StartX startup Buzz Solutions out of Stanford, California just introduced its AI solution to help utilities quickly spot powerline and grid faults so repairs can be made before wildfires start. AI and machine vision technology, like that from Buzz Solutions, can take data from sources like ... [ ] this drone, helicopters, and aircraft to determine characteristics like powerline and grid faults so repairs can be made before wildfires start. Their unique platform uses AI and machine vision technology to analyze millions of images of powerlines and towers from drones, helicopters, and aircraft to find dangerous faults and flaws as well as overgrown vegetation, in and around the grid infrastructure to help utilities identify problem areas and repair them before a fire starts. This system can do the analysis at half the cost and in a fraction of the time compared to humans, hours to days not months to years. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection determined that PG&E's transmission lines were at fault for the huge Kincade Fire in Sonoma, California last year.

StartX startup Buzz Solutions out of Stanford, California just introduced its AI solution to help utilities quickly spot powerline and grid faults so repairs can be made before wildfires start. AI and machine vision technology, like that from Buzz Solutions, can take data from sources like ... [ ] this drone, helicopters, and aircraft to determine characteristics like powerline and grid faults so repairs can be made before wildfires start. Their unique platform uses AI and machine vision technology to analyze millions of images of powerlines and towers from drones, helicopters, and aircraft to find dangerous faults and flaws as well as overgrown vegetation, in and around the grid infrastructure to help utilities identify problem areas and repair them before a fire starts. This system can do the analysis at half the cost and in a fraction of the time compared to humans, hours to days not months to years. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection determined that PG&E's transmission lines were at fault for the huge Kincade Fire in Sonoma, California last year.

Based on the last two wildfire seasons, including 2018 when an entire California town was destroyed, utilities blamed for recent wildfires need all the help they can get maintaining aging grids. AI technologies may provide new monitoring tools. Paradise, Calif., population of about 27,000, was destroyed by the Camp Fire. The 2018 inferno claimed at least 84 victims. In June, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) was ordered to pay a $3.5 million fine for causing the Camp Fire.