The IRSAI research project, with a total duration of 2 years, which aims to use sensors and Artificial Intelligence to monitor marine activities in the bay of Limassol, is halfway in terms of implementation, project coordinator Dr. Dimitris Kleitou, from (MER) Marine & Environmental Research Lab Ltd told “Entrepreneurial Limassol”.
As we were told by Dr. Kleitou the program includes three innovative work actions. The first concerns the use of a surveillance drone that will be able to detect spots on the surface of the sea, in which artificial intelligence will be integrated in order to create algorithms based on which the spots can be located, automatically. The drone will process images from a distance, locate ships and identify pollutant leaks in real time.
The second innovation concerns the construction of an autonomous boat, remotely controlled, which will go to the point of pollution and take a sample without having to send personnel and at the same time it will record the situation on the spot, since it has cameras.
The third innovation has to do with the creation of an oil spill dispersion model (MEDSLIK) in which the image from the drone will be combined with a rheumatograph that will give real-time data on wind and currents. The model will estimate how the oil spill spot will move and where it will end up, since a large percentage of spots in the first hours break up and so it is important to be able to calculate whether it will end up on a beach. The model will also search where the spots may have come from.
The CYENS centre of excellence (partner in the program), with its expertise in intelligent systems for image and video processing, as well as object detection and tracking, will play a key role in the development and adaptation of the algorithms. Professor Kleitou emphasized that by combining the three tools, a toolbox will be created and in the last three months of the project, those involved, will perform a live demonstration of its use. At the same time, they will train staff from the Municipality of Limassol, the Ports Authority and the Fisheries Department in the use of the tools, which will be able to be reproduced.
In this way, the Authorities responsible for marine pollution will know that the tools are at their disposal and they may be able to replicate them themselves, once the algorithms are created.
Dimitris Kleitou told us that the high-definition drone with digital and thermal cameras that can collect visual information day and night offering the possibility of control from a distance of up to 8 km and a height of 5000 m, has been purchased. During this period reconnaissance flights are made to locate small spots in order to create the algorithm. He added that efforts are being made to cooperate with the naval Marinas and the Port of Limassol in order to have access to hot spots, where spots arise.
At the same time, the autonomous vessel, which will be 2 meters long, is moving forward. It is currently being tested on a pilot vessel by the Frederick University Robotics Department. The partners involved in the IRSAI program are Marine & Environmental Research (MER) Lab Ltd, Frederick Research Centre (FRC) and CYENS – Centre of Excellence. The program is funded by the Resilience Recovery Mechanism of the European instrument Next Generation EU (NextGenerationEU), through the Foundation for Research and Innovation.
