Drones to fix cracks that lead to potholes

POTHOLE robots that work overnight fixing roads are to be tested on British streets.

Drones will scan roads looking for small cracks, which when detected will be filled by a second drone using 3D print technology.

The robots will be tested on roads in the next few years as part of a drive to create “self-repairing cities”.

Experts from UCL and Leeds University, who are developing the technology, said the gadgets would work at night, keeping disruption to traffic to a minimum.

The team is half way through a five-year plan that will end in testing the devices in Leeds.

Prof Mark Miodownik, from UCL, said Leeds council was working with a team from several universities to pioneer “self-repairing cities”. He told the Cheltenham Science Festival that Britain’s road network was falling apart due to the backlog of repairs and the lack of resources for authorities to take preventive measures.

“Our idea is that when these small cracks happen a drone flying around the road network would see them and another drone would land and repair them,” he said.

“You do it at night and in about a minute. You stop over the crack, you repair the crack and it’s done.

“For motorways it is a different problem but for roads in bigger cities, I think nighttime autonomous vehicles are going to be a big future for us all.”