Russia Deploys AI to Monitor Car Emissions

In Rostov-on-Don, a new AI-powered system is tracking vehicle exhaust in real time, identifying car makes and models while calculating pollution levels.

Russia has launched a digital environmental monitoring system in Rostov-on-Don that uses artificial intelligence to automatically record harmful emissions from vehicles. The technology, now being tested in 12 regions, was developed by researchers at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). It can classify vehicle types, recognize makes and models with high accuracy, and estimate emissions on the spot.

According to Andrey Leus, a senior researcher at MIPT’s laboratory for special-purpose digital systems, the technology will soon be able to differentiate vehicles not only by category but also by year of manufacture and engine type. That would enable near real-time emission calculations and raise monitoring to an entirely new level of precision.

Special sensors and cameras have been installed along key highways in the city, continuously recording data on exhaust composition, traffic intensity, and weather conditions. All of this information is processed by a neural network without human involvement.

Recent environmental rankings place Rostov-on-Don among the Russian cities with the highest levels of air pollution, largely due to its dense traffic.