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Deep Learning Identifies Wet Road Hazards From Sound Input (thestack.com)

Posted by samzenpus on from the slippery-when-wet dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Researches have used recurrent neural network architecture to develop an audio-interpretation system that can understand how wet a road is, using techniques more commonly employed in speech recognition and music analysis. Every year 384,032 persons are injured and 4,789 persons killed through wet roads, and it's a problem that also threatens to hamper the usefulness of self-driving cars, which are likely to either become dangerous or prohibitively cautious in the absence of good information about the safety of road surfaces.

33 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. Re:It's more people than that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    It's not the wet roads that kill/injure people - it's inappropriate driving.

  2. Re:It's more people than that by bickerdyke · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Don't know for sure, but elsewhere people would probably just notice that the road is wet after a rainfall and drive accordingly?

    How many of those 384,032 people sued because no one put up a yellow "Caution! Wet Floor" sign?

    --
    bickerdyke
  3. Killled by wet roads? by fred911 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    " Every year 384,032 persons are injured and 4,789 persons killed through wet roads" should read:

      Every year 384,032 persons are injured and 4,789 persons killed through wet roads and their inability to grasp the concepts of friction and velocity.

      Or: ...are killed because of their piss poor driving skills.

    --
    09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B - D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
    1. Re:Killled by wet roads? by chthon · · Score: 1

      My experience with other drivers is that they choose a certain way of driving under normal circumstances, and then do this also when it is wet, raining, pouring or foggy.

    2. Re:Killled by wet roads? by RogueyWon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Indeed. About five years ago, my then-next-door neighbours' son was seriously hurt (and left with long-term life-changing injuries) in a crash a few months after passing his driving test. He wasn't breaking the speed-limit at the time - he was bang on 40mph on a road with a 40mph limit - but he had tried taking a bend that he should have been slowing for even in good road conditions without slowing - just after a short, sharp rain-shower when the road was extremely slippery. Result - he went off the road and into a tree at 40mph.

      I think part of the issue is that a lot of the advances in car technology that have made motoring safer and easier under most conditions have also served to insulate drivers from the reality of what they are doing; controlling a powerful, heavy metal object whose connection to the road comes through four small strips of rubber.

      Here in the UK, you can legally learn to drive from age 17. Learning and passing a test generally requires several months (we have arguably the toughest driving test in the world, which is unsurprising as we also have more cars per mile of road than any other country on Earth). One trick I've recommended to parents a number of times over the years is that they might want to consider, as a "treat" for their newly-driving offspring, one of those "rally days" you can pay for, which includes a few hours instruction in loose-gravel driving, plus the opportunity to try it out for several hours.

      Based on both personal and observed experience, there is absolutely nothing as effective as throwing a car with no power steering, no traction control and no ABS around a loose gravel surface at teaching the driver just how scary some of the forces he or she is playing with can be. Doing 40mph on tarmac in a modern road car feels positively sedate under most circumstances. Doing 40mpgh in a rattling bare-bones car on a surface which provides very little grip feels very different. An intelligent 17 year old should be able to carry that knowledge across into driving on wet tarmac.

      And no, video games, no matter how realistic, are not a substitute. You need to feel the weight of the car and the power of the engine through the steering column, or the lesson just doesn't work.

    3. Re:Killled by wet roads? by Viol8 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Even race car drivers still crash."

      Race car drivers are paid to take their vehicles to the limit of control. Normal drivers are told not to on many occasions but a lot just don't listen.

    4. Re:Killled by wet roads? by cdrudge · · Score: 1

      we also have more cars per mile of road than any other country on Earth

      or not

    5. Re:Killled by wet roads? by RogueyWon · · Score: 1

      Unless I'm reading something wrong, that does indeed show the UK top of the list (with Germany a narrow second)?

    6. Re:Killled by wet roads? by wildstoo · · Score: 1

      Scroll down the page. UK is #20.

    7. Re:Killled by wet roads? by fullmetal55 · · Score: 1

      "Or or killed by OTHERS' piss poor driving skills" the best driver in the world can get t-boned at an intersection by someone who is driving like an idiot..

    8. Re:Killled by wet roads? by mikael · · Score: 1

      An ice covered country road with a camber is the worst - couldn't go faster than 5mph before the car starts slipping towards the drainage ditch.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    9. Re:Killled by wet roads? by cant_get_a_good_nick · · Score: 1

      Race car drivers are paid to take their vehicles to the limit of control.

      there was a CART race at Texas Motor Speedway where they got so fast, over 235MPH, the G forces were so strong, a couple of the drivers blacked out. Not passed out, but they didn't remember driving. Scary stuff. CART eventually thought best of it and cancel the race.

      Sadly, a lot of people were pissed at the drivers, and that anger, anger at erring for drivers' safety, ended up killing CART to where they merged back with the Indy Racing Leage (IRL).

    10. Re:Killled by wet roads? by cdrudge · · Score: 1

      And your point is?

  4. Re:It's more people than that by Z00L00K · · Score: 3

    Wet roads comes in many variants, from the simple thin layer that only lowers the friction a little to deep trenches and pools that catches the cars and throws them offtrack and then to the black ice with a wet surface that looks just like an ordinary wet road but has almost no friction at all and causes really dangerous situations because the road can transit from being just wet to being black ice in an instant.

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  5. Re:It's more people than that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    it's not wet roads that kill people. it's the sudden stop at the end.

  6. On a related note... by jcr · · Score: 1

    Many years ago, I remember hearing about a project to identify mechanical problems by audio recognition. The idea was that a computer could listen to an engine and tell whether a cylinder was misfiring, for example. I wonder whatever came of that?

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    1. Re:On a related note... by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Many years ago, I remember hearing about a project to identify mechanical problems by audio recognition. The idea was that a computer could listen to an engine and tell whether a cylinder was misfiring, for example. I wonder whatever came of that?

      I can't speak to what you were talking about, but every modern car has piezo microphones bolted to the block used to listen for misfires, called knock sensors. When you combine their output with that of the crank and cam position sensors, you can determine which cylinder is misfiring.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:On a related note... by Lab+Rat+Jason · · Score: 1

      That's the principle that a knock sensor operates on... so I'd say in some regard it's definitely a technology in use. Don't know if that's what you were referring to but all cars have had knock sensors for the past 20 years or more.

      --
      Which has more power: the hammer, or the anvil?
    3. Re:On a related note... by jcr · · Score: 1

      That sounds like it, but I recall it was also supposed to listen for things like bearings going bad, loose belts, etc.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  7. Re:It's more people than that by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Not just that: a wet road after a mild shower doesn't have to be a problem in spring or fall, but the exact same shower in summer after a long dry spell can turn the road into a slippery slide, when the rubber and other crap that's been accumulating on the surface gets wet.

    --
    If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  8. Re:It's more people than that by RandomFactor · · Score: 1

    Significant road penetration by humans is quite rare.

    --
    --- Mercutio was right.
  9. Re:It's more people than that by tinkerton · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Concrete an rough tarmac can be very predictable. Dirt, water, it just always grips. Smooth tarmac can easily get slippery even when dry.

    The thing is drivers are more and more reduced to slow video game drivers. They just point the steering wheel. The net result is less accidents but the decrease in skill is dramatic. So is the decrease in attention i think. So the improvement in safety is partially cancelled because 'all other things being equal' does not apply.

  10. deep learning by carnivore302 · · Score: 1

    This deep learning stuff is going to be huge one day

    --
    Please login to access my lawn
  11. Re:It's more people than that by avandesande · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It is from the oil on the road that floats when it rains after a long dry spell. It isn't nearly as big a problem as it used to be, I think in general new cars tend to be less leaky. You would be amazed at the amount of research that has gone into gaskets.

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
  12. Re:It's more people than that by Culture20 · · Score: 1

    A wet road in the fall is more dangerous than a road with spots of snow in winter. The leaves turn very slippery, close to ice. And no salt will melt them.

  13. Yet another reason to ban by MobyDisk · · Score: 2

    Every year 384,032 persons are injured and 4,789 persons killed through wet roads,

    Yet another reason to ban dihydrogen monoxide!

  14. How wet? by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    Here's some answers the artificial intelligence came up with:

    How Wet Is It? ....it's so wet, the term "Ark-Industrial-Complex" has just been added to the Oxford Dictionary. ....it's so wet, the moisturizer jar gets more full with each use. ....it's so wet, my ride-on mower is now a float-on. ....it's so wet, it *must* be a liberal conspiracy to undermine the credibility of climate change deniers. ....it's so wet, I saw a fish in a lifeboat. ....it's so wet, my in-laws are vacationing in England for three weeks to dry out. ....it's so wet, I can let my goldfish play out in the yard. ....it's so wet, I saw a duck in a rain slicker. ....it's so wet, the water bugs in my basement are building an ark. ....it's so wet, I'm swimming laps in the hallway. ....it's so wet, I saw a squirrel wrapping his nuts in Saran Wrap. ....it's so wet, my umbrella needs a raincoat.

  15. Re:It's more people than that by Mirar · · Score: 1

    People just get so angry when bad driving is identified by sound.

  16. ....wet? by Mirar · · Score: 1

    I wonder, what kind of roads and tyres are involved here?

    I can't remember having a problem with wet roads while driving in a way that wouldn't be seriously uncomfortable - unless there's a few inches of water on the road or I'm driving crazy cars (like that 700hp Cadillac test car with slicks that didn't want to move with or without traction control). Am I just getting way too good tyres?

    Unless the "wet" is frozen. But that's a completely different game.

    But if anyone builds me a car that warns me of black ice in advance, I'd like it.

  17. Drive to the conditions by juniorkindergarten · · Score: 1

    It's really simple. Police say it until they're blue in the face. Drive to the conditions and slow down. Just because you have all wheel drive, traction control, anti lock breaks, auto breaking, etc. doesn't give you license to drive 20% over the speed limit when everyone is going 50% under because the roads suck. Of course there will be the kidiot whining that he rolled his new suv and the highway department didn't do its job. Wah.

    --
    "Every security scheme that is based on secrets eventually fails." - Steve Jobs
  18. Re:It's more people than that by mikael · · Score: 1

    Yes, they speed up to get off the wet patch of road.

    --
    Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
  19. Re:It's more people than that by bickerdyke · · Score: 1

    +5 Intresting? Come on..... at least I'm admittint to be trolling. I'll gratefully accept the +1 funnies though.

    --
    bickerdyke
  20. Re:Speed Limit by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Unless there is extremely deep pools of water following the speed limit has enough built in safety factor to operate safely when it is wet.

    In the really real world, there are often turns for which you have to decelerate from the speed limit in the best of conditions. How much you have to decelerate depends on the current road conditions. Maybe someday when your parents let you drive, you'll get this.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"