Zenzic CAM UK/Hertfordshire County Council

 

The pothole crisis grinds on and relentlessly on, getting significantly worse as time passes, with new holes appearing daily as cracks get filled with rain and undermine the road surfaces more and more. It actually feels increasingly dangerous out there on the roads, with some of the holes being deep and wide, causing necessary swerving which can often impact the other side of the road and oncoming traffic. The incessant rain we have had this year hasn't helped, as the potholes get filled with water disguising just how bad they really are until you are in the middlle of one.

 

In fact an increasing number of drivers and riders are now making claims or taking legal action against local councils for damage to their vehicles, due to the terrible road surfaces. Currently many councils are spending a large proportion of their roads budget on paying claims to individuals – it would seem logical then, to actually sort the problem out, rather than leave it to get worse. A stitch in time saves nine you might say. If a pothole is reported to the local authority they then have a responsibility to fix it and once it has been reported there is the fear, for the council that they could be liable for litigation if someone’s vehicle is subsequently damaged due to that pothole.

 

With all of this in mind, one of the local councils, Hertfordshire County Council is trying a left field solution, and giving an AI robot pothole fixer a go.

The robot in question is from the tech company Robotiz3d, a company which has received £30,000 in government funding to improve its abilities in the pothole filling department. The robot, called ARRES standing for Autonomous Road Repair System, has been pioneered by engineers at the university of Liverpool and Robotiz3d. It works by trawling the roads, using artificial intelligence to examine the road conditions. The robot should, in theory, spot potholes and ones which are forming, and fill them in there and then before they have time to deteriorate and become a real problem for motorists. The idea is that once cracks and holes are filled by Jonny robot, the rain water won’t be able to get into them and further undermine them, making them worse.

The robot had its first road test in Potters Bar in Hertfordshire on March the 6th, and is obviously going in the right direction. The idea, eventually, is that the cracks will be spotted and filled before they have time to turn into potholes, saving a lot of future road maintenance work and a world of pain for riders and drivers.

 

Let’s hope it does the job – despite looking a bit like an elderly 2cv or a giant woodlouse – go ARRES!

 

So let's see what happens, do you have high hopes for this kind of tech? Will it solve the problem? Let's hope it does a quality job, as what seems to happen a lot now is that the potholes get filled but not sealed properly, and they are back within days once a bus or two has gone over them. Let us know your opinion on this at [email protected] or on Facebook.