Scientists are building autonomous repair robots that will use AI to identify and fix potholes in UK roads.
The electric, self-driving bots – which are being built by a spin-out company from the University of Liverpool called Robotiz3d – can find small cracks in the road and cover them with asphalt.
Researchers say the machines, which look like a cross between a tank and a road roller, will transform road maintenance when they hit the roads in 2021, and finally offer a cost effective fix for the UK’s pothole problem.
Currently, no autonomous technology solutions exist to tackle potholes, which are estimated to have cost UK taxpayers more than £1 billion to fix over the last decade.
The cost of repairing all of the UK’s roads that are currently damaged, meanwhile, is estimated to exceed £10 billion.
Poor road surfaces contributed to 517 accidents in 2018 – including eight fatalities and 348 serious injuries – the Department of Transport reported last year.
‘Current methods to detect and repair potholes are labour intensive and as such are slow, unsafe, and costly to the economy and environment,’ said Dr Sebastiano Fichera, technical director of Robotiz3d.
‘The new technology we are developing will make road maintenance tasks faster, cheaper, and cleaner and ultimately make roads safer and more accessible.’
The robot will be built with a continuous track – a system of wheels within with a circle of heavy duty rubber, much like a tank.
It will autonomously patrol UK roads without the need for road closures and will be able to detect defects such as cracks and potholes, characterise their geometry, collect measurements and capture images.
All this data, along with the hole’s location, will then be sent it to local authorities, who can decide whether to send a team of repair personnel, depending on its size and severity.
For smaller cracks, the vehicle will be able to emit quick drying asphalt as a quick fix before they get bigger and become fully-fledged potholes.
A mini road roller at the back of the robot flattens the sealing material as the robot drives over the site of the defect.
The system’s AI capabilities can also predict road conditions, facilitating the advancement ‘from reactive to preventative road maintenance’.
‘If a pothole is detected, our vehicle will stop, flag its presence, and complete the repair within a few minutes,’ Fichera told Digital Trends.
The electric vehicles will be able to operate continuously for several hours on a single charge, he added.
MailOnline has contacted Robotiz3d over how fast the robot would be travelling and whether it would hold up traffic or potentially congest roads.
The company aims to have its road damage detection unit on the market in six months, although the crack-filling asphalt emission functionality will take a bit longer and should be up and running by the end of 2021.
The machines are anticipated to improve the safety and lifespan of road networks and make more maintenance tasks ‘Covid-resilient’ – by avoiding sending out human workers during social distancing.
Once in operation, an entire fleet around the country will also contribute to the reduction in costs, fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions that come from regular pothole-filling, fuel-burning vehicles.
‘This is an exciting new spin out to take forward,’ said Lisa Layzell, co-founder and CEO of Robotiz3d Ltd.
‘The team at Robotiz3d has the expertise and experience in robotics and AI to deliver the project and introduce world-leading innovation to the management of roads and highways.
‘We have developed a robust business plan to take forward the portfolio of Robotiz3d envisaged products.’
The robots may not provide a long-term fix for potholes, however, which are exacerbated by freezing weather due to expanding ice.
Rather than resurfacing stretches of crumbling tarmac at greater expense, potholes that are filled in as they appear on the cheap can quickly open up again.