UK: Purple Transform has been awarded Innovate UK funding to develop and trial the use of artificial intelligence to alert staff to potential safety incidents at level crossings.
The Levelling Up Crossings project will use Purple Transform’s proprietary SiYtE machine vision and learning platform to scan CCTV footage from existing cameras in real-time. The AI model will be trained to identify abnormal behaviour and detect objects or debris blocking crossings, people loitering or trespassing or children playing close to the track.
If a potential incident is identified it will automatically send alerts to designated railway or emergency services staff, who can investigate.
‘Level crossings are a major safety concern for the entire rail industry; not only do they represent a serious risk to the public, they are often the root cause of costly and frustrating service delays’, said Purple Transform CEO Gregory Butler. ‘As it is simply not feasible for rail employees to monitor all of these crossings all of the time, radical new solutions are required.’
