How Hawaiāi Is Modernizing Road Maintenance With AI: Inside The AI Effort Helping Hawaiāi Stay on the Move
Hawaiāi is so rich in natural beauty that in parts of the world its name is shorthand for paradise. But exploring that paradise depends on something far more prosaic: roads. Maintaining them is anything but easy. Sun, salty air, torrential rain, lush vegetation, and even volcanic activity take a relentless toll on roads and highways that encircle and cross the U.S. stateās islands. That challenge is why the Hawaiāi Department of Transportation (HDOT), working with the University of Hawaiāi, launched Eyes on the Road. The program uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to analyze imagery from 1,000 high-definition dashcams. The free cameras were handed out to residents for installation in their cars to help spot road problems earlyābefore they become safety hazards. āThe Eyes on the Road program will give us the information we need to get to damaged facilities quickly,ā HDOT Director Ed Sniffen says. HDOT and Bentley recently announced their collaboration. The dashcams automatically record video as residents go about their day, capturing road safety issues such as guardrail damage, vegetation encroachment, and road debris. The system uploads the video to the cloud via a cellular connection and anonymizes the data. Using machine learning algorithms and advanced