Turf specialist with innovative measurement technology

The best possible pitch that lasts as long as possible and invites users to great performances: That is the ultimate goal of every turf care professional, including HI Sports, in every sports stadium.

HI Sports has shown at the Johan Cruijff ArenA in Amsterdam that this goal is now within the reach of every stadium owner. According tot he company, the solution lies in the combination of our unique, self-developed, state-of-the-art measuring equipment according FIFA requirements with an insightful dashboard. Together, they form an easy-to-use monitoring system that can help any professional sports organization.

For HI Sports to claim this success is perhaps not surprising, but independent researchers from Jheronimus Academy of Data Science and the Canadian Waterloo University analyzed the approach and confirmed that the methodology was validated according the most important ISO standards.

Getting track of the quality and safety of your sports pitch can prevent you from the need to re-turf a pitch. With HI Sports solutions, the groundsmen are able to stay in control of the important game and safety properties of the pitch. And that's without mentioning the many injuries that can be prevented with a safe pitch: another major cost item in modern top sport, not to mention the personal suffering.

How does the measuring kit work?

In the „old“ situation, a series of values are measured manually with several tools such as a soil impact tester and the Triple A. These include criteria such as soil hardness, shock absorption, energy restitution, vertical deformation, rotational resistance and ball rebound. The company says, for the future they can even expand with e.g. grass density, vitality or others.
The measuring kit in the HiPSter, a compact device the size of a family lawnmower, does all this in one go. All the information obtained in this way goes automatically straight to the dashboard, where further analysis can take place.

And what does the dashboard do?
The dashboard, which in addition to the data from the HiPSter also uses other data captured in real-time in and around the pitch, has become the groundsmen's most important tool. Thanks to the predictive value of the system, there is insight at any time into the maintenance measures required for the perfect turf. At any given moment, it is possible to check to what extent a part of the field deviates from the preset goals and regulations. Underlying all this is sustainability and circularity, as well as the business – including cost savings – for the stadium. HI Sports systems can also be integrated into existing dashboards.

Next steps

According to HI Sports, the company has an ambitious roadmap for the further development of their data-science-for-pitches technology. For example, they are already testing sensor-based shoes. The groundsmen wearing these shoes deliver valuable information to the dashboard with every step they take. This gives them yet another means of achieving the perfect pitch.
The common goal – better pitches for professional athletes around the world – is their guiding principle. The data-driven solutions, in whatever form, are the means to that end. (STADIAWORLD, 27.10.2021)

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