4 - Soccer Ball Trajectory Optimization

Abstract

Air resistance plays a highly significant role in determining the motion of soccer balls in professional sports. The relevant drag coefficients can create opposing, lateral and lift forces on a typical soccer ball to alter its trajectory during course of play. In this study, we investigate the above impacts using experimentally measured drag coefficients of official World Cup soccer ball(s) in our computational models to correlate initial conditions with targeted outputs, such as the launch speed and angle from specified initial location to targeted corner in goal. Optimization techniques are employed when appropriate within the scope of the computational models.