Could this finally be the end for potholes? Smart van predicts road damage on Boston streets before it has even formed
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They are the bane of drivers the world over.
Seeming to appear from nowhere, potholes blight around thirty-two percent of the roads in the US and as much as quarter of the busiest roads in Britain.
Now, a team of scientists has declared all-out war on these dangerous cracks, and they claim to have a new weapon that could eradicate potholes for good.
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Researchers at Northeastern University in Boston have created a van with sensors that can not only detect existing potholes, but also predict where new ones form. The van uses something known as Versatile Onboard Traffic Embedded Roaming Sensors (Voters) to map roads in fine detail (inset)
Researchers at Northeastern University in Boston are testing a van with sensors that can not only detect existing potholes, but also predict where new ones form.
The van uses something known as Versatile Onboard Traffic Embedded Roaming Sensors (Voters) to map roads in fine detail.
Voters identify parts of the road where water is likely to collect and damage the road, as well as study what is happening to the soil beneath the surface.
According to Professor Ming Wang, who created the system, the van can collect up to 50,000 data points per second.
If any potentially dangerous areas are spotted, its onboard cameras will take photos and software then prioritises the areas that need attention.
To test the system, the van has been cruising the streets of Beverly, Massachusetts northeast of Boston.
According to the Smithsonian, in just four days, the Northeastern van covered 150 miles (240km).
This is in comparison to human inspectors, who took a year to survey the whole city, costing taxpayers $50,000.
'It's so much better than what we were previously able to do,' Michael Collins, Beverly's commissioner of public services and engineering, told the Boston Globe.
'This is absolutely the way of the future.'
The data is used alongside an aerial map of a city, colour-coding each of the streets to reveal the worst pothole-hit areas. The technology can even estimate how much it would cost to repair a road.
In the future, the team wants to check road conditions using similar sensors attached to every car on the road
The system works by using a sensor to records changes in air pressure inside the tyre as it travels over bumps.
Along with the sensor, a microphone picks up the noises of the road, while a radar scans the area between the wheels to look for pockets of air beneath the surface.
Meanwhile a video camera, pointed at the ground, provides picture evidence of crack formation and density to back up the data provided using the other systems.
The data is used alongside an aerial map of a city, colour-coding each of the streets to reveal the worst pothole-hit areas.
According to Professor Ming Wang, the technology can even estimate how much it would cost to repair a road.
They say technology such as this is vital given the recent cold weather.
The team estimates that the number of potholes could increase this year, as a result of constant freezing and thawing.
It works by using a sensor to records changes in air pressure inside the tyre as it travels over bumps. Along with the sensor, a microphone picks up the noises of the road, while a radar scans the area between the wheels to look for pockets of air beneath the pavement. Pictured are the various systems on the van
Researchers estimate that the number of potholes could increase this year, as a result of constant freezing and thawing following a cold winter
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