Transport consultancy Smart Transport Hub Ltd will work with Aston University researchers in a new Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) to capture highway asset information and road conditions.
The partnership will utilise hardware integrated with machine vision and machine learning to analyse camera feeds in real-time and relay information to highway contractors.
Funded by Innovate UK, KTPs are collaborations between a business, a university and a highly qualified research associate.
Aston University and Smart Transport Hub’s KTP will seek to improve road network conditions and traffic management, enhance highway maintenance operations by enabling timely repairs and increase productivity.
The aim of the partnership is to achieve these goals while reducing costs through automated surveys over larger geographic areas instead of manual site-specific surveys.
The partnership will also facilitate a shift from reactive to proactive highway maintenance, addressing issues including potholes and traffic signage in the hope of easing congestion and reducing accidents.
This should, it is hoped, lead to better traffic conditions and improved health and safety, resulting in fewer accidents, as well as reduced emissions and lower pollution levels.
By combining academic and industry expertise, the KTP will create a world-first mobile technology for real-time traffic monitoring that can function in busy city environments and in all weather conditions.
Principal consultant at Smart Transport Hub, Nicola Mastini, said: “Aston University is right at the forefront of research in AI and deep learning for traffic simulation.
“The KTP gives us a unique opportunity to integrate some of that knowledge and use this as a basis for upscaling our team, boosting our productivity, and developing a very unique and attractive commercial product.”
Achievements and innovations in road maintenance will be celebrated at the third annual CiTTi Awards, which will be held on 26 November 2024 at De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London. Visit www.cittiawards.co.uk to learn more about this unmissable event for the UK’s transportation sector – and to book your table!
