Hertfordshire, England, County Council said its test of an AI-powered pothole robot proves its ability to identify defects in roads and fill the cracks to keep out water to stop potholes from forming.
Developed by technology company Robotiz3d and academics from the University of Liverpool, in collaboration with council highways engineers, the robot is named Autonomous Road Repair System (ARRES) Prevent. The test marks the first time the prototype vehicle had been used outside of a lab environment since development started in 2020.
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Robotiz3d co-founder and Technical Director Sebastiano Fichera said that working with the county council had accelerated the development of ARRES, "propelling us towards our goal of revolutionising road maintenance practices".
“The test today is another step in the right direction towards solving the pothole problem this country faces.” said Fichera
The next step will be further trials to refine the vehicle ahead of full production of the ARRES Prevent robot alongside work on a larger version of the machine capable of fixing a wider range of defects.
Source: Watford Observer
