AT&T uses drones for tower inspections. Actually, vendors do that work for the carrier. Now, the carrier wants to start automating the process using artificial intelligence.
“At any point in time, we’re installing, repairing or inspecting one of our 65,000 cell towers,” says Mazin Gilbert, Vice President of Advanced Technology at AT&T Labs in a blog. The video analytics team at AT&T Labs is working with the company’s National Drone Team on the concept.
Now, a learning algorithm analyzes video footage and can detect defects. AT&T is looking at how drones can carry a live video feed to AT&T technicians, who can study that feed in real-time. “With automation in the mix, we can do the job faster, better and more efficiently,” says Gilbert, explaining in this video that automation can make the most out of the video that’s collected, relevant to the inspection. The carrier hopes regulatory changes and more research will help make automated inspections happen.
In the carrier’s ideal world, a drone would be stationed by a tower. The drone would charge itself and then inspect the tower and communicate its condition “and potentially repairs it,” according to Gilbert.
Watch the video here.
August 21, 2017
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