  Of all public assets, road infrastructure tops the list. Roads are crucial
for economic development and growth, providing access to education, health, and
employment. The maintenance, repair, and upgrade of roads are therefore vital
to road users' health and safety as well as to a well-functioning and
prosperous modern economy. The EU-funded HERON project will develop an
integrated automated system to adequately maintain road infrastructure. In
turn, this will reduce accidents, lower maintenance costs, and increase road
network capacity and efficiency. To coordinate maintenance works, the project
will design an autonomous ground robotic vehicle that will be supported by
autonomous drones. Sensors and scanners for 3D mapping will be used in addition
to artificial intelligence toolkits to help coordinate road maintenance and
upgrade workflows.
