Description of Works
Partnering with US company RoadBotics, FM Conway has brought Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to the London Borough of Croydon.
Utilising RoadBotics’ new AI system, a more efficient, objective and affordable process of pavement condition assessment has been carried out across Croydon’s roads.
As a key provider of Term Maintenance to the London Borough of Croydon, FM Conway has delivered innovation in the form of a new AI technology, to the South of London.
The RoadBotics AI system works by driving a standard electric vehicle, equipped with mobile phone camera technology, over a specified route to collect visual data of carriageway condition.
A survey of Croydon’s roads was carried out across 729km of the borough, assessing the surface conditions over a four-week period.
The visual data collected is captured in 3m sections of carriageway and is then uploaded to the cloud and objectively rated by the system on a 1-5 scale.
The results were then compiled and presented alongside images of each corresponding 3m section of carriageway to inform future maintenance strategies.
The use of RoadBotics in the London Borough of Croydon has helped the Borough to maximise their planned maintenance budgets and develop next year’s planned preventative maintenance programme accordingly.
The UK Pavement Manage System (UKPMS) is the national standard for assessing local road network conditions, however this inspection process has its issues.
By using RoadBotics’ new AI technology, it transforms a traditionally time consuming, highly subjective and expensive system for analysing road networks and provides a more efficient approach.
Taking just four weeks to collect the data for the entire Borough, followed by feeding the data into the AI conditions assessment software, more time could be allowed to make key decisions when value managing Croydon’s assets.
Fuel emissions produced by driving a vehicle around Croydon to capture the data is also an issue. This is why FM Conway used an electric vehicle to reduce carbon emissions and help provide a greener environment, whilst inspecting the roads.
The use of RoadBotics new AI technology in the London Borough of Croydon has helped the Borough to maximise their planned maintenance budgets and develop next year’s planned preventative maintenance programme accordingly.
This method has proved to be efficient to the client and has led to Croydon utilising RoadBotics on an annual basis, ensuring that the right roads are treated at the right time and preventing any dangerous road issues from developing.