SailGP AI camera can prevent collisions before they occur

The fastest sailboat in the world roared past in all directions, but my attention was drawn to the motionless sailboat. This is the boat representing Team USA in the SailGP series. This F-50 hydrofoil has a new camera on the stern that could change the way viewers see the sport.

I'm in San Francisco Bay watching the boats practice two days before the 2024 SailGP Grand Final. I'm here to see a camera equipped with a new AI algorithm designed to learn how the F-50 and its crew move during competition. "The secret sauce is the software behind it," said Warren Jones, SailGP's chief technical officer. "With artificial intelligence, we can know where (the boat) is going to be in the next 20 or 30 seconds, and then we can move the camera in 100 milliseconds."

Jones said artificial intelligence can detect when the ship is about to capsize so broadcast cameras can capture the moment live. The algorithm can also warn the crew of an impending rollover or collision. To learn more about how SailGP uses artificial intelligence, watch the video above. Last year, engineers launched an anomaly detection program based on artificial intelligence. This algorithm analyzes billions of data points from the boat's 125 sensors to determine when a part might fail.

SailGP is currently testing the AI-enhanced camera and hopes to have it on every racing boat when the next racing season starts in November.