MTA strapped Google Pixels to subway cars to spot track defects

Anyone who has rode the New York City subway can tell you that it has a lot of problems, from strange noises to flammable debris on the tracks. Now, as is the solution for everything these days, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is testing how AI could improve the repair process with the help of six Google Pixel phones. In this case, the Google Pixel phones rode on four different subway cars between last September and January. The experiment, conducted in partnership with Google Public Sector, used the phone's accelerometers, magnetometers and microphones to pick up on any worrisome noises. This data was thn sent to cloud-based systems that generated predictive insights using machine learning algorithms. The tech, known by Google as TrackInspect, found 92 percent of the defect locations that inspectors located. "By being able to detect early defects in the rails, it saves not just money but also time — for both crew members and riders" New York City Transit President De ... Read full article.