In Córdoba we have many things. Have The only mosque in the world that is not oriented to Mecca. In fact, Córdoba is the only city on the planet with Four World Heritage Assets of UNESCO. The first person to fly It was also from Córdoba, as they were You see, Seneca either Julio Romero de Torrres. We have a gastronomy that has no rival (I will die in this hill), a street thermometer that opens news in August and, since this weekend, a traffic light with artificial intelligence. That traffic light knows things. This peculiar device is located on Avenida del Airport, just in front of the Health Center. The location was agreed with different groups and makes sense: in the area many services are offered to people with reduced mobility, such as the aforementioned health center, the headquarters of the San Rafael de Alzheimer’s association, an orthopedics and, of course, is on an avenue capable of absorbing traffic. Because no, this traffic light has no goal Optimize trafficbut to facilitate mobility to people who use crutches, wheelchairs or carry carts. The traffic light in front of the Health Center in Córdoba | Image: Xataka “A source of pride”. That is this traffic light for Bernardo Jordano, delegate of inclusion and accessibility of the City of Córdoba. Although According to Jordano“without wanting to sound pretentious, we have no knowledge of something equal to this”, the reality is that there have been similar pilot projects in other countries, Like Germany without going any further. The Cordoba project, in fact, reminds the German Ki4ped. Because? Because this traffic light uses cameras and an artificial intelligence system to detect people with reduced mobility and give way before and for a longer time. That is, it takes less to get green and lasts more seconds. It is not a strictly new traffic light, but has been updated with a larger staff and two bidirectional cameras. According to Jordano: “For almost a year, in a learning phase, we have taught the machine to detect users with reduced mobility, so the device is already trained to see users in wheelchair, with walker and even baby chairs. When that happens, the traffic light modifies the normal cycle and gives more time to that type of pedestrian. “ The system feeds on two cameras like this. Each look at an address | Image: Xataka The hard traffic light, by default, 30 seconds. If it detects a person who meets these conditions, time increases to 35 seconds. It is exactly the same purpose as the German pilot project Ki4ped, only that it used a lidar and the Cordoba uses cameras. The project is already implemented and now it will be the users who have to validate if five seconds are enough or “if they need a little more time.” Interestingly, this traffic light does not have a incorporated second accountant, something that would help the user realize that the system, indeed, works. According to Antonio Galindo, president of the Cordoba Association of Multiple Sclerosis, “a great problem of mobility is the times, and there is already a solution.” Those affected by multiple sclerosis suffer from limiting fatigue, that is, they tire a lot even if they use support such as a wheelchair or a walker. The pressure they can feel when crossing a pedestrian step and seeing that they run out of time to cross can be huge. Image | Xataka Training. According to Pedro Vaca, responsible for the maintenance of traffic facilities in the city, the process began a year ago. To do this, they recorded videos in the Fepamic area (which is quite far from the location of the traffic light) “because it was where we had pedestrian crossings and where there was more influx of wheelchairs and walkers.” The recordings took six months and about 700 videos were achieved “that have served us as the basis to analyze and take the models of the three types of vehicles that are currently being detected.” How does it work? The company behind the artificial intelligence algorithm itself is the Cordoba Interlight. As explained to Xataka Manuel Barrios and Jerónimo Jiménez, technical director and CEO of the company, respectively, the system consists of two cameras with artificial intelligence that look at the two senses of the pedestrian passage and an algorithm of own development. The key to the algorithm, they explain from the company, is that it has self -learning. “The algorithm sees when wheelchair users pass, with canes, with baby walkers or carts, which are the four patterns that discriminates, and adding them to the model so that the algorithm improves itself.” On the left, the traffic light with AI | Image: Xataka These processes have several layers and from the company affirm that the system meets the LOPD. “We are in Europe, this is a very serious issue. Our strong is to apply artificial intelligence to something very particular respecting European guidelines, as it should be.” However, from Xataka we have been able to verify that nowhere close to the traffic light it is warned that there are cameras recording. The model detects the user in a preventive way, is anticipated, as it approaches the passage of pedestrians. If the person approaches a critical area, that is, he prepares to cross, the system sends a signal to the traffic light and indicates that it is open for a longer time. To do this, emulate the software the mechanism to press the button to ask that the traffic light opens, although this traffic light does not have said button. All this happens in 200 milliseconds, a rather low latency, and in different conditions: day, night, with rain, cloudy … The latency of the detection system is just 200 seconds The success rate is 90%, but “weekly it is increasing its capabilities. What we have seen is that the effectiveness is quite high, but when we put a frame that we have not detected, we add it … Read more