University of Leeds has been granted $6.2 million by the government to design drones that can fill potholes, monitor underground systems of pipes and repair street lights.

The three different tasks will each have a drone purpose built for it.

Filling potholes will be a difficult task as the researchers will have to overcome the issue of weight. The general idea behind this drone will be to “Perceive and Patch”. This drone will autonomously scan the roadways for potholes or other types of damage. When it finds the damage the idea is to have the drone automatically repair.

The drone designed to monitor the underground pipe systems is being developed as a “Fire and Forget” system. These drones will be deployed inside of the pipes and move along the inside to report damage or, when possible, perform its own repairs.

The final drone designed to repair street lights and power line transformers is a “Perch and Repair” system. This drone will scan for and identify devices that require repair. It will then land next to them and perform the required maintenance.

This sounds like a very ambitious project and we cannot wait to see the results from this research!

What do you think of this project?
Which of the 3 drones do you find most interesting?
Is this something you had thought of as a possibility already?

We are very interested to hear what you think!