NHAI to Create AI-Powered Dashcam Network to Monitor Highway Road Conditions

The National Highways Authority of India, under the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, has announced a new initiative that will leverage AI and deep learning to extract actionable information about road conditions from a network of specialised dashcams mounted on patrol vehicles. 

The agency has identified approximately 40,000 km of highway stretches in five strategic zones, along which it will conduct weekly drives to capture high-resolution video footage and data. The AI-powered Dashcam Analytics Services (DAS) will improve and speed up the collection of data related to anomalies that require maintenance or attention. 

Over 30 types of issues can be identified and tagged. Machine learning algorithms have been trained to detect potholes, cracks, rutting, faded lane markings, damaged crash barriers, malfunctioning street lights, missing manhole covers, accumulations of stagnant water, and vegetation overgrowth. The network will also be used to detect unauthorised signboards, median openings, parking, and encroachment, as well as track the condition of bus shelters. 

Weekly drives along the identified stretches of highways will allow the NHAI to monitor how issues develop and how effectively it responds to them. The agency has also committed to conducting at least one drive per month at night, to evaluate lighting and safety conditions.

The agency will use a specialised IT platform with interactive visualisation dashboards, which is being developed specifically for this initiative. It will also have dedicated modules for data management and AI analytics to promote data-driven decision-making. Authorities will be able to see side-by-side comparisons of archival and present-day road conditions to closely monitor maintenance speed and effectiveness. The data can also be leveraged for other purposes, and will be integrated into the NHAI’s central Data Lake platform.