Artificial intelligence is reshaping every industry across the globe, but can it fix potholes?
Cambridge is looking to find out. The city in June started using a system developed by Cyvl AI, a Somerville startup whose product scans roads and finds sections that look likely to need work.
Cyvl’s system is centered on a 20-pound mechanism that can be mounted on the top of a car or pulled behind a bike. It is equipped with a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensor and cameras. The LIDAR sensor uses hundreds of small laser beams, not viewable to the human eye, at about 2 million pulses per second in every direction, to build a 3D replica of its surroundings, similar to Google Street View.
The data is uploaded and then Cyvl applies algorithms to create its Road Surface Ratings and generate a report identifying areas that need repair.
Because it can do this for an entire city, “[we’re] giving them data that they’ve never had before to holistically plan and prioritize which cracks are they going to be fixing. Which potholes they need to fix in what order,” said Daniel Pelaez, Cyvl’s CEO and founder.
Cambridge’s two engineering consultants, BETA group and STV, worked with Cyvl to collect and analyze pavement conditions of the city’s streets, except those under construction. Data from the right of ways was compiled and given a Road Surface Rating. For each range of rating, Beta Group provides recommended rehabilitation methods for improving and preserving the condition of the roads. Another survey will be done for Cambridge in the summer of 2027.
A boost for public works departments
“We’re pretty happy with the data that we did get, it was a nice report that they were able to provide us,” said Jim Wilcox, Cambridge’s city engineer. He said it was cheaper to use the system than to have public works employees walk the streets to assess them for potholes and cracks. The Public Works department will use the data to inform its pavement management program over the next several years.
Wilcox said Cambridge asked other Boston-area communities about Cyvl, which has about 80 customers in Massachusetts, and got good reports on how its system improves cost-efficiency.
“Having it done block by block, which we hadn’t done in the past, was really beneficial.” said Wilcox. “And having the data at that granular level block by block has been really helpful for us.”
Cyvl’s business goal is to improve public works, “the stuff that we all really take for granted, like roads and sidewalks that everybody depends on every single day,” said Pelaez. “We really think that by creating a better sort of foundation, helping us manage it better, we can sort of reverse that trend of infrastructure continuing to decline.”
Inspired by summer job
Pelaez got the idea for the technology after a summer job “filling in potholes and fixing stuff” as a road crew member. He noticed that data was recorded with pen and paper, and that repairs were done after a pothole had already formed. He was studying engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and realized he could apply the sensor and robotics technology he was learning to the public works space.
“I just saw they had no up-to-date data on the conditions of their roads or their sidewalks or their signs or the trees,” Pelaez said. “They really just had to react to issues. So a pothole shows up, a bunch of people complain, someone blows out a tire, then they go fix it.”
After graduating in 2022, Pelaez started Cyvl. The company now services close to 400 cities across the United States.
Pelaez said that in creating this technology, he hoped to help residents see both a tangible improvement in their communities, and the true value of their public works department. “The people we work with, they really want to see a better society, a better community, [and a] better quality of life for the residents that live there,” Pelaez said. He said that residents should see fewer potholes and cracks, and faster repairs when they do happen.
Boston is piloting Cyvl’s technology, and Pelaez said that the company hopes by 2027 to be working with over a thousand government agencies in the U.S. He’s also hoping to expand its work, saying that urban planning departments, forestry divisions, public safety and other governmental departments have contacted it.
This story was updated to correct the spelling of Cyvl CEO Daniel Pelaez’s name. Cambridge Day regrets the error.
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