Nissan is a car brand focused on technology. As sponsors of the UEFA Champions League they reach a global audience of fans. With this in mind, we wanted to find a way to bring innovative technology to the beautiful game for the benefit of football-lovers around the world.

Throughout the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League season we adapted Nissan’s cutting edge technology to be used in a football context. The production process featured a technological team in Yokohama, a management team in Paris, while the final product was developed in London with the user testing on the historic Hackney Marshes.

An EMLID GPS system allows Pitch-R to calculate its precise positioning. Once in place, it scans an area, chooses the appropriate pitch size (5, 7 or 11-a-side), and then sprays down the lines. A 4-ZED-camera system can detect moving objects and brake automatically should anything cross its path. It also incorporates line-detection technology, and bespoke a “step-over” system to avoid freshly-painted lines.

Finally, we launched Pitch-R on the grandest scale of all - at the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final in Kiev - the most watched annual sporting event worldwide with a global unique reach of 380 million viewers.