Alteia is a leading enterprise AI software provider focused on streamlining the use of visual data to generate real-time business intelligence. We are focused on creating the best user experience in data processing, in order to allow organizations to quickly solve complex problems without needing to master programming languages, complex infrastructure management, or data engineering. Our main product is an easily deployable platform for rapidly integrating, managing, and securing visual data.
Inside the Drones4Safety project, we develop multiple deep learning models aiming to detect visual anomalies in both bridge and railway infrastructures.
ALTEIA: mission and contribution in Drones4Safety
During the last few years, we have developed an AI system that is able to detect and classify the infrastructures faults. Our system inputs are images that a drone takes flying around the target infrastructure. The fact that we use synthetic data makes our system perform better in faults detection: indeed, this kind of data is not available in large numbers, so the application of deep learning is not trivial.
This technology has been provided to the Drones4Safety project to make human intervention optional. In other words, when the infrastructure management company conducts an inspection, with the abovementioned system it can have reliable results within few hours and in a fully autonomous way.
Currently, we are working with other partners for the integration phase, with the objective to test the whole inspection workflow, including our latest deep learning models for anomaly detection.
DRONE INSPECTIONS: overcoming the technological limits
In my opinion, the D4S project is very unique since it tries to push the technological limits of drone inspections in many ways. Just think about it, in the same project we have to address the recharging technology for both AC and DC, the autonomous navigation for a swarm of drones, develop the AI capabilities to recognize anomalies, and of course, make the drone fly with all the complexities of putting everything together. All of this during a pandemic that made the collaboration much more difficult than usual.
DRONES4SAFETY: The Future of infrastructure inspections
I really hope that our project shows that the drone technology is mature enough to become the de-facto standard for infrastructure inspections. In addition, with the adoption of such technology I hope that the European transport can improve in efficiency and reliability. I am personally honoured to participate in such an inspiring project. I am really looking forward to the next steps and to further collaborate with the other partners in the future.
Author :
Nicola Luminari, Head of data science in Alteia