Industrial machine vision cameras can detect certain movements better and bring them into sharper focus than the human eye. Figuring out which machine vision set up would be best for this application can be difficult, so this article will explain in a few steps which camera, lens, lighting, and software would be best for you.

In this application, the client wanted to capture long jump, hurdles, and pole vault with the help of machine vision cameras. Machine vision camera technology, of course, can also be used to analyze other sports such as golf, tennis, cycling, basketball, soccer, and many others.

Machine vision camera for sports analysis

The client already had experience with camera technology for their previous setup. They used a low-resolution monochrome GigE camera at 120 frames per second. The images they were getting with this were not always of sufficient quality, so they were looking for a new camera set up that did have sufficient quality to capture the various sports.

The client already indicated that they were previously using a low-resolution camera at 120 fps. The replacement setup could therefore also have a lower resolution but  with at least a frame rate of 120. The client had already done some preliminary work himself regarding the camera selection, he already had a few cameras in mind via our user-friendly website.

Another important fact was that the images will be taken when the camera is moving, in which case we recommend a global shutter camera. Further explanation of the difference between global and rolling shutter cameras is explained in this article from our knowledge center: Rolling Shutter vs Global Shutter

At the client's previous set up, they used a monochrome camera for analyzing athletic activities. That is why a monochrome camera has their preference again for this vision application. 

Based on this information, the customer was unsure between 0.4 MP camera 'MER2-041-528U3M' and 1.6 MP camera 'MER2-160-227U3M'. The customer was concerned that the 0.4MP camera would be just short of resolution and did not want to risk going for this camera. Therefore, in similar cases, we often advise customers to go for the 1.6MP camera as well. This one has much more resolution and the price difference is minimal.

Analyzing athletics with a lens for IMX273 sensor

The chosen ‘MER2-160-227U3M’ camera has a Sony IMX273 sensor with a sensor size of 1/2.9”. To select a suitable lens for the camera, we recommend that customers use our lens calculator. The lens calculator is available on our website and is very user-friendly. By entering the specifications of the camera and the desired field of view and working distance, a recommended focal length for the lens comes out.

The customer's application already indicated that they built a set up with a fixed working distance of 11 meters. Therefore, when calculating the right lens, that working distance was fixed. The field of view was not yet fixed, but they wanted to achieve a field of view of at least 6 by 5 meters. So, in consultation with the client, we set it at 6.8 meters, to arrive at an 8mm focal length.

Having arrived at a desired focal length of 8mm, let's look for a C-mount lens with this focal length. A good option is the 'LCM-5MP-08MM-F1.4-1.5-ND1'. This 5 megapixel 8 mm lens is an ideal lens to combine with the 1.6 MP camera 'MER2-160-227U3M' for excellent images of various sports.

Machine vision Lighting for sports analysis

On this particular project, the client indicated that they did not want to use machine vision lighting. This is because the images will only be taken in daylight. If you want to develop a similar application in the dark, it is of course advisable to use lighting for this. A good lighting solution for this would be our NIR LED spotlight, Industrial LED Spot light NIR 940nM. This LED spotlight is suitable for the NIR range of 940NM and features 28 watts. If the horizontal opening angle of your camera and lens set up is greater than 20 degrees, we strongly recommend using at least 2 of these LED spotlights. This way, you will create more uniform lighting.

If you would like advice on which lighting would best suit your application, please contact us.

Image processing software for sports inspection

A machine vision application is not complete without the use of appropriate computer vision software. To control the cameras, our SDK must also be installed, this SDK can be downloaded for free from our download page.

The customer indicated that he approached VA Imaging for this application on the recommendation of the machine vision software provider Kinovea. Kinovea is an Open Source software that develops for the studies of human movement. The software is perfect to use for image capture, observation, and measurements. Our cameras work with Kinovea version 0.93 or higher.

Do you want more information about using our cameras in conjunction with Kinovea? Then read more about it in this article from our knowledge center: How to use Kinovea with machine vision cameras.

Expert Support for Your Sports Analysis Camera System

Machine vision surpasses the human eye's capabilities by capturing intricate movements from various sports, including athletics, baseball, basketball, and more, at high speeds and resolutions. This technology empowers sports analysts to gain deeper insights into athletic performance, leading to improved training techniques and strategic decision-making.

Would you like to have support from one of our machine vision experts for creating your own machine vision system for sports analysis? We look forward to helping you in finding the right set up, please contact us via the form below!