A Melbourne-designed beeping ball is set to revolutionise the sport of blind cricket.
South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance member GoProto in partnership with Morrabbin-based Kookaburra Sport and Sportcor helped design the electronic ball.
It is set to replace the traditional ball filled with bells or ball-bearings, which produce sounds enabling players to bat and catch.
The traditional drawback has been when the ball stops in the field and no longer makes the sound.
That’s where the idea for a continuously beeping ball came in.
Blind Bats Inc president Paul Szep presented the idea to Kookaburra Sport and Sportcor, which had developed a SmartBall technology with an embedded microchip that provides real-time feedback.
There was a challenge to design a reasonably sized beeping ball that could withstand the punishment of a cricket bat.
Nunawading manufacturer and 3D printer GoProto helped produce functional prototypes using a combination of stereolithography (SLA) and traditional moulding technologies.
GoProto general manager James Sanders said the firm had collaborated with Kookaburra Sport several times before.
“Professional 3D printing and moulding technologies have enabled sporting goods manufacturers, like Kookaburra, to develop sports equipment that’s lighter and better suited to the needs of the athlete.
“The technology and materials used in creating the Beeping cricket ball has the ability to cement social cohesion and greater participation.”
The beeping balls technology could potentially apply to other visually impaired sport, such as Oz tag, basketball and soccer.
The ball will soon be launched at a Blind Bats cricket match.
