Potholes, Meet Your Newest Opponent — Video transcript
Bennett Blackwood is a fictional AI bear presenter. His voice and brief desk bookends are generated. The credited story photographs and footage are authentic; archival material is labeled. No added music.
I’m Bennett Blackwood.
Potholes, meet your newest opponent: a robot! In Pittsburgh, a startup teamed up with university engineers and students to turn a familiar road headache into a working prototype. At an August demonstration, the trailer-mounted machine scanned a pothole, mapped its shape, and worked out how much asphalt it needed. Then a computer-guided tube filled the hole. Silly Surfacing, Pitt's IDEA Lab, and Innovation Works' Robotics Factory helped bring the idea to life. It's an encouraging first step, with more engineering ahead. Cleaning the hole and packing the asphalt are still future goals. For now, one stubborn pothole met some creative people—and a very determined machine!
Seize the day. Share the good.