AI and Machine Learning will probably be the next disruptive technology that will spawn a quantum leap in the way we approach the provision of winter service. On this episode we’re heading to the University at Albany in New York to visit with Nick Bassill, director of the New York State Weather Risk Communication Center and Carly Sutter, graduate research assistant there at the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center about a project Carly has been working on with the New York State Department of Transportation to identify road conditions from images using machine learning and the results could have impacts well beyond.

They take some of the mystery out of AI and machine learning is a way that's easy to understand. For more info on this project, AI and machine learning reach out to Nick at nbassill@albany.edu or Carly at csutter@albany.edu

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We've been talking about electrification of the maintenance fleet for some time now and the conversation always turns to the challenges facing the rollout of this technology particularly when it comes to winter maintenance. Diminished load carrying capacity due to the weight of the batteries, battery performance in cold operating environments, range anxiety, and the lack of rapid charging infrastructure re just a few. Well, Edison Motors Ltd based in Merritt, British Columbia has found the answer to these challenges and are in the process of developing a plugin hybrid electric snowplow for Emcon Services Inc, the largest maintenance contractor in Canada.

Frank Rizzardo, President of Emcon Services is here along with the founders of Edison Motors, Chace Barber and Eric Little to tell us all about their plugin hybrid electric snowplow project.

check out the progress of the hybrid snowplow build and other vocational trucks Edison Motors have built on their YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@EdisonMotors. If this episode has got your interest up in hybrid snowplows you can reach out to Frank at emcon1@emconservices.ca, Chace at chace@edisonmotors.ca, or Eric at eric.little@edisonmotors.ca to continue the discussion.

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Road Weather Information Systems unlocked a whole host of opportunities when it comes to performing winter maintenance. Paul Bridge is an important player when it comes to RWIS from his early days at the Met UK through stints with RWIS vendors. His understanding of the technology and how it is used to help highway agencies do good winter maintenance is the topic of this episode from the early days of RWIS deployments in the US through AI as a force multiplier.

You can reach out to Paul by email at pbridge@campbellsci.com to continue the discussion or learn more about the technology in its various forms.

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Thanks for listening in and stay safe out there!