Internship | AI for visual highway inspection

About this position

TNO’s Intelligent Imaging department works on a large variety of computer vision solutions, including the automated inspection of the Dutch highways. Our algorithms help monitor road conditions and identify when maintenance is needed. Each year, a highly detailed recording of the Dutch highways is collected, capturing fine surface details of the road across roughly 15,000 km of highway lanes. From this massive dataset, we aim to extract as much useful information as possible. In this project, you will explore new AI algorithms that help keep highways safe and well maintained.

What will be your role?

There are many possibilities for a research project in AI for road inspection. A number of potential research directions are listed below to give you a better understanding on what your internship/graduation project could look like. The exact topic of your project will be determined based on your interests and background.

Research direction examples:

• Anomaly classification: Across the whole Dutch highway system there is a large variety of anomalies within the data. To monitor the condition of the road it is important that we accurately classify these anomalies, separating damage from other outliers. Currently, different categories of anomalies are already automatically detected such as cracks or raveling (stone loss). However, it is still challenging to accurately separate structures that have similar visual features, such as cracks in the asphalt from local repairs, pavement joints, road markings, or long stretches of raveling. You will continue research into state-of-the-art AI solutions to improve the automatic detection and classification of such anomalies.
• Asphalt type classification: Different types of asphalt are used to pave the Dutch highways. It is difficult to accurately estimate the road condition accurately without knowing the exact asphalt type. A coarse porous type of asphalt might look damaged if you would think it was a fine, dense asphalt. During this project, you will develop an algorithm to classify different types of asphalt, or even estimate the approximate stone-size distribution within the asphalt.

You will perform this assignment within TNO’s Intelligent Imaging department. The Intelligent Imaging department is a passionate, creative, and dedicated team of professionals (60 people) specialized in developing groundbreaking applications in the field of computer vision. Intelligent Imaging is a young and growing department which has built up a lot of expertise over the past years in AI and deep learning.

What we expect from you

You are in the final stages of your master’s degree in artificial intelligence, computer science, data science or a similar degree and you are looking for a full-time internship or graduation project as part of your studies. You have experience with programming in Python and deep learning, and preferably prior experience with computer vision.

What you'll get in return

You want an internship opportunity on the precursor of your career; an internship gives you an opportunity to take a good look at your prospective future employer. TNO goes a step further. It’s not just looking that interests us; you and your knowledge are essential to our innovation. That’s why we attach a great deal of value to your personal and professional development. You will, of course, be properly supervised during your work placement and be given the scope for you to get the best out of yourself. Furthermore, we provide:

• A highly professional, innovative internship environment, within a team of top experts.
• A suitable internship allowance (615 euro for wo-, hbo- and mbo-students, for a full-time internship).
• Possibility of eight hours of free leave per internship month (for a full-time internship).
• A free membership of Jong TNO, where you can meet other TNO professionals and join several activities, such as sports activities, (work-related) courses or the yearly ski-trip.
• Use of a laptop.
• An allowance for travel expenses in case you don’t receive an OV-card.

TNO as an employer

At TNO, we innovate for a healthier, safer and more sustainable life. And for a strong economy. Since 1932, we have been making knowledge and technology available for the common good. We find each other in wonder and ingenuity. We are driven to push boundaries. There is all the space and support for your talent and ambition. You work with people who will challenge you: who inspire you and want to learn from you. Our state-of-the-art facilities are there to realize your vision. What you do at TNO matters: impact makes the difference. Because with every innovation you contribute to tomorrow’s world.