Nissan Pitch-R is an autonomous robot which can draw a football field wherever there is space.
Nissan has unveiled an autonomous robot, which can draw football fields wherever there is space, at the UEFA Champion’s League Final Kyiv 2018.
Named Pitch-R, the robot is inspired by Nissan’s advanced ProPilot driver assistance technology. ProPilot is available on Nissan’s 100% electric new Leaf and on the Qashqai, Europe’s best-selling crossover. The system is a key part of Nissan Intelligent Mobility, the company’s vision for changing how cars are driven, powered and integrated into society.
Pitch-R features a four-camera vision system, GPS location tracking and collision avoidance systems. It can draw white lines on grass, tarmac or gravel with eco-friendly dissolvable paint.
Pitch-R is powered by a rechargeable battery pack. Once activated, it moves autonomously to analyse its surroundings in real time and quickly scan to find a suitable space. Uneven surfaces do not present a problem for Pitch-R, and it can navigate around obstacles.
Pitch-R can create fields for five-a-side, seven-a-side or 11-a-side teams. The whole process can take less than 20 minutes.
The result is a perfect, professional-standard football field that would pass a UEFA inspection if Liverpool FC and Real Madrid CF were to turn up. But it’s also ideal for amateurs looking to show off their skills on the weekend or after work.
Nissan created Pitch-R to excite and engage with grassroots fans. It’s the first in a series of advanced prototypes being developed using Nissan Intelligent Mobility technologies. Watch for further developments during next season’s UEFA Champions League competition.
“The UEFA Champions League features the best footballers in the world,” said Roel De Vries, Nissan’s corporate vice president for marketing and brand strategy. “But all those star players started out like every kid – using jumpers for goalposts and chalk to mark lines wherever they could find open space to play the game they love.”
Jean-Pierre Diernaz, Nissan Europe’s vice president for marketing, added: “That’s the passion which drove our design and engineering team to create Pitch-R. It injects the best of Nissan technology into an innovation which can benefit grassroots football and excite and engage young fans.”
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