Dubai: Motorists causing damage to public property like a palm tree, traffic lights or the footpath, will soon get an estimate of the cost incurred just within a few days. All thanks to a drone that is being developed by a group of students from the UAE University.
Al Ain municipality in collaboration with a team of computer engineering students from the university have developed a drone that uses artificial intelligence that eases the process for someone who has caused damage to public property during an accident.
Instant analysis
The drone will be instantly sent to the location of the accident and will take pictures. The images will be transmitted back for analysis on the spot. This cuts the time that would have taken for an engineer to reach the location.
Meera Al Saedi, student and project member told Gulf News: “Previously, the process could take about one to three months for someone to get an estimate of the damage they have caused, now it can be done within a couple of days.”
The device is currently under development and is set to be launched next year, according to Al Saedi.
Robot receptionist at Al Ain Municipality
Additionally, through the same collaboration between the government entity and the university, a receptionist robot has also been developed for Al Ain Municipality.
Nada Al Yammahi, a computer engineering student has helped develop the robot that is currently found at their headquarters.
The robot responds to commands in Arabic and English as well as sign language commands.
Additionally, it helps people find locations of different offices in the building by showing them the exact directions on a map.
The robot also displays commonly used forms at Al Ain Municipality and if the “robot print” command is uttered, it prints them for visitors.
But that’s not all. Al Yammahi added: “The robot is there to make people happy. If you tell him you’re unhappy, it’ll make you smile.”
At the end of their visit, users can also give feedback through the robot in two different ways: typing or video recording. The video recording is installed especially for people of determination.
However, it is not there to replace human workers according to Al Yammahi.
“It’s a robot, it requires some input and gets errors from time to time. A human receptionist is also present at the building,” she added.
