Hong Kong-made 'firefighting' robots catch the attention of tech giant IBM
A Hong Kong-based start-up, Insight Robotics, has proven that there is a smarter way to detect wildfires no matter how small, using an automated system.
Wildfires in the United States, Australia and other countries are not only getting larger, but are causing more economic and human damage.
Manned watchtowers, close-circuit television, satellite infrared sensing systems and automatic smoke detectors have so far been either inadequate or too costly for the job of spotting uncontrolled fire in forests and the countryside.
A Hong Kong-based start-up, Insight Robotics, has proven that there is a smarter way to detect wildfires no matter how small, using an automated system that combines a high-precision, pan-tilt robot with thermal imaging sensors and advanced artificial intelligence vision technology.
Its Computer Vision Wildfire Detection System has been used by the Guangdong Academy of Forestry to protect the mainland’s forests and ecosystem since 2010, recording a 100 per cent detection rate in multiple field trials and deployments.
This early-warning system has been implemented in more than 10 forestry and local government agencies in five provinces and seven cities across the mainland.
Founded in 2009 and a graduate last year of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park’s flagship incubation programme, Insight Robotics claims to have developed “the most advanced wildfire detection system on planet Earth”.