Introduction
TGL presented by SoFi is a new, innovative golf league combining advanced simulator technology with a cutting edge green complex where teams of top PGA TOUR players compete weekly. The league is made up of six teams, and each week two of the teams go head-to-head in a live competition at the SoFi center in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.
Play begins with golfers hitting a tee shot into a giant 64 x 53 ft simulator powered by Full Swing. Tee and approach shots are hit from areas with real grass, fairway, rough and sand until they get to within 50 yards of the pin.
Play continues with players moving into the GreenZone, a 22,465 square foot, custom-built short game area that topographically transforms each hole. The GreenZone is powered by nearly 600 actuators as well as a 123 ft rotating turntable.
In order to create a seamless experience from game play in the ScreenZone to real world play in the GreenZone, a ball must be placed on the physical green in the same position it ended up in the game, then subsequently tracked with high accuracy until the hole is completed. This high accuracy tracking is accomplished using Skymark cameras which Systematic designed and built.
The Challenge
Many challenges had to be overcome when designing and testing this high-powered camera system including:
• High accuracy over a large area: The system had to be capable of tracking multiple golf balls to an accuracy spec of within inches from 60 feet above the GreenZone (which is the size of 4 basketball courts!)
• Discrete camera placement: Cameras had to be positioned outside of the view of broadcast cameras and angled steeply toward the target area. A top down view was not possible which would have greatly simplified the tracking system.
• Dual-purpose tracking feeds: High-resolution tracking feeds had to not only be used to run AI tracking algorithms but also provide a live stream to the operator interface.
• Reliability under pressure: The entire system needed to be redundant and fault-tolerant to ensure uninterrupted operation during live events. A camera or server going down could not affect system performance.
The Process
Tracking a golf ball in this way might seem unconventional, but Systematic thrives on tackling unique challenges. In fact, we had previously solved a similar problem by programming drones to track golf balls from 400 feet above fairways.
Our team of tech savvy, innovative engineers at SCG proposed the following solution:
• High-resolution camera setup: Four cameras (with backups), each capturing footage at three times the resolution of 4K, running at 30 frames per second.
• Seamless view integration: Software capable of stitching all four oblique camera views into a single, comprehensive overhead view.
• Automatic failover: A fault-tolerant hardware and software solution designed to seamlessly and automatically re-route and re-stitch the remaining camera feeds, maintaining system functionality without manual intervention.
• User-friendly interface: A web-based operator interface allowing users to zoom, pan, and mark shot locations directly on the overhead display.
• AI-powered precision: Machine vision technology to assist operators in pinpointing ball positions with accuracy.
The Results
The Systematic team designed, procured, built, and programmed this advanced system entirely from the ground up. Final testing at the SoFi Center demonstrated the system’s exceptional accuracy, averaging less than an inch across the entire 22,475-square-foot short game area.
High-tech for golf? Absolutely. This is just one of the many cutting-edge hardware and software systems driving TGL that Systematic played a key role in designing and building. Keep an eye on our blog for exclusive technical insights you won’t find anywhere else!