potholes
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Tesla EVs can now scan the road for potholes and adjust the suspension height
Tesla has introduced a software update that allows its vehicles to scan for potholes, broken pavement and other defects.
Researchers tap AI for more efficient road maintenance
Potholes are a nuisance pretty much everywhere and the methods traditionally used to keep track of them aren't terribly efficient. Whether it be driving around to visually inspect roads or watching videos of streets to spot and prioritize the repair of pavement damage, strategies typically used by towns and cities require a fair amount of time and labor. But AI could make that process a bit easier and quite a bit faster. One group exploring the use of AI to support the municipal officials in charge of road maintenance has been developing a software system that could not only aid in road repairs but also bridge and building maintenance as well.
Self-repairing roads could also charge your electric car
Potholes are bad enough for the jarring rides, car damage and safety hazards they create, but it's also problematic to fix them. You're looking at lane and road closures that can last for days, assuming the city can even spare the resources. However, Dutch researchers might have a solution that not only helps the road fix itself, but promises to solve range anxiety for electric car drivers. Delft University's Erik Schlangen tells The Verge that there are plans to test self-repairing asphalt whose conductive steel fibers and bacteria would both fix small cracks in the pavement and send electricity to EVs above. The trial will charge your vehicles when you're stopped at intersections, giving you a little bit of extra range in those moments you're waiting for the light to turn green.
Future Range Rovers could tell the city about local potholes
Jaguar Land Rover has revealed that it's working on technology that'll alert the authorities whenever your car finds a bump in the road. It's one of several high-tech initiatives the outfit has been working on, including heads-up displays in the windshield and "transparent" cars. Once an issue, like a pothole or broken drain, has been discovered, its location will be uploaded to the authorities who can then send a maintenance crew to come fix it. In the meantime, the information can be shared with nearby vehicles so that motorists in the vicinity can avoid damaging their car.
Boston planning to murder potholes with your phone's accelerometer
Accelerometers in consumer electronics have already shown value far beyond their manufacturers ever intended -- but did you ever think your car's beleaguered suspension system would be the benefactor? Officials in Boston are toying around with an experimental smartphone app called Street Bump that's tuned to keep an eye out for potholes as you drive; when it detects a disturbance in the force, it makes note of the location. No word on when Bostonians will benefit from the fruits of Street Bump's labor, but the developers will be using this spring and summer's post-freeze pothole season to fine-tune the algorithm so that it can differentiate between, say, a gaping crater in the road and your poor driving skills (just kidding, we're sure you're a fine driver). [Image via Wikimedia Commons]
Boston creates app to report road problems
Since moving to LA, I haven't quite had to deal with the potholes that Spring in Chicago usually brings (not that roads are any better out here, but at least they don't have to deal with all of the freezing and thawing). But despite the yearly flat tires and ruined alignments, Chicago hasn't gone quite as far as Boston, where the city government has developed not one but two apps to enable its citizens to report on potholes and other city issues. Citizens Connect is an app developed late last year by the city that enables locals to report graffiti, potholes, broken streetlights, and other urban issues in the Boston area, and now they're working on a new app, nicknamed BUMP (for Boston Urban Mechanic Profiler), that will automatically transmit road conditions to a central database using the iPhone's accelerometer and data connection. That seems tough to do with all of the extra noise that must come from an accelerometer, but they are working with a researcher from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, so maybe they will be able to pull it off. Interesting to see metropolitan areas like this using newer technology to keep an eye on what's up in their city. Of course, actually fixing the potholes will take a little more work, but knowing what's wrong is helpful.
