AI-Powered Real-Time Safety at Endeavour Sports Park

Endeavour Sports Park is a major community sports precinct in Fairfield West, owned and managed by Fairfield City Council. The site serves as a vital hub for local clubs, schools, and residents by supporting both high-performance sports and large-scale recreation. Recently, the park underwent a significant $16 million redevelopment funded by the NSW Government and the Council. This transformation has turned the precinct into a technology-enabled hub that sets a new benchmark for modern sports infrastructure in Western Sydney.

Ensuring Public Safety without Physical Barriers

Endeavour Sports Park features premium sporting facilities, including FIFA-accredited synthetic surfaces. These fields require a specialized water cooling system to maintain optimal playing conditions and long-term durability. To protect these assets, the Council sought a high-standard safety solution for the irrigation process. The primary goal was to ensure the high-pressure water system would never interfere with players or officials during field use.

Rather than relying on traditional measures like fixed perimeter fencing, Fairfield City Council aimed for a more progressive solution. Fixed fences can limit accessibility and obstruct the natural sightlines of the precinct. Instead, the Council wanted an “invisible” safety layer that preserves the park’s open and welcoming atmosphere. This required smart technology capable of automating safety protocols without the need for physical barriers.

A Seamlessly Integrated AI Ecosystem

To realize this vision, the Council selected a solution from Hanwha Vision, recognized for its high-resolution video surveillance and advanced in-built AI. This choice reflected the Council’s commitment to excellence and compliance, as the solution fully aligns with the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the Council’s rigorous governance standards.

The core of the system consists of 10 Hanwha Vision 4K AI Bullet cameras (PNO-A9081R). These were strategically installed by Ryalex Security to provide full coverage of two full-size synthetic soccer fields. This deployment was more than just surveillance; it was a collaborative integration between hardware and field infrastructure.

Jenosan Tharmakulasingam, Sales Manager at Hanwha Vision Oceania, explained the value of this approach. “Our goal was to provide Fairfield City Council with a solution that balanced high-performance monitoring with strict governance standards like NDAA. By utilizing edge AI, we were able to automate critical safety protocols for the sports fields, ensuring both operational efficiency and peace of mind for the public.”

The system’s inbuilt AI-based person detection capability was interfaced directly with the field’s water cooling system. This solution-based approach allows the cameras to act as intelligent sensors. When the AI detects a person on the field, it automatically restricts the operation of the irrigation cannons. This intelligent interaction ensures that high-pressure water is never discharged while the fields are in use, providing a critical layer of safety through edge-based analytics without the need for additional, costly hardware.

Enhanced Safety and Operational Intelligence

The installation of Hanwha Vision’s AI-enabled solution at Endeavour Sports Park has yielded significant positive outcomes, delivering a best-practice example of smart public infrastructure.

The system has enabled the Council to achieve:

• Proactive Real-Time Safety: The AI-driven system reacts instantly to human presence, providing a level of safety management that traditional static measures cannot match.
• Preserved Public Amenity: By utilizing intelligent video surveillance instead of physical fences, the Council preserved an open, accessible, and visually appealing environment for all spectators and athletes.
• Operational Excellence: The seamless integration between the Hanwha Vision cameras and the Polytan irrigation system has streamlined field maintenance while ensuring maximum safety and durability of the synthetic surfaces.
• Cost-Effective Innovation: Leveraging inbuilt AI reduced the complexity of the infrastructure, delivering high-performance situational awareness and long-term value for the public space.