The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A University of Saskatchewan Electrical Engineer Professor and his students have developed an unique hog-line violation system which has been adopted by the Canadian Curling Association and the World Curling Federation and will be used at major curling competitions worldwide, including the Nokia Brier currently underway. The system - called the Eye on the Hog - indicates hog-line violations by triggering a light signal when the rock has cleared the line: green indicates a valid release and red indicates a violation. The system eliminates the need for hog-line judges. The concept is simple. A magnetic strip is placed underneath the ice surface, and the rocks are equipped with special sensors in the handle. Professor Eric Salt came up with the initial idea for the system and built a prototype with the help of four fourth year electrical engineering students during a design class. The system was then redesigned and commercialized by Startco Engineering, a Saskatoon-based company. Salt said: "There's nothing out there that does this. The sensor has been in great demand particularly among national curling judges who say it greatly improves detection of hog-line violations. Also, the ingenuity of the sensor design and its low cost make it very attractive to the market." Startco has already sold 200 sensors to the Canadian Curling Association and 160 to the World Curling Federation. Startco President Garry Paulson and a U of S alumnus added: "Eye on the Hog provides something the curling world has needed for a long time. It needed precise, impartial, hog-line judging. This need is demonstrated by the immediate acceptance of both the CCA and the WCF." Engineering Dean Claude Lagu' said: "As well as being an excellent product which benefits curling it was also exciting to see a group of engineering students guided by their professor, tackling a very practical problem with a unique application."11/3/04
