"It's the new wave," Miller said at a 10 a.m. news conference held at the county's Chapaton Pump Station on Nine Mile at Jefferson Avenue in St. Clair Shores. "It's going to be very transformational. We're very excited about being able to use it."
She also said she believes her office is the first of its kind in Michigan to use the drone and artificial intelligence, or AI, combination to inspect sewers.
"I'm not aware of anyone else in Michigan that has the software we're using and the drone," Miller said. "But I would venture to guess that by the end of the year, you're going to have a lot more people doing this."
The commissioner was joined by some of her staff at the conference. They discussed how they are using the technology to inspect sewers and gave the media a brief drone flight demonstration.
Miller said her staff of inspectors is flying a special drone through the county's large interceptor drains to take video recordings of their insides. The drain pipes, which are buried some 60 feet under the ground, can be 12 feet to 15 feet tall.
Vincent Astorino, the operations manager for the county public works office, said the specially-equipped inspection drone was made by a Swiss tech company called Flybotix. It's about 16 inches in diameter and features LED lights, a protective cage with high-definition video cameras.
They then give the footage to the AI system to analyze and look for defects and trouble spots. It then gives engineers recommendations about the issues it found and helps prioritize them. The software is made by Walnut Creek, Calif.-based company SewerAI.
Miller pointed to the 2016 collapse of the Oakland-Macomb Interceptor in Fraser as an example of why regular inspections of the county's underground infrastructure are needed.
"Everyone has aging infrastructure underground that needs a lot of attention," she said. "And information is power."
On Christmas Eve of that year, its collapse caused a massive sinkhole on 15 Mile that prompted authorities to evacuate 23 homes, condemn three homes and demolish two of them. It also sparked a lawsuit against the contractors that caused the collapse.
The sewer transmission line serves 850,000 residents in 25 municipalities in Macomb and Oakland counties.
Miller said her office purchased the drone and the use of SewerAI's software for less than $100,000. She added no new staff had to be hired to pilot the drone or use the software.
Astorino said inspectors take the drone into the field, lower it into a sewer through a manhole cover and the operator flies it through the pipe. He said the drone's battery lasts about 24 minutes and inspectors have multiple batteries.
In the past, it could take months or even years to analyze video inspections of sewer lines to find issues that needed to be addressed. Astorino said the drone video and the AI are cutting that time down to as little as 24 hours.
The commissioner said she estimates the system will save the county millions and give the county's engineers better information about the infrastructure. In the past, millions were spent on inspections, which were time-consuming and labor-intensive, she said.
"I know there's a lot of hesitancy about some of the applications of AI, which I can understand," Miller said. "But in this case, AI and technology are our friends. They can be utilized very, very effectively. This is how you can use the technology for the common good."
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