Honda pilots ADAS sensors to spot potholes and road damage in real time

Honda and the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) in the United States have completed a pilot project using advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) sensors to detect road defects in real time.

The automaker said the system monitored around 4,800km of roads in central and southeastern Ohio to detect road deficiencies and identify necessary repairs in real time, including dangerous potholes, missing signs, damaged guard rails and other safety hazards.

Using existing vision cameras and LiDAR, the prototype Honda Proactive Roadway Maintenance System achieved 93 per cent accuracy for identifying damaged guardrails and 89 per cent for potholes.

Detected deficiencies were processed by AI and sent automatically to ODOT dashboards, where work orders were generated and prioritised by severity.

Honda estimates that scaled deployment could save ODOT more than $4.5 million per year.

The brand added that it is now in discussions with several US states about expanding the system to other transport departments.