AI Ski Lift Monitoring for Boarding and Exit Safety Risks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ski lift on-boarding and off-boarding locations pose safety risks due to the concentration of skiers and mechanical hazards, with human attendants often being unaware of developing problems or out of position to respond quickly.
Innovation Solution
An always-on, always-alert system using video cameras, a video processing module, and an AI engine to detect potential problems in real-time, initiating actions such as slowing or stopping the lift to mitigate risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If human attendants monitor on-boarding and off-boarding areas, then safety can be maintained through human observation, but attendants are often unaware of developing problems or out of position to respond quickly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of human visual monitoring and physical response with an automated computer vision system. Video cameras capture footage of on-boarding and off-boarding areas, AI algorithms automatically detect potential problems, and the system can trigger safety mechanisms without human intervention. This substitution eliminates human limitations in maintaining constant awareness and reduces response time by enabling immediate automated detection and reaction to incidents.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service safety monitoring where the ski lift system monitors itself through automated video analysis. The AI engine continuously analyzes video feeds, identifies potential problems such as riders in unsafe positions or equipment issues, and can autonomously initiate safety protocols. This self-monitoring capability ensures consistent safety oversight without relying on human attendants who may be distracted or positioned away from critical areas.
2Extent of automation
If an automated AI-based detection system is implemented, then response time to incidents is reduced and safety monitoring is continuous, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates multiple functions into a single automated safety system. The same video capture infrastructure serves both security surveillance and AI-based safety monitoring. The AI engine performs multiple analysis tasks including detecting rider positions, identifying equipment problems, and recognizing unsafe behaviors. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized systems while achieving comprehensive safety monitoring through a unified automated platform.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for improved operations of ski lifts increase skier safety at on-boarding and off-boarding locations by providing an always-on, always-alert system that “watches” these locations, identifies developing problem situations, and initiates mitigation actions. One or more video cameras feed live video to a video processing module. The video processing module feeds resulting sequences of images to an artificial intelligence (AI) engine. The AI engine makes an inference regarding existence of a potential problem situation based on the sequence of images. This inference is fed to an inference processing module, which determines if the inference processing module should send an alert or interact with the lift motor controller to slow or stop the lift.