A system has been developed that uses AI to support optimal decision-making on winter maintenance based on real-time data.
Information necessary for snow removal, such as current and forecast information on the weather and road surface conditions and positioning information for winter maintenance vehicles, has become available. This information has become detailed and is available in real-time, thanks to the development of weather observation devices and improvements in related technologies. The commanders of winter maintenance work utilize these enormous amounts of real-time information when judging work conditions and directing maintenance crews, based on their long experience and in-depth knowledge.
However, decision-making regarding winter maintenance works is prone to vary from one commander to another because of differences in experience and knowledge. The aging of skilled commanders has also arisen as a concern. The development of technologies that help the knowledge and experience of skilled commanders to be passed down and that support the decision-making of inexperienced commanders has been a pressing issue.
To address this issue, we’ve started to develop a support system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) in winter maintenance decision-making. As introduced above, various data on snow and ice control have been collected and stored, thanks to today’s technological developments.
This system will integrate the knowledge of skilled commanders into a systematized collection of know-how, it will store previous cases of decision-making, and it will have an AI to learn the integrated, systematized data. We’re planning to develop a system that’s able to make optimal work decisions based on a variety of real-time information and is able to contribute to the handing down of the skills of experienced commanders.
- Systematizes the knowledge and know-how of skilled workers
- Stores various data on winter maintenance, weather, etc.
- Supports decision-making on salting and other winter maintenance operations, including on their timing
Expected advantages
(1) Accumulating winter maintenance knowledge and skills
(2) Supporting the winter maintenance decision-making of inexperienced commanders
(3) Enabling high-quality, uniform winter road management(4) Handing down skills