(Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Sadanori Iwamoto; TSE Growth: 3913; hereinafter "sMedio") will begin offering its 4K Mirror Crack AI Detection Service, a construction DX service for mountain tunnel construction, on March 11, 2024.

Cracks on the surface of mirror-sprayed concrete are considered to be an effective disaster prevention measure, as they can be instantly recognized and alerted as a sign of cracks that could lead to a serious disaster. Shimizu Corporation (Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Kazuyuki Inoue; TSE Prime 1803; hereafter Shimizu Corporation) and sMedio have developed a system that can detect cracks in mirror-sprayed concrete surfaces through image analysis at 4K resolution using AI.

When the system detects signs of skin fallout, it transmits the information to the tablet terminal of the face monitor and also sends an e-mail to the registered workers to inform them of the occurrence. At the same time, an alert is also issued to the warning system attached to the heavy equipment in front of the face and to the evacuation area, and a highly visible, high-intensity light blinks to alert the workers.

The crack detection functionality was based on image recognition technology developed by sMedio that utilizes AI (deep learning) technology. This technology uses semantic segmentation (*1) for image recognition from 4K resolution camera images to improve the recognition accuracy of mirror cracks, and employs SegNet (*2) for computation. This method enabled us to develop an AI model that recognizes cracks with high recognition rate and high speed.

The mirror crack data, which is the training data for the AI model required in the "4K Mirror Crack AI Detection System," was created by Shimizu Corporation. sMedio will start offering this system to the public as its own service. sMedio will continue to strengthen and support the safety of mountain tunnels in the future, sMedio will continue to enhance and support the safety of mountain tunnels.

Shimizu Corporation News Release Link
https://www.shimz.co.jp/company/about/news-release/2024/2023066.html

(*1) A method for categorizing images by pixel.
(*2) One of the methods used for deep learning with semantic segmentation

4K Mirror Crack AI Detection System Configuration

Guideline for Preventing Skin Falls in Mountain Tunnel Face Construction.
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/0000149309.html