Robotic and autonomous systems for road asset management: a position paper

Abstract

The ever-growing urban population faces challenges of ageing infrastructure. The process for renewing the infrastructure is costly, and current practices for maintaining and repairing are often ineffective and labour intensive. Road networks, for instance, which act as the arteries of cities, suffer from reoccurring potholes (in the UK, a pothole is filled every 21 s). A more effective way of maintaining road networks is through a proactive approach, where condition assessment and intervention are conducted throughout the asset life cycle. However, there are barriers to a proactive approach, including budget constraints and the lack of effective technology for early defect detection (followed by a cheap yet effective repair). This paper puts forward an automated system, currently in development, based on cutting-edge robotic technologies to address these barriers and help achieve an effective proactive infrastructure maintenance and repair system. Technologies developed include automated condition assessment measures to detect road defects and repair technologies using a novel three-dimensional (3D) printing method to seal road cracks and potholes. Sealing small cracks by using 3D printing techniques has shown promising results by achieving superior mechanical properties.