Detecting Tree Defects Using AI

A team led by Asst Prof Abdulkadir C. Yucel and Assoc Prof. Lee Yee Hui has developed an AI-augmented radar for detecting defects inside tree trunks. The developed radar is the only one in the world that scans tree trunks while operated on a straight trajectory. Doing so allows very rapid scanning and detection of defects inside tree trunks within minutes, while the conventional non-destructive testing techniques for tree defect detection require hours of human labour and processing.

The developed radar is planned to be used by arborists from Singapore's National Parks Board during the routine health checks of the urban trees. With the developed technology and its successors, the team, including researchers Jiwei Qian and Kaixuan Cheng, is committed to ending the fatal tree fall problem in Singapore and all urban areas densely populated with trees.