When you watch the Olympics, it's easy to get caught up in the drama of the games. The sweat, the tears, the triumphs, the heartbreaks. But if you look a little closer, you'll see there's another key player on the field—technology. From teeny-tiny sensors sewn into an athlete's clothes to top-notch systems that help referees make the right call, tech is everywhere. It's the hidden hero that makes the Olympics tick.
Learning about all this awesome technology is a big part of STEM learning. When kids see how science, math, and engineering are used in the Olympic games, they can see just how important and exciting these fields can be. So today, let’s take a look at high techs in the Olympics and see how kids can get to know them—without going to the Olympics themselves.
How are wearable sensors used in Olympic sports?
At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, athletes were wearing smart gadgets under their cool uniforms. Take volleyball players as an example. They had tiny sensors sewn right into their clothes. These sensors, known as gyroscopes, tracked every move the players made. They worked together with special cameras that have computer vision capabilities. By combining the sensor data with the camera footage, referees could figure out how fast players were moving, how hard they were hitting the ball, and a bunch of other useful stuff.
The same kind of sensors are also used in our Eagle series drones. Each of our drones has a built-in gyroscope. It helps the drone understand its position and movement in the air, knowing if it is tilted forward or leaning to the side. This is super important for keeping the drone stable and making it easier to fly.
How does high-tech tracking work in Olympics?
In the Rio Olympics, technology was even at the bottom of the pool. Swimmers in the freestyle events had special sensors called "touch pads" at the end of their lanes. Every time they did a flip turn, they'd tap the pad with their feet. This would automatically count their laps and track their splits. No more relying on humans with stopwatches.
And that's not all. In sports like archery and shooting, sensors made the scoring super precise. In golf events, laser range finders are used to measure distances. And in combat sports like fencing and taekwondo, high-tech sensors completely changed how points were scored with higher precision and efficiency.
If you want to try technologies like these, we have something to offer. Take our touch sensors as an example. Kids can use them as touch switches in many of their robotic creations. For the AI Module 1s kit, we provide projects like a treadmill model. When pressing the touch sensor, the treadmill starts working; and it stops when the sensor is pressed again. In the tower bridge model of AI Module 5s, the thing is the same. Kids can use a touch sensor to lift or lower the bridge spans.
We also have laser sensor kits for our Eagle series drones. The laser sensor precisely measures a distance of 30-1200 mm, and is accurate to millimeters. It is often used in scenarios like high-precision distance ranging and obstacle detection. After you add this sensor to your drone and pair your drone with the coding software “Drone”, you can code as you like. Here’s a use case:
After the drone takes off to a specific height, it descends until the distance from the ground is less than 800 mm. Then, the drone rotates 90 degrees to the right and lands automatically. Sample program:
How to keep the Olympics environment safe and comfortable?
When thinking of the Olympics, we usually think of fierce competitions. But there's some incredible work behind the scenes to ensure everything runs well. Environmental monitoring plays a huge role in this. It helps keep athletes comfortable, and ensures the health and safety of everyone involved.
Take the Tokyo Olympics as an example. They used special sensors to keep an eye on temperature and humidity. These sensors were crucial for making sure that food, dairy products, and medicines stayed fresh during transport. In Paris this year, they've installed high-tech bacteria sensors in the River Seine to monitor water quality. These sensors take readings every day to make sure the water meets the safety standards set by the Olympic committee.
Our products also provide electronic parts for robots or drones to sense the surroundings. Again, let’s take the Eagle drones as an example. We have temperature and humidity (TH) sensors and flame sensors. The TH sensor can measure relative humidity from 0 to 100% and temperatures from -40°C to 125°C. Here’s a use case:
The drone takes off. It flies forward until the surrounding humidity exceeds 60%. At that point, the drone automatically lands. Sample program:
The flame sensor helps the drone detect fire sources. Here’s also a use case for this sensor: The drone takes off to a height of 100 cm and moves forward. If the flame sensor returns a value greater than 100, the drone hovers for 1 second, flies back 100 cm, and then lands. Sample program:
How do high-tech referees keep the Olympics fair?
In the world of Olympics, the pursuit of "faster, higher, stronger" is important—but so is fair play. After all, what's the point of breaking records if you're not following the rules? That's where high-tech referee systems come in.
One of the most famous examples is the Hawk-Eye system. It's used in sports like tennis, badminton, and volleyball to track the ball's trajectory and determine whether it landed in or out. According to a report from NPR, Hawk-Eye is really helpful, because line judges are correct only 75% of the time. In the Paris Olympics, Hawk-Eye is being used in some events.
In this year’s ENJOY AI, a global robotics competition for youth, a similar tech is also being introduced. They will use a smart referee system to automatically calculate scores and rankings. The system scans and pinpoints each task using a top-notch camera. Then, it records and monitors the whole competition. When a round ends, the system automatically calculates the scores. If contestants disagree with the system's call, they can watch camera footage to review the whole process. If contestants agree, they can sign off and see their real-time ranking right away.
If you're curious about Olympic closing ceremonies, check out this year's ENJOY AI event. They're hosting a session called "Closing Ceremony of Sports" where you can program your robot to interact with athletes and performers. It's a fun way to get a taste of what goes on behind the scenes at these grand finales.
How will tech develop and how to catch up?
As technology continues to evolve, we can only imagine what the Olympics of tomorrow will look like. Will we see VR systems for training? Will AI coaches become the norm? Will new sensors and wearables push the boundaries of human performance even further? Though we can't predict everything, one thing is certain: technologies will continue playing important roles.
And that's why it's so crucial for kids to learn about these technologies early and often. By playing with educational robots, building sensor-based projects, and exploring the principles behind Olympic innovations, they can keep learning, stay curious, and dream big.
