Jan. 30, 2009 -- Of all the plays that could befall her beloved Pittsburgh Steelers during Sunday's Super Bowl game against the Arizona Cardinals, the one kind that really irks Priya Narasimhan is when she can't see the ball. That's one impetus behind an engineering project she's overseeing at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh to embed footballs with satellite-based positioning sensors. "My personal goal is in four or five years to see this being used in a Super Bowl game -- and I'm on the sideline watching," said Narasimhan, an associate professor of computer engineering a self-described football fanatic. "It's a perfect marriage of two things I'm passionate about." Related Content: Get the Latest in Science and Tech News From Discovery HowStuffWorks.com: See how the Toyota Tundra Super Bowl commercial was made. Football Helmets Measure Impacts As Narasimhan sees it, a football laced with GPS technology would be able to portray the game from the ball's point of view, complete with real-time tracking and virtual three-dimensional flight. The smart ball would be enhanced with a ground-based positioning network to provide accuracy within an inch. (The military usually classifies the most precise GPS data.) So far, the biggest challenges facing Narasimhan and her team are making the ball light enough to meet league weight requirements and finding a way to provide enough power for the ball's electronics. "You don't really want the football to have to be plugged into a wall outlet every other play," Narasimhan told Discovery News. Tracking footballs was not among the uses envisioned for GPS, said Roger Easton, a renowned engineer and scientist who was one of the inventors of the satellite navigation system. Get More NewsMouse Cloned From Long-Frozen CellResearchers create a mouse from a long-frozen cell. Will the mammoth be next?'Bubble' Could Protect AstronautsScientists say a "bubble" around a Mars-bound spaceship could protect astronauts.Big Reduction of Snowmobiles in Yellowstone ProposedA new plan would cut snowmobile use by 40 percent in Yellowstone.Microbes: Fuel of the Future?A reddish South American microbe is literally breathing fuel, say scientists.DNA Links Remains to Steve FossetDNA tests on two bones found in California confirm they are those of Steve Fossett.Women Carry More Bacteria Than MenSome bacteria prefer women, suggests a new study. But why?Ancient 'Water Monster' Facing ExtinctionA foot-long salamander that was a key part of Aztec legend is threatened by extinction.Grand Canyon's Youth ConfirmedThe Grand Canyon is millions of years younger than previously thought, argue geologists.My Take: E-Voting Not User FriendlyOpinion: Electronic voting machines don't always capture the intent of voters.SLIDE SHOW: Landscapes of TerrorWhat makes a place feel scary? There are scientific explanations.At 40, Brain and Body SlowThe part of the brain in charge of motion starts a gradual slide in middle age.Spiders, Scorpions Among World's Oldest CreaturesMany creepy crawlies have been on Earth much longer than previously believed.Blood-Sucking Vampire Bats Sing DuetsWhite-winged vampire bats "harmonize" with separated roost mates. |
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