UrFU Students Care About Trees, Create a Neural Network Database

10:05, June 19, 2020

An interactive map will save nature and show the gross volume of trees in Yekaterinburg

An interactive map of the trees of Yekaterinburg is currently being created with the help of volunteers from the Ural Federal University. The aim of the project is to provide an opportunity on a regular basis to receive data on the number of trees in the city and monitor the implementation of relevant standards.

The technology partner of the project is Naumen. To account for trees, a neural network created by the company is used, with the help of which trees in a megalopolis are recognized and fixed. UrFU students help in marking trees and indicating their exact location. One way to collect markup is through a telegram bot that students have written.

“Putting all the trees in the base is a very common practice in other countries,” says Tatiana Zobnina, an analyst with Naumen machine learning systems. - Trees are very complex objects, they are diverse. This year, we began a project with students of UrFU and volunteers on drawing all the trees on the map of Yekaterinburg. Now the guys are in the process of collecting tagged data to train the neural network to recognize the tree in the photo from Street View. A neural network should distinguish trees from poles, there are other nuances.”

Tatyana also notes that in this matter it is necessary to focus on the best world practices. Say, in New York you can take custody of a tree, take care of it, grow and maintain.

“We don’t have enough trees, and we don’t think about it,” says Tatyana. - The map will provide information on the volume of trees. We also want the volunteers to not only note the geolocation of the tree, but also its appearance. Such information will help allergy sufferers in choosing their neighborhoods and walks. ”

One of the volunteers - a student at UrFU Georgy Shishkin - encourages participation in the project.

“To effectively implement the idea, we need help! - George addresses to the indifferent townspeople. - Now we need to mark out a small number of photos with trees, so that later we can teach the neural network to recognize the trees of our city well and in details. Each photo you tagged can save a real tree! All you need to do is click on the link (or just find @helpwithtree_bot in the Telegram app) and sort the photos according to the instructions. Great accomplishments begin from a simple Telegram bot.”