90% accuracy in identifying and classifying road assets with the Open Source Yolo model
80% increase in rural road mapping with Google Maps API
Process over 5TB of video data simultaneously with AI processing
RoadAthena sought a scalable solution for AI processing and storage. With Google Cloud, the team is able to build on its AI-powered solution for assessing and monitoring road conditions, enabling effective infrastructure management.
RoadAthena sought a scalable solution for AI processing and storage. With Google Cloud, the team is able to build on its AI-powered solution for assessing and monitoring road conditions, enabling effective infrastructure management.
The new way to ensure road safety for all
With over 6M kilometers of roads in the country, the management of road infrastructure in India is a challenging task. Traditional assessments require time and manpower, resources that have been stretched for a long time. RoadAthena, a key partner that has worked alongside Google Cloud to help other organizations grow and scale through its technologies, has also been leveraging the power of Google Cloud AI to overcome road infrastructure issues. From detecting road conditions, anomalies, and digitizing the road network, RoadAthena is building a data set that contributes to more effective infrastructure management for all involved organizations.
Google Cloud offers flexibility, ease of setup, with regional L4-based machines for instance availability. At the peak, the team was processing over 5TB of video data across 14 machines with Compute Engine and AI processing.
Accuracy is also vital, with the platform’s Maps API and all its data being used as a foundation, helping with proper boundary and jurisdiction setting, distance mapping, and to direct the digitalization efforts on the ground. On the backend, the use of Cloud Storage ensures that no critical data or source files are lost.
Why Google Cloud?
Although RoadAthena migrated to Google Cloud primarily for better cost-effectiveness, the platform also offered substantial support to scale for the digitalization process of India’s vast road networks at speed. Google Cloud provided access to L4 instances, enabling them to run multiple processing tasks simultaneously, crucial for dividing workloads across many small road sections.
This allowed for rapid scaling, especially in India, where the company’s existing cloud provider had limitations on CPU and on-demand machine availability. Moreover, Google Cloud’s geographic availability, including nearby regions like Singapore, offered greater cost control and the ability to scale on the fly. This shift significantly improved RoadAthena’s turnaround time for data processing, reducing it from 6-8 hours to under 2 hours for 100 km of road data.
Google Cloud enables us to fix road anomalies in a timely manner (before 70% degradation). This means the lifespan of roads can be extended by 2-3 years, leading to 6-8 times cost savings compared to reactive repairs.
Manav Singal
CTO and co-founder, RoadAthena
RoadAthena operates as an AI-powered solution for monitoring and reporting road conditions, utilizing advanced computer vision technology and a rigorous methodology to enhance infrastructure management with efficiency.
Industry: Technology
Location: India
Products: Compute Engine, Maps API, Cloud Storage
