HONOLULU (KHON2) -- The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded a University of Hawaii at Manoa team $750,000 for the creation of an advanced AI system to prevent traffic accidents on Hawaii roads. Get Hawaii's latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You University of Hawaii Engineering Professor Guohui Zhang led his team to victory in DOT's Intersection Safety Challenge. Teams participating in the challenge needed to create emerging technologies to help protect vulnerable drivers at intersections and eliminate roadway deaths and serious injuries. Weekend filming to close some Chinatown, Kakaako roads Zhang and his team created an AI system that uses "multiple types of sensors to detect and prevent potential crashes at intersections." The project was a continuation of an earlier stage of the challenge, where UH received $100,000 for an initial concept paper. According to UH, the system uses sensor fusion to combine data from multiple sources: LiDAR: Measures distances using laser pulses RGB cameras: Standard color cameras Thermal cameras: Detect heat signatures Traffic signal data: Creates highly accurate 3D tracking to identify new objects and predict potential collision paths. "This recognition is really a demonstration of Hawaiʻi’s aggressive efforts to reduce traffic incidents on our roads. The relationship between HDOT and the College of Engineering has really lifted Hawaiʻi on the national scale and shows how partnerships like these can help save lives," said College of Engineering Dean Brennon Morioka. With Zhang's team being one of the four winners receiving the maximum prize amount, the project may be advanced to another potential stage, putting a prototype to the test in real-world conditions. Check out more news from around Hawaii “By leading this groundbreaking work, UH and the state of Hawaiʻi are not only shaping the future of safer intersections but also positioning themselves at the forefront of national efforts to save lives and protect communities," Professor Zhang added.