Alumni pitching robot hits the big leagues
A passion for baseball has led to a tech homerun for two University of Waterloo alumni. Waterloo Engineering alumni Joshua Pope (BASc '19, Biomedical Engineering) and Rowan Ferrabee (BASc'19, Mechatronics Engineering) began co-developing a pitching robot that precisely replicates tracked ball trajectories during their time at Waterloo.
The Trajekt Sports’ Trajekt Arc is currently the only commercially available pitching machine capable of replicating real human pitchers and has quickly become a go-to for the professional baseball industry. It allows batters to confront any pitcher, anytime, by replicating their precise pitches based on extensive publicly available data.
Growing up, Pope played a variety of sports, including baseball. He knew that one day he would find a way to combine his interest in sports with his keen ability to innovate with technology. The Sports Engineering specialization within Biomedical Engineering (BME) immediately captivated his interest, allowing him to bring these two passions together.
Pope’s journey to develop the Trajekt robot began during a second year BME lecture led by Dr. Maud Gorbet, a professor in the department of Systems Design Engineering and Program Director. Initially, he considered undertaking the project for the class, but soon realized it was too complex for the short timeline.
Undeterred, Pope discussed the idea with Dr. John McPhee, a professor in the Department of Systems Design Engineering and Sports Engineering Coordinator, contemplating its potential for a final year Capstone Design project. There were other robot pitching machines on the market, but they didn't offer the full variety of pitching styles. Pope and Ferrabee added gyro spin to replicate real life pitches more accurately.
Pope brought Ferrabee on board during their final year. Their project, reviewed by McPhee, demonstrated true feasibility, earning the professor’s support to continue their research in their final term at the university and beyond.
“Joshua and his friend Rowan took the very first offering of my sports engineering course. By the end of my course, they had fleshed out the idea of gimballing the 3 wheels to apply gyro spin to the ball. Josh worked out the details of this new design in a subsequent course under my supervision; the result was their unique and patented baseball pitching machine.”, McPhee explains.
Stepping up to the plate
Shortly after graduation in 2019, they secured a UW Jumpstart Grant of $60,000, along with additional funding from investors. The Trajekt team later transitioned to Velocity, dedicating a year to research and development, as well as traveling to showcase their prototype.
To build their brand, the Trajekt team attended a tradeshow in 2019, part of the MLB Winter meetings. There they met the Chicago Cubs as well as six other industry vendors. Trajekt was then selected as a top 10 innovative vendor to present at the MLB Sports Science & Baseball Technology Innovation Exhibition in 2021. Their hard work paid off when they secured their first major deal with the Chicago Cubs. The team then shipped a demo machine to the MLB Winter meetings in 2022 and 2023 for baseball teams to test out the product. Likewise in 2023, MLB invited Trajekt to the same exhibition, securing more team interest!
Trajekt’s introduction to Major League Baseball came through meeting with Bobby Basham, special assistant of innovation, who was evaluating new technologies that could have the biggest impact on batter performance in 2019.
“Bobby Basham spearheaded the engagement to propel the organization’s [MLB’s] leading technological development strategy to improve hitting,” explains Pope, “He played a key role in assessing which technologies would have the biggest impact on batter performance and fortunately, we [Trajekt] came out on top when evaluated against other vendors and training styles.”
Trajekt Sports has gained significant traction since signing with the Chicago Cubs, with major U.S. news outlets such as ESPN and the LA Times reporting on their robot, including some controversy in the baseball community. Pitchers criticize the robot, arguing that it gives batters an unfair advantage by allowing them to practice extensively against their specific pitching styles. In contrast, batters praise the technology for increasing their chances of solid hits and home runs.
Working with MLB has led to additional enhancements to their technology because the league has a rule against network connected electronic equipment being used during the game and around the field of play. To adhere to MLB’s electronic device rulings, Trajekt decided to create a mode for their robot where players could practice at game speed without network connection. This innovation has been so impactful that MLB now permits batters to practice against the Trajekt robot between innings, further cementing Trajekt's influence in the sport.
"With outstanding technical and business leadership by Joshua and Rowan, Trajekt Sports has become an extremely successful Waterloo graduate led company and most MLB teams are using their Trajekt Arc pitching robot," said McPhee. "It was great fun to collaborate with them, and I'm very happy to remain engaged as a member of their advisory board."
The Trajekt robot also features a screen that displays a video of the pitcher, enabling batters to face not only the exact pitch of the ball, but also becoming more fully immersed. Kyle Schwarber, a player on the Philadelphia Phillies, has expressed his positive experience with Trajekt, “we can do things on the machine that try to replicate a game before the game. And you can put yourself in different situations mentally — like you have a two-strike count and you’re trying to take the ball and swing at the strike”.
Today, most major league baseball hitters are training with Trajekt Sports. The company boasts the vast majority of MLB teams as customers as well as a growing number of Japanese Professional Leagues (NPB) teams as well. Trajekt's remarkable growth and widespread adoption is changing the game and shaping the future of baseball training.
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