Sunday, August 24, 2003

Curling season started, technology

So it’s that time of the year again - the curling season has started! Even though I have tried this numerous times, I always seem to be amazed at the shift in temperature when entering the curling rink. At this time of year the temperate difference is slightly less than ten degrees celcius. Well, in a few months it’s the other way around.


This year, Joel, Torkil and myself have developed some cool new technology to help our respective teams. We call it Robocurl… Well, at least until we find a new and better name for it!


Robocurl is to be used during practice sessions by providing three delayed AV feeds (one from the front, one from the side and one from behind) and other information we can collect and capture. The primary use is to look at the captured AV just after you have completed a shot. Basically, it’s a set of entry-level PC’s running Linux with AV capture cards in them, three analog cameras and some motion sensors. The initial setup will only feature a 15 second delayed video signal, but more advanced stuff will be added later.


This is a screenshot of the software running on one of my development boxes at home:



robocurl1.png


It is still a bit CPU hungry, even on a dual Athlon MP 1800+! Check back for updates!

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