Cities check AI imaginative and prescient sensors for visitors and pedestrian security

San Jose, California, and Lakewood, Colorado, are testing AI imaginative and prescient sensors to enhance pedestrian security and visitors administration. 

The expertise from Sony Semiconductor Options is definitely put in, could be solar-powered and supplies privateness safety, Yu Kitamura, Sony’s senior enterprise growth supervisor, stated in an interview.

San Jose needed the power to detect pedestrians at night time, conduct visitors counts and speeds, shield metropolis property and help in curb administration, town’s ITS supervisor, Ho Nguyen, stated in an interview. It started a pilot program of the Sony expertise at a small variety of intersections in February, he stated. “It was small and simple to put in, use and preserve, [and] it was additionally low value.”

Nguyen stated the pedestrian venture happened as a result of “we have been having points with the homeless inhabitants being hit by autos at night time.” Though it doesn’t but have pedestrian-detection knowledge, town has acquired knowledge on visitors quantity and automobile speeds. Combining these knowledge feeds, when accessible, will help inform town the place it wants so as to add road lighting, signage or a crosswalk to a particular intersection, he stated.

Sometimes, such visitors research depend on short-term surveys, which might final for as little as a couple of days. Nguyen stated if the expertise proves profitable, he would search a grant to fund 200 AI digital camera installations. That may give metropolis officers a “granular understanding” of town’s visitors and the way it modifications over time, he stated, including that “if you may get counts in actual time, you are in a position to retime your alerts to mirror the present visitors stage.”

A section of Lakewood’s West Colfax Avenue noticed six pedestrian deaths from 2015 to 2019, prompting a security venture that started this yr. The primary part features a extra steady middle median, roadway lighting and offset pedestrian crossings between signalized intersections. These crossings present higher safety for pedestrians and are extra predictable for motorists, in line with a Lakewood metropolis web site. 

The primary part is about 50% full, Lakewood metropolis transportation engineer Mike Whiteaker stated in an e-mail. Section 2, which will likely be put out for bid later this yr, will set up many of the communication and energy infrastructure for Sony’s pedestrian alert system.

“We’re planning on utilizing indicators that mild up when an object is detected to warn the drivers,” he stated. These will likely be much like wildlife warning techniques that Coloradans are acquainted with, he defined.

“By combining high-performance AI succesful clever imaginative and prescient sensors with knowledge purposes, we’re serving to cities like Lakewood and San José reply to quickly evolving transportation patterns and infrastructure wants,” Kitamura stated in an announcement.