[viewBag] title = "Safety" url = "/project/safety" layout = "project-template" is_hidden = 0 navigation_hidden = 0 ==
Whenever autonomous systems are discussed, safety is a primary concern. This is with good reason. It is important that any engineering project has safety factored into the decision making, but it is particularly important to do so when the system will operate without direct human intervention. The system needs to be perfect in its conduct since a human will not be there to exercise discretion.
In our case, we have to look at safety in two distinct areas. The first and most important is the safety of any other living objects in the area that are not lionfish, specifically other divers. Our platform must never mistake or shoot at a diver. Second, it must be able to operate in a fashion that preserves the safety of the coral in the area it operates.
Ensuring the safety of divers is the simpler of these two problems. The system implements computer vision to recognize lionfish. This computer vision uses cameras to take pictures of the surroundings and then processes these images looking for patterns that match those of a lionfish. It has been trained with countless lionfish images to make it very efficient at recognizing lionfish with extreme accuracy and it is able to do this in about one tenth of a second. To further prevent issues with divers, the system has been trained, in the same manner, to recognize divers in the area. By identifying lionfish, we are able to determine what the system should target and by identifying humans in the area, we are able to determine what not to target. Attacking the problem from these two angles makes it difficult for the system to target a lionfish with a diver present and effectively impossible for the system to ever accidently mistake a diver and a lionfish.
The safety of the coral reef is the second safety concern. The goal of the project is to limit the presence of the invasive species in order to protect natural inhabitants and the reef itself. If our system performance harms the reef, it is counterproductive. The safety of the coral will be done through effective navigation algorithms.