Street Robots and Potholes

Street Robots to Make Potholes a Thing of the Past

Robots that can fix street lights and potholes are being developed by the University of Leeds.

Jack Loughran | October 19, 2015

The £4.2m project [Blogger's note: 1 British Pound equals 1.54 U.S. Dollars as of October 21, 2015] is an attempt to bring ‘self-repairing cities’ into reality. The researchers intend to create small robots that can identify problems with utility pipes, street lights and roads and fix them with minimal disruption to the public.

The new drones have not yet been developed but Leeds University is already at the cutting edge of robotics research. Graham Brown is pictured here with 'Lucy' the Robot at the university's Mechanical Engineering Department. Source: http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-stories/self-repairing-city-robots-and-drones-made-in-leeds-to-repair-potholes-and-street-lights-1-7519518

The initial robots will include drones that can perch on street lights to carry out repairs and fix potholes in addition to robots located within utility pipes that will perform inspections and maintenance. They are to be tested first before being trialled in Leeds City.

<more at http://eandt.theiet.org/news/2015/oct/street-robot.cfm; http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-stories/self-repairing-city-robots-and-drones-made-in-leeds-to-repair-potholes-and-street-lights-1-7519518 (Self repairing city: Robots and drones made in Leeds to repair potholes and street lights. October 16, 2015) and https://www.rt.com/uk/319078-robots-fix-street-lights/ (Robots to build ‘self-repairing’ cities, fix street lamps & potholes. October 19, 2015)>