Skycam

__NOTOC__-like camera angles to television sports coverage. The camera package weighs less than 30 pounds and can travel at 30mph.

Originally developed by CF Inflight, Skycam was acquired by Winnercomm, Inc. in 2004.

Usage

Skycam, and systems like it, have been in limited use since the mid 1980s, when the technology was first patented by Garrett Brown (also noted as the inventor of the SteadiCam). But until the mid 1990s progress was slow due to limitations in computer and servo motor technology.

NBC debuted the first wire-flown remote-controlled camera used in sports coverage in February 2001 for the XFL. ESPN first used Skycam in 2001 for an NFL pre-season telecast and then consistently in 2002 for Sunday Night Football broadcasts. Since then, ESPN and sister-network ABC have made widespread use of Skycam for NCAA football, "Monday Night Football" and Super Bowl XXXVII respectively.

Systems from Skycam and CableCam have also been used for the NBA and NHL final series and the beginning of the 2005 & 2006 NASCAR season broadcast on FOX. CableCam was used on the famous 17th hole at the Tournament Players Club of Sawgrass for NBC's coverage of The Players Championship in 2005. CBC used a CableCam in their broadcasts of the 2005 and 2006 Grey Cups.Cite web|url=http://www.cfl.ca/index.php?module=newser&func=display&topicnum=&nid=13747|title=CBC will be stringing viewers along|accessdate=2006-12-03|publisher=CFL.ca|year=2005-08-08]

In Australia, the Nine Network trialled Skycam for three of their Friday Night Football broadcasts of the Australian Football League for the 2004 season. It was also used in the State of Origin series.

"Skycam" is a trademarked name and properly refers to one company and their equipment. However, with the expiration of the original patents, other companies have entered the market and the term is now often improperly used as a generic reference to any cable-controlled camera system. Fox Sports refers to theirs as the DLP Ultimate Picture Cam, its title sponsored by the Texas Instruments projection method.

Technical overview

Skycam consists of three major components: the Reel - the motor drive and cables, the Spar - the counter-balanced pan and tilt video camera, and Central Control, the computer software used by the operator to fly the camera.

Reels

The system consists of four reels anchored at high fixed points at corners of the stadium or arena (the cables are attached to fixed spars formed by tall extensible lift platforms when permanent anchors are not available). Each reel is a cable spool with 4.5 horsepower motor and disc brakes with its own computer capable of a .01" positioning resolution. The cable is a braided Kevlar jacketed single mode fiber optic with conductive copper elements and is capable of supporting 600 pounds on a single cable.

Mobile spar

The 36" tall spar contains the Panasonic HD camera, the pan and tilt motor, and stabilization sensors. Weighing only 25 pounds, the package also includes a power distribution module and electronics for fiber optic signaling.

Central Control

Central control is an industrial grade, Windows XP computer workstation that provides camera flight and video control. Both a pilot (the one who flies the spar in 3D space) and the operator (the one who controls the camera pan, tilt, zoom and focus) use this system for controlling the overall video shot. The central computer system uses a custom software package to control each aspect of the camera system, including motion, video, and obstacle avoidance.

Skycam also uses an embedded system based on LynxOS for motion control.

Incidents

During the October 14, 2007 game between the Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints, the camera made a "controlled descent" onto the field as a result of human error. No one was hurt from the incident, the first ever resulting in the stoppage of a game. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=271014026 ESPN - Saints win first of season behind big games from Bush, Brees - NFL Football Recap ] ] [ [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-10-15-cablecam_N.htm Sunday night Cablecam snafu 'won't happen again' - USATODAY.com ] ]

Notes

References

*Gwinn, Eric (November 11, 2004) [http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/reviews/chi-0411110081nov11,1,7119282.story?page=1&coll=chi-technologyreviews-utl&ctrack=1&cset=true Working the angles] "Chicago Tribune"

External links

* [http://www.skycam.tv/ Official site]
* [http://www.cablecam.com/ CableCam]
* [http://www.dtvprofessional.com/2003/10_oct/features/cw_skycam_pana.htm Article at DTV Professional]
* [http://www.lynuxworks.com/corporate/news/press/2003/011303a.php3 Press release announcing LynxOS real-time operating system in Skycam (2003)]