Buzz
As per Adidas, the battery unit inside the Al Rihla ball at World Cup 2022 has a continuous usage time of six hours, or up to 18 days if not utilized.
In contrast to regular balls used in previous World Cup editions, Al Rihla – the official ball for World Cup 2022 – stands out uniquely. Apart from being inflated, this Adidas-manufactured ball must be fully charged before each match. The sight of Al Rihla ball being plugged into an external power socket also drew significant attention from the online community.
In reality, this is entirely understandable, given that the Al Rihla ball incorporates a range of the latest technologies available today.
Specifically, the 'heart' of Al Rihla is a special cluster of sensors integrated inside the ball, developed by KINEXON – a leading global company in tracking the performance of various sports.
The first device is an ultra-wideband (UWB) sensor, used to provide highly accurate position data, surpassing Bluetooth or GPS. The collected data is transmitted in real-time to continuously monitor the ball's position during the match.
The second device is an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor - a type of sensor used to detect the subtle movements of an object in space.
Notably, the sensor system inside the Al Rihla ball is capable of processing data at a frequency of 500Hz, allowing all data collected from the sensors to be processed quickly and accurately with very little error and delay.
Thus, whenever the Al Rihla ball is kicked, headed, thrown, or even touched, the sensors will detect and process the data at an incredibly fast speed. The data will then be sent in real-time from the sensors to the local positioning system (LPS), which includes a series of network antennas installed around the stadium to receive and store real-time data.
When a ball goes out of bounds during a match and a new ball is brought onto the field as a replacement, KINEXON's auxiliary system will automatically select the input data of the new ball without the need for human intervention.
It is known that the cluster of sensors inside Al Rihla is powered by a small battery. According to Adidas, this battery has a usage time of six hours continuously, or up to 18 days if not in use. Before each match, each ball will have to be fully charged with a new battery to be usable. Of course, in case the ball's battery system encounters a malfunction, the system will immediately send an alert to the operations team. A new ball will be replaced so that the referee team can monitor and make decisions in such situations on the field.
