Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Startup Surge: Utility Feels Power of Computer Vision to Track its Lines

14/12/2021

It was the kind of message Connor McCluskey loves to find in his inbox.

As a member of the product innovation team at FirstEnergy Corp. - an electric utility serving 6 million customers from central Ohio to the New Jersey coast - his job is to find technologies that open new revenue streams or cut costs.

In the email, Chris Ricciuti, the founder of Noteworthy AI, explained his ideas for using edge computing to radically improve how utilities track their assets. For FirstEnergy, those assets include tens of millions of devices mounted on millions of poles across more than 269,000 miles of distribution lines.

Bucket Trucks Become Smart Cameras Ricciuti said his startup aimed to turn every truck in a utility's fleet into a smart camera that takes pictures of every pole it passes. What's more, Noteworthy AI's software would provide the location of the pole, identify the gear on it and help analyze its condition.

I saw right away that this could be a game changer, so I called him, said McCluskey.

In the U.S. alone, utilities own 185 million poles. They spend tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars a year trying to track the transformers, fuses and other devices on them, as well as the vegetation growing around them.

Utilities typically send out workers each year to manually inspect a fraction of their distribution lines. It's an inventory that can take a decade, yet the condition of each device is critical to delivering power safely.

5x More Images in 30 Days In a pilot test last summer, Noteworthy AI showed how edge computing gets better results.

In 30 days, two FirstEnergy trucks, outfitted with the startup's smart cameras, collected more than 5,000 high-res images of its poles. That expanded the utility's database more than fivefold.

People were astounded at what we could do in such a short time frame, said McClusky.

What's more, the pictures were of higher quality than those in the utility's database. That would help eliminate wasted trips when actual line conditions vary from what engineers expect to find.

The startup's camera system can be mounted on a utility truck in less than an hour. Use Cases Multiply News of the pilot program spread to other business units.

A team that inspects FirstEnergy's 880,000 streetlights and another responsible for tracking vegetation growth around its lines wanted to try the technology. Both saw the value of having more and better data.

So, an expanded pilot is in the works with more trucks over a larger area.

It's too early to estimate the numbers, but McCluskey felt right away we could find some significant cost savings with this technology - in a couple years I can imagine its use expanded to all our states, he said.

An Inside Look at Edge Computing In a unit the size of a small cake box that attaches to a truck with magnets or suction cups, Noteworthy AI packs two cameras and communications gear. It links to a smaller unit inside the cab that processes the images and AI on an NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX.

We developed a pretty sophisticated workflow that runs at the edge on Jetson, Ricciuti said.

It uses seven AI models. One model looks for poles in images taken at 30 frames/second. When it finds one, it triggers a higher res camera to take bursts of 60-megabyte pictures.

Other models identify gear on the poles and determine which images to send to a database in the cloud.

Designing a fast, resilient camera was even more challenging than implementing AI, said Ricciuti. We're doing all this AI compute at the edge on Jetson, so we don't have to send all the images to the cloud - it's a huge cost savings, Ricciuti said.

With customer use cases growing, we'll graduate to products like Jetson AGX Orin in the future - NVIDIA has been awesome in computing at the edge, he added.

Software, Support Speeds Startup The startup uses NVIDIA TensorRT, code that keeps its AI models trim, so they run fast. It also employs the NVIDIA JetPack SDK with drivers and libraries for computer vision and deep learning as well as ROS, an operating system, now accelerated on Jetson.

In addition, Ricciuti ticks off three benefits from being part of NVIDIA Inception, a program designed to nurture cutting-edge startups.

When we have engineering questions, we get introduced to technical people who unblock us; we meet potential customers when we're ready to go to market; and we get computer credits for GPUs in the cloud to train our models, he said.

AI Spells Digital Transformation The GPUs, software and support help Ricciuti do the work he loves: finding ways AI can transform legacy practices at large, regulated companies.

We're just seeing the tip of the iceberg of what we can do as people are being forced to innovate in the face of problems like climate change, and we're getting a lot of interest from utilities with large distribution networks, he said.

Learn more about how NVIDIA is accelerating innovation in the energy industry.
LINK: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2021/12/14/power-utility-ai-edge/...
See more stories from nvidia

More from Nvidia

28/03/2024

Greater Scope: Doctors Get Inside Look at Gut Health With AI-Powered Endoscopy

From humble beginnings as a university spinoff to an acquisition by the leading global medtech company in its field, Odin Vision has been on an accelerated jour...

28/03/2024

Get Cozy With Palia' on GeForce NOW

Ease into spring with the warm, cozy vibes of Palia, coming to the cloud this GFN Thursday. It's part of six new titles joining the GeForce NOW library of ...

27/03/2024

Software Developers Launch OpenUSD and Generative AI-Powered Product Configurators Built on NVIDIA Omniverse

From designing dream cars to customizing clothing, 3D product configurators are ...

27/03/2024

NVIDIA Hopper Leaps Ahead in Generative AI at MLPerf

It's official: NVIDIA delivered the world's fastest platform in industry-standard tests for inference on generative AI. In the latest MLPerf benchmarks...

27/03/2024

Viome's Guru Banavar Discusses AI for Personalized Health

In the latest episode of NVIDIA's AI Podcast, Viome Chief Technology Officer Guru Banavar spoke with host Noah Kravitz about how AI and RNA sequencing are r...

27/03/2024

Unlocking Peak Generations: TensorRT Accelerates AI on RTX PCs and Workstations

Editor's note: This post is part of the AI Decoded series, which demystifies AI by making the technology more accessible, and which showcases new hardware, ...

26/03/2024

Boom in AI-Enabled Medical Devices Transforms Healthcare

The future of healthcare is software-defined and AI-enabled. Around 700 FDA-cleared, AI-enabled medical devices are now on the market - more than 10x the number...

26/03/2024

Model Innovators: How Digital Twins Are Making Industries More Efficient

A manufacturing plant near Hsinchu, Taiwan's Silicon Valley, is among facilities worldwide boosting energy efficiency with AI-enabled digital twins. A virt...

26/03/2024

Into the Omniverse: Groundbreaking OpenUSD Advancements Put NVIDIA GTC Spotlight on Developers

Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...

25/03/2024

NVIDIA Blackwell and Automotive Industry Innovators Dazzle at NVIDIA GTC

Generative AI, in the data center and in the car, is making vehicle experiences safer and more enjoyable. The latest advancements in automotive technology were...

21/03/2024

AI's New Frontier: From Daydreams to Digital Deeds

Imagine a world where you can whisper your digital wishes into your device, and poof, it happens. That world may be coming sooner than you think. But if you...

21/03/2024

You Transformed the World,' NVIDIA CEO Tells Researchers Behind Landmark AI Paper

Of GTC's 900+ sessions, the most wildly popular was a conversation hosted by...

21/03/2024

Instant Latte: NVIDIA Gen AI Research Brews 3D Shapes in Under a Second

NVIDIA researchers have pumped a double shot of acceleration into their latest text-to-3D generative AI model, dubbed LATTE3D. Like a virtual 3D printer, LATTE...

21/03/2024

Here Be Dragons: Dragon's Dogma 2' Comes to GeForce NOW

Arise for a new adventure with Dragon's Dogma 2, leading two new titles joining the GeForce NOW library this week. Set Forth, Arisen Fulfill a forgotten de...

20/03/2024

AI Decoded From GTC: The Latest Developer Tools and Apps Accelerating AI on PC and Workstation

Editor's note: This post is part of the AI Decoded series, which demystifies...

19/03/2024

NVIDIA Celebrates Americas Partners Driving AI-Powered Transformation

NVIDIA recognized 14 partners in the Americas for their achievements in transforming businesses with AI, this week at GTC. The winners of the NVIDIA Partner Ne...

19/03/2024

Climate Pioneers: 3 Startups Harnessing NVIDIA's AI and Earth-2 Platforms

To help mitigate climate change - one of humanity's greatest challenges - researchers are turning to AI and sustainable computing to accelerate and operatio...

19/03/2024

Secure by Design: NVIDIA AIOps Partner Ecosystem Blends AI for Businesses

In today's complex business environments, IT teams face a constant flow of challenges, from simple issues like employee account lockouts to critical securit...

19/03/2024

Generation Sensation: New Generative AI and RTX Tools Boost Content Creation

Editor's note: This post is part of our In the NVIDIA Studio series, which celebrates featured artists, offers creative tips and tricks, and demonstrates ho...

19/03/2024

NVIDIA, Huang Win Top Honors in Innovation, Engineering

NVIDIA today was named the world's most innovative company by Fast Company magazine. The accolade comes on the heels of company founder and CEO Jensen Huan...

18/03/2024

NVIDIA Edify Unlocks 3D Generative AI, New Image Controls for Visual Content Providers

NVIDIA Edify, a multimodal architecture for visual generative AI, is entering a ...

18/03/2024

From Atoms to Supercomputers: NVIDIA, Partners Scale Quantum Computing

The latest advances in quantum computing include investigating molecules, deploying giant supercomputers and building the quantum workforce with a new academic ...

18/03/2024

New NVIDIA Storage Partner Validation Program Streamlines Enterprise AI Deployments

A sharp increase in generative AI deployments is driving business innovation for...

18/03/2024

NVIDIA Unveils Digital Blueprint for Building Next-Gen Data Centers

Designing, simulating and bringing up modern data centers is incredibly complex, involving multiple considerations like performance, energy efficiency and scala...

18/03/2024

Generative AI Developers Harness NVIDIA Technologies to Transform In-Vehicle Experiences

Cars of the future will be more than just modes of transportation; they'll b...

18/03/2024

All Eyes on AI: Automotive Tech on Full Display at GTC 2024

All eyes across the auto industry are on GTC - the global AI conference running in San Jose, Calif., and online through Thursday, March 21 - as the world's ...

18/03/2024

All Aboard: NVIDIA Scores 23 World Records for Route Optimization

With nearly two dozen world records to its name, NVIDIA cuOpt now holds the top spot for 100% of the largest routing benchmarks in the last three years. And thi...

18/03/2024

We Created a Processor for the Generative AI Era,' NVIDIA CEO Says

Generative AI promises to revolutionize every industry it touches - all that's been needed is the technology to meet the challenge. NVIDIA founder and CEO ...

14/03/2024

NVIDIA GTC 2024: A Glimpse Into the Future of AI With Jensen Huang

NVIDIA's GTC 2024 AI conference will set the stage for another leap forward in AI. At the heart of this highly anticipated event: the opening keynote by Je...

14/03/2024

Reach for the Stars: Eight Out-of-This-World Games Join the Cloud

The stars align this GFN Thursday as more top titles from Ubisoft and Square Enix join the cloud. Star Wars Outlaws will be coming to the GeForce NOW library a...

13/03/2024

Currents of Change: ITIF President Daniel Castro on Energy-Efficient AI and Climate Change

AI-driven change is in the air, as are concerns about the technology's envir...

13/03/2024

AI Decoded: Demystifying Large Language Models, the Brains Behind Chatbots

Editor's note: This post is part of our AI Decoded series, which aims to demystify AI by making the technology more accessible, while showcasing new hardwar...

12/03/2024

Head of the Class: Explore AI's Potential in Higher Education and Research at GTC

For students, researchers and educators eager to delve into AI, GTC - NVIDIA'...

11/03/2024

Eco-System Upgrade: AI Plants a Digital Forest at NVIDIA GTC

The ecosystem around NVIDIA's technologies has always been verdant - but this is absurd. After a stunning premiere at the World Economic Forum in Davos, im...

11/03/2024

AI Getting Green Light: City of Raleigh Taps NVIDIA Metropolis to Improve Traffic

You might say that James Alberque has a bird's-eye view of the road congesti...

07/03/2024

First Class: NVIDIA Introduces Generative AI Professional Certification

NVIDIA is offering a new professional certification in generative AI to enable developers to establish technical credibility in this important domain. Generati...

07/03/2024

LLMs Land on Laptops: NVIDIA, HP CEOs Celebrate AI PCs

2024 will be the year generative AI gets personal, the CEOs of NVIDIA and HP said today in a fireside chat, unveiling new laptops that can build, test and run l...

07/03/2024

Don't Pass This Up: Day Passes Now Available on GeForce NOW

Gamers can now seize the day with Day Passes, available to purchase for 24-hour continuous access to powerful cloud gaming with all the benefits of a GeForce NO...

06/03/2024

AI Decoded: Demystifying AI and the Hardware, Software and Tools That Power It

With the 2018 launch of RTX technologies and the first consumer GPU built for AI - GeForce RTX - NVIDIA accelerated the shift to AI computing. Since then, AI on...

06/03/2024

Bria Builds Responsible Generative AI for Enterprises Using NVIDIA NeMo, Picasso

As visual generative AI matures from research to the enterprise domain, businesses are seeking responsible ways to integrate the technology into their products....

05/03/2024

The Magic Behind the Screen: Celebrating the 96th Academy Awards Nominees for Best Visual Effects

The 96th Academy Awards nominees for Best Visual Effects are a testament to the ...

04/03/2024

Robo Rendezvous: Robotics Innovators and AI Leaders to Converge at NVIDIA GTC

Bringing together pioneers in robotics and AI, NVIDIA GTC will be a state-of-the-art showcase of applied AI for autonomous machines. The conference, running Ma...

01/03/2024

No Noobs Here: Top Pro Gamers Bolster Software Quality Assurance Testing

For some NVIDIANs, it's always game day. Our Santa Clara-based software quality assurance team boasts some of the world's top gamers, whose search for ...

01/03/2024

Automakers Electrify Geneva International Motor Show

The Geneva International Motor Show, one of the most important and long-standing global auto exhibitions, opened this week, with the spotlight on several China ...

01/03/2024

Live at GTC: Hear From Industry Leaders Using AI to Drive Innovation and Agility

Interest in new AI applications reached a fever pitch last year as business leaders began exploring AI pilot programs. This year, they're focused on strateg...

01/03/2024

What Is Trustworthy AI?

Artificial intelligence, like any transformative technology, is a work in progress - continually growing in its capabilities and its societal impact. Trustworth...

29/02/2024

Battle.net Leaps Into the Cloud With GeForce NOW

GFN Thursday celebrates this leap day with the addition of a popular game store to the cloud. Stream the first titles from Blizzard Entertainment's Battle....

28/02/2024

What Is Sovereign AI?

Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, control their own data and take advantage of technology opportunities in areas...

28/02/2024

Time to Skill Up: Game Reviewer Ralph Panebianco Wields NVIDIA RTX for the Win

Editor's note: This post is part of our weekly In the NVIDIA Studio series, which celebrates featured artists, offers creative tips and tricks, and demonstr...

28/02/2024

And Action! Cuebric CEO Provides Insights Into Filmmaking Using AI

These days, just about everyone is a content creator. But can generative AI help make people create high-quality films and other content affordably? Find out fr...