Nokia, Japan's Odakyu join forces for AI-based railroad crossing safety trials

Besides improving safety, reducing downtime and operational costs, video-based analytics, as Nokia says, offers functionality and performance that exceeds current radar systems.

Nokia has partnered with Odakyu Electric Railway, one of the leading private railway operators in Japan, to carry out AI-based railroad crossing safety trials.

The trial which is already underway at Tamagawa Gakuenmae No.8 railroad crossing in Machida City is leveraging Nokia SpaceTime scene analytics that can detect abnormal events by applying machine-learning-based artificial intelligence to camera images generated by conventional railroad crossing cameras.

Developed by Nokia Bell Labs, scene analytics is also capable of providing real-time alerts for unauthorized entry into remote facilities, the Finnish telecom company said in a press release.

Additionally, it can detect and alert supervisors when personnel or equipment access unsafe locations in industrial settings or when heavy machinery is out of position creating a potential hazard.

This is a critical milestone for Nokia to help contribute not only to railway safety improvement but also to decrease operational costs and enhance performance. Network connected cameras are one of the most prolific sources of IoT data that can provide valuable insights to help promote high safety standards. By running machine learning analytics on camera feeds, and sending solely relevant scenes and events to operators, the full benefits of video surveillance can be realized in a wide variety of settings – with rail crossings a particularly relevant use case

John Harrington, Head of Nokia Japan

Besides improving safety, reducing downtime and operational costs, video-based analytics, as Nokia says, offers functionality and performance that exceeds current radar systems.

Being an early adopter of new technology, the Odakyu Electric Railway seeks to make the Odakyu Line the safest rail company in Japan. The operator currently has 229 crossing points across 120.5 kilometers of rail track, with 137 radar systems for object detection.