Anti-Shark Drones Will Help You Swim in Peace

Machine learning helps the drone figure out what's a shark and what's not.

Last year, there were 26 unprovoked shark attacks on humans in Australia, two of them fatal. Researchers in Australia are working towards reducing those numbers through a drone capable of detecting sharks through a machine learning algorithm.

The drones are the result of partnership between The Little Ripper Group, a private company focused on search and rescue drones, working with researchers from the University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) School of Software. Little Ripper provides the drones, UTS provides the algorithm.

"The automated system for detection and identification of sharks in particular, and marine life/objects more generally, was developed using cutting edge deep neural networks and image processing techniques," says Professor Michael Blumenstein, Head of the School of Software in the Faculty of Engineering and IT in a statement.

That detection system was built through image processing techniques that examined live video feeds in real time to detect sharks. Using an object detection system called a Region based-Convolution Neural Network (RCNN), UTS is able to detect sharks with 90 percent accuracy, filtering them through myriad images of other marine life and human surfers and swimmers.

Little Ripper's drones, a fleet made up of US and German-built UAVs, are geared towards sharp visuals. The Vapor 55 can last an hour on a single battery charge and a gyro-stabilized digital camera with FLIR thermal imaging and optical telephoto zoom.

"This system will help make beach recreation much safer and is a major milestone in addressing shark attacks with very real ability to save a life," says Eddie Bennet, Little Ripper Lifesaver's CEO. New South Wales and Queensland surfers can expect the drones to start their detection process in September.

Source: CNET