Scanning technology detects early signs of potholes

The technology, which is being developed by a team led by research fellow Dr Senthan Mathavan, scans roads for ravelling, a situation where the loss of aggregates from asphalt leads to potholes and cracks.

Combined with 2D and 3D scanners on a pavement-monitoring vehicle, a computer vision algorithm can examine the road with accuracy at traffic speed during the day or at night.

The system, which can be installed into existing hardware, works by detecting different textures of the road to identify ravelling and distinguishes it from shadows and blemishes such as tire marks, oil spills and recent pothole repairs.

‘The existing hardware remains untouched,’ Dr Mathavan told The Engineer. ‘Our technology makes use of the data from this hardware and uses a novel algorithm to look for the signs of ravelling.’