, goal line, knee down, fumble, and catch calls, and for that they are to be commended. I believe the NFL would complement these hard-working men and women by adding this new combination system, some of the owners have known about for years, by being the first user.
I wanted to know if his complete system would synch with the state-of-the-art, NFL replay HQ in NYC which seems like a must for his technologies to be adopted. He said it would be doable, as needed.
I also asked Alan what co-founder, Pat Summerall, would think about the current system upgrades. Alan refused to comment but did allow me to speculate that he would be all in.
My business development idea to Alan was to see if David Baker, President and CEO of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, would champion his combo system cause at the HOF game in 2021.
The Hall of Fame Game between the Cowboys and Steelers is set for Thursday, Aug. 5 at 8 p.m.
Alan said it would take 60-90 days to get the complete system running.
They may have found a first partner, an announcement will be forthcoming shortly should the deal go through. It is not the CFL or XFL. Who does that leave? That is for you to find out as Alan could not speak about it quite yet.
Once that happens, bring on the NFL for First Down Laser Line Company.
See you later sportstechie in Seattle, Atlanta and around the world!
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