It’s thanks to my favourite podcast, No Such Thing As A Fish (Episode 537), for the content in this post. And actually, it’s a pool table in the video below, but I’m sticking with snooker*…
Smart snooker
Anyway, it mentioned playing snooker on cruise ships, and you can probably see where this is going: counteracting the movement of the boat to maintain a stable game (involving numerous rolling balls).
They joked it would be the best place for crew members to lie down (!) on particularly rough days.
You can read more about the work of two companies, for example, on Superyachts.news. It covers the French company Billards Toulet, and Stable, from Norway, which specialises in building gyroscopes for recreational use. Basically a stabiliser is built into the base of the table and sensors calculate the right positioning…
In a bit more detail, the movements of the ship are estimated based on sensor signals (gyro sensors and inclinometer sensors), says Stable, and the platform is automatically adjusted by computer controlled electrical actuators.
And there’s more from Stable here:
“The first stabilized billiard tables were installed onboard Royal Caribbean cruise ships in 2002 – and these gyroscopic marvels have been enjoyed by grateful passengers ever since. Our unique acceleration-free technology ensures that balls only move when hit and maintain a true trajectory.”
“We work closely with leading suppliers of snooker and pool equipment to ensure that each table is manufactured and fitted to each customer’s individual specification.”
And you’ll see they also do stable ping pong tables, stable bowling, “stable foosball”, and Stable Mahjong tables! You can see a brief video of a Stable stabilisation platform in action below:
*Actually, there’s no such thing as a snooker table. The game billiards came first and then snooker was created to be played on a billiards table! So there isn’t a snooker table, only a billiards table…
Image: Stable
See also: Smart Cricket Ball measures your bowling performance
