The Sony IMX500 sensor participates in a smart city project in Rome

Using the smart vision sensor Sony IMX500 three projects have been launched to reduce traffic, optimising public transport and increasing pedestrian safety.

Image sensors Sony IMX500 with processing functionality with Artificial Intelligence are part of three smart city projects that it is carrying out Envision in the city of Rome. The goal is to reduce pollution and accidents related to city transportation at pedestrian crossings.

The tests seek to evaluate and offer a smart parking system using IMX500 sensors to reduce pollution and traffic jams of those who circulate looking for a place to park.

To do this, the test seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of the system, in which drivers receive alerts through an app on their smartphone before being directed to the free parking space closest to their destination.

The project also includes a study of smart city systems that will optimize capacity and increase the use of their public transport networks. This will be done by implementing smart bus canopies, able to count the people who go up and down each one, identifying overcrowding to ensure better bus provisioning and cost optimisation.

At last, an alert system will be progressively activated at pedestrian crossings to alert drivers when they are crossing, using intelligent low-latency lighting on the road to make them more visible. The goal is to reduce accidents at pedestrian crossings.

The company Envision is responsible for the development of smart devices; while the TTM Group (Control DP) has been responsible for installing the IMX500 image sensor on the smart device; And Citelum has been the promoter of the project and responsible for the installation of smart devices at traffic lights, of the ordinary and extraordinary maintenance service of traffic light systems, as well as light signalling and traffic regulation and control, in the city of Rome.

Sensor IMX500

The IMX500 is the first image sensor that integrates AI processing functionality. The configuration used for these tests allows you to extract real-time metadata related to the information of a free parking space, the presence of a pedestrian about to cross a street or the number of people getting on/off a bus.

Following privacy requirements, neither images are stored nor do they leave the sensor.

This allows the city to reduce the bandwidth required, scale it using existing networks and reduce energy and communications costs. In addition, responds to citizens' privacy concerns.

Sony Europe is committed to supporting the development and implementation of smart city projects to help them solve their problems through a Sensing as a Service model (SeaaS).

traffic, congestion and pedestrian safety

Traffic caused by drivers seeking parking is seen by the city as a key factor in congestion and this project seeks to quantify the magnitude of the problem.
Leveraging Sony's imaging and sensing technology to address social causes in cities shows how IMX500 sensors can alleviate some of the problems faced by large cities.

The average distance between pedestrians and vehicles is a metric used to measure pedestrian safety. The project aims to generate a quantitative analysis of this data and prevent pedestrian accidents through the signaling mechanisms installed at the crossings.

"This is a clear and concrete example that Sony's intelligent vision solutions can serve our customers' purpose while respecting people's privacy.. We want to achieve more sustainable and livable cities, and through the scalable IMX500 platform we can accelerate this process”, explains Antonio Avitabile, General Manager, Alliances and Corporate Investments, Sony.

Technology implemented

Genius smart devices have been installed in the center of Rome. A preliminary phase has begun that will enable a neural network to identify available parking spaces, as well as the number of people waiting at bus stops, enter or leave them and wait to cross or are crossing the street.

Each Genius smart device consists of two sensors that look towards the driveways around it and the parking spaces.

Sensors send real-time data produced by neural networks about the exact location of a free space, the presence of pedestrians and the expected number of people at bus stops.

The data, with the exact location of available parking spaces, is transmitted in real time through the smart device. Below, the data is processed in the sensor integrated into the smart device itself, using neural networks, and are sent to the partner company's cloud software platform, Envision.

The coordinates of the exact location of the available parking spaces are displayed in real time on a map, on the screen of the mobile device used by the driver heading towards the area.

Pedestrian presence is measured and compared in different locations. The neural network system detects pedestrians at zebra crossings and sends light signals to drivers to alert them.

Smart canopies

Data on the length of the waiting and waiting people on and off buses is processed on the smart device's sensor via the neural network and sent to the Envision software platform. It aggregates them and makes them available to the staff who manage the public bus network to improve the planning and scheduling of the transport network..

The 'crowded' figure is provided to signal when the bus is running above capacity to avoid overcrowding, better manage the transport network and optimize the travel experience of citizens.

The project is carried out in the city of Rome in collaboration with several start-ups of the Italian ecosystem and with the support of Sony Europe.

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