Artificial Intelligence: Transformation in the Transportation Industry

The Transportation Industry

The industry that is connected with the movement of people and commodities has gone through different studies, trials, and refinements to reach where it is now.

Steamboat was an important milestone in the history of transportation in 1787. Thereafter, the breakthroughs that led to the development of the transportation sector were the invention of bicycles, trains, and aircraft.

Today this sector has transformed to a level where humans are not required for vehicles to navigate and move.

Artificial Intelligence in the Transportation Industry

Artificial Intelligence is a technology that powers machines with human intelligence.
This new-age technology contributes much to the development of the transportation industry.
As per various studies, the global market for AI in transportation is estimated to reach 3.5 billion dollars by 2023.

What are the applications of AI in the transportation industry?

1. Self-Driving Cars

Self-driving cars also known as driverless or autonomous cars make use of a number of sensors, radars, cameras, and artificial intelligence to reach the final destination without a human driver.

Many companies like Tesla, Audi, Ford, etc work to manufacture self-driving cars and they ensure to put their vehicles on the road without any errors.

How do Driverless Cars work?

The engineers of self-driving cars gather information from image recognition systems alongside AI & neural networks to assemble frameworks that can drive self sufficiently.

The patterns in the data are distinguished by the neural networks & they are fed to the AI calculations. The neural networks find out how to recognize traffic signals, trees, checks, people on foot, road signs, & various pieces of any random driving environment.

Waymo cars, the leader in self-driving technology, use high-resolution cameras, sensors, and lidar and combine all of the data those systems generate to identify everything around the vehicle. Artificial intelligence predicts what the objects might do next. The whole process happens in a fraction of seconds.

Out of the 37,133 vehicle fatalities in 2017, 94% of the accidents were due to human errors like drunk or distracted driving. Self-driving cars can remove such risk factors.

Reports have also shown that self-driving cars can enable society to save approximately $800 billion each year.

2. Management of Traffic

The problem of traffic congestion that people face can be solved by artificial intelligence.
Sensors and cameras embedded on the roads can be used to collect a large volume of traffic details. This data is then sent to the cloud, where analysis and traffic pattern revelation will be done with big data analytics and an AI-powered system.

Important details like traffic predictions, accidents, or road blockages can be given to the commuters. Moreover, people could be informed about the shortest route to their destination which will help them to travel without hassles or traffic.

Thus AI can be used to reduce unwanted traffic, improve road safety, and reduce wait times.

3. Driver Monitoring

A large number of people die every year due to road accidents. In most cases, it’s the driver’s fault that leads to fatal crashes.

AI-driven DMS solutions monitor the driver’s attentiveness and alert him/her in cases of drowsiness, distraction, etc to avert accidents.

Some features of DMS are:

● Detection of Distraction
● Detection of Drowsiness
● Eyeblink detection
● Recognition of emotion
● Eyeball tracking

4. Predictions on the delay of flights

Flight delays are a problem faced by air transport. A study that had been conducted by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley found that estimated costs due to flight delays were 39 million dollars in the US. Delays in flights can undermine a travel company’s value and result in an increased customer churn rate.

AI is helpful in dealing with these problems. Real-time airplane data, historical records, and information on weather are processed by the AI and machine learning components.
Along with it, computer vision systems can be used to monitor airplanes. All these will reveal the hidden patterns and the possibilities of flight delays and cancellations.

The insights gained can be forwarded to the passengers to help them plan their schedules accordingly.

5. Drone Taxis

Drone Taxis are another innovative application of AI in transportation. It runs on edge AI and uses machine learning to autonomously conduct infrastructure inspections and collision avoidance.

The world’s first passenger drone, Ehang 184 was developed by a technology company named Ehang, China.
These pilotless helicopters are a unique solution to combat carbon emissions, eliminate traffic congestion, and help people reach their destinations faster.

Further drone taxis can help city planners to ensure smart urban planning and build infrastructure.

The world’s first airport for electric drones and flying cars had been opened in the city of Coventry, United Kingdom.
Air One is built for zero-emission electric drones and air taxis. Moreover, the airport has also been powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

The application of AI in transport does not end here. It’s only a glimpse and there are lot more possibilities.

Wrap up

The challenges which we had in our conventional mode of the transport system are overcome through the developments in smart technology.

Artificial Intelligence is one of the outstanding innovations of humankind.
It plays an important role in the transportation industry to enhance the safety of humans, reduce pollution, and improve the flow of traffic.

AI is growing and evolving.

The global artificial intelligence in the transport market is estimated to reach $3.87 billion by 2026.