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AI and the IoT: Bringing the Benefits of a Safer World

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The emergence of the IoT is delivering many benefits across many verticals, but it is also providing huge added value to those working in areas deemed ‘mission critical’ – where lives could be at stake.

Any network used for mission critical purposes must be reliable, high quality, resilient and interoperable, and those currently used for voice and data communications are expected to meet or exceed stringent standards.

The IoT adds a further resource dimension for those protecting citizens, property and infrastructure, and saving lives.  With its capability for low power, long life devices able to be positioned in many difficult to reach or dangerous environments, and with the option of secure Wi-Fi connectivity to complement cellular where it is unavailable or unreliable, there is a wealth of potential.

There are simple applications where the IoT can make a life-saving difference. Take community defibrillators located in airports and shopping centers which you have perhaps noticed in prominent locations. Ever wondered if it was “good to go”, if needed? Also are those fire extinguishers on the walls fully charged? One of our customers used IoT as the inspiration to add Low-Power Wi-Fi to their defibrillator product to monitor the readiness of their product. With a smart module connecting the defibrillator through enterprise grade routers utilizing a secure connection to the IoT monitoring service, the battery and product status can be monitored. This not only ensures that there are no power issues when it is deployed, but ensures resources are only deployed when servicing is required. A similar use case is fire extinguishers – required by law to be available in many buildings and public places, these can be remotely monitored to ensure they are always ready for use.

Depending on specific deployment conditions, IoT networks based one or a combination of secure Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or cellular technologies, can be implemented that track and exchange data with devices located underground, in basements, tunnels, and waterlines.  These can be used to monitor detect water and alert relevant authorities if there is a flood threat. They can send data back to a control center in the event of a fire to monitor rising heat levels. Fire and rescue personnel can be issued body-worn sensors so the control center can track their position and progress in smoke-filled rooms or where there has been an incident involving hazardous chemicals.

In the oil and gas industries, the IoT can be used to collect critical information – sensor data analyzed to predict potential failure of critical components out in the field and timely action taken to prevent dangerous and costly disruptions. Connected machinery can be monitored in conjunction with weather conditions to determine whether or when automatic shutdown is necessary to ensure the safety of personnel.

The IoT is also playing a crucial role in keeping us safer in our increasingly congested cities. As the population continues to grow and more transportation is required, roads become busier, railways and airports become more crowded, and air quality continues to suffer.  With the IoT, a wealth of information can be collected to enable municipalities to deliver smart transportation solutions, monitor traffic volume and adjust control measures to facilitate better traffic flow. The information can be used to advise emergency response vehicles on the fastest route to a road traffic accident or used to close certain routes to enable faster response times in the event of a major incident.

Vehicle sensors enable the automatic payment of toll fees to speed up traffic throughput, thus reducing fuel consumption and vehicle emission levels. Smart parking solutions can identify and highlight available spaces. Critical infrastructure such as bridges, motorways and tunnels can be monitored, and structural defects identified and addressed before they become a danger.

For crime fighting, the gathering of data is of key importance to law enforcement, but here there is often a need for the data to be analyzed as rapidly as possible. This is where the intersection of AI and IoT Technologies like Gigabit LTE  come into the picture. An example is CCTV monitoring. Cities in particular have thousands of high and ultra-high-resolution cameras scanning a huge number of buildings and road networks. With instantly available high-resolution video streams, the incorporation of AI into the security systems, image scanners can rapidly identify known criminals or likely criminal activity in the monitored areas and send automatic alerts to the police.  Intelligent cameras leveraging this broadband communication capability are being developed that will search for ‘persons of interest’ – whether a known felon or a missing youngster.

Providing AI with high resolution vision and sound and other sensor data streams allows it to identify suspicious activity – or non-activity. The same vehicle circling a particular route several times would trigger an alert, and the license plate transmitted to the relevant authorities for investigation.  At an airport, for example, if a package was identified as having had no human interaction for a certain level of time, its location would be transmitted to airport security to take the necessary measures to seal off the area and check the package.

The automated processes enabled by the IoT are creating a more streamlined, safer environment. Coupled with the growing power of AI, this is a whole new connected world of opportunity that is only limited by the efficiency of the network. As connectivity and network management continue improving into the 5G era with speeds reaching the tens of Gigabits per second, the benefits of the AI-powered IoT will bring a safer world for us all.

About the author: Kenneth Bednasz is the Vice President of Application Engineering for Telit and is responsible for the technical support and module certification for Telit’s products.  Ken has been with Telit since 2006 and has been instrumental in leading innovative product introductions with North American network operators. Ken has over 20 years of experience in the cellular industry. Prior to Telit, he worked for Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications and holds multiple patents and publications in the area of cellular communications. Learn more about Telit at http://info.telit.com/public-safety.
 
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