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Infrared thermal imaging and tracking can be used in several industries such as the medical field, the industrial sector as well as emergency services or disaster management
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An Abu Dhabi entity has launched a competition to create artificial intelligence solutions capable of tracking objects in the dark, which could impact the automotive and healthcare industries, emergency services, disaster management and more.
The Infrared Tracking Challenge, hosted by the Autonomous Robotics Research Center (ARRC), a technology innovation institute, will award prizes totaling $75,000 to winning entries.
ARRC Acting Principal Investigator Dr. Najwa Aaraj noted that the TII is using crowdsourcing competitions to discover machine learning-based solutions that can detect, track and re-identify objects in the dark using thermal data or only thermal data.
“An autonomous ground vehicle can learn about its environment by applying deep learning-based algorithms on top of the perception information acquired from sensors. However, at night, due to poor lighting conditions, using a standard RGB imager is not sufficient,” Dr. Aaraj told Khaleej Times.
The competition brings together innovators, technologists, research institutes and university students from around the world to develop methods for efficiently tracking objects in the dark in both structured and unstructured environments – objects of interest may include pedestrians, strollers and motorcycles hands, to name a few.
Dr. Aaraj emphasized that these AI solutions are invaluable in various vehicle systems in the automotive industry.
“One of the solutions made possible by artificial intelligence is infrared thermal imaging, which helps enhance night vision.”
A database of road pictures taken during the day and night in urban, rural and other environments was used to improve autonomous perception in different traffic conditions, Dr Aaraj said.
“A stream of images from the vehicle’s two sensors is captured and used in an artificial intelligence algorithm that powers the different vehicle systems. The captured images must be clearly annotated to help the algorithm learn them. Here, deep learning is used to Automated modeling so AI can learn it, ultimately improving applications of infrared technology such as obstacle and pedestrian detection.”
Infrared thermal imaging and tracking is used in several industries such as the medical field, the industrial sector, and emergency services or disaster management.
“In healthcare, thermal imaging can reveal inflamed tissue, detect muscle damage or diabetes, monitor peripheral circulation disturbances, and identify tumors, to name a few. Industry professionals can use thermal imaging to analyze or keep an eye on petrochemical facilities or those subject to Seveso legislation any sensitive component in a high-risk facility that is constrained,” Dr Aaraj said.
“It can ensure process control in ovens or in the petrochemical industry to track tank levels to help detect and prevent any integrity defects that could lead to serious fires or other catastrophic events. Thermal imaging can be used in emergencies or disasters time – for example, in firefighting. By rendering infrared radiation as visible light, the technology enables firefighters to see through smoke, darkness or thermally conductive barriers to areas of heat.”
The competition is organized in partnership with crowdsourcing platform HeroX. The deadline for submissions is April 5. Three winners will be announced on May 17th, with first prize of $40,000, second prize of $20,000 and third prize of $15,000. To register, visit: https://crowdchallenge.tii.ae/index.php#about
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