Robotiz3d is a UK SME which is a spin out company based on initial R&D at University of Liverpool. The business has been built on patented technologies that emerged from 4 years of university research, and 30 months of commercial development. We have developed and recently launched to market ARRES EYE, a patented AI-driven device capable of identifying, characterising and classifying road defects and road condition. ARRES FORECAST will create the first proof-of-concept of an AI-driven platform to predict the evolution of road defects using data collected by ARRES EYE. Our technology will be capable of helping solve the problem of 10m potholes in the UK by enabling early intervention, e.g. preventing cracks from evolving into potholes. This will extend the life of road infrastructure, and deliver significant cost savings and environmental benefits. When operational, we project that our technology will deliver cost savings of 60% and time savings of 80% over traditional methods. It will also accelerate the shift to low carbon transport and innovate for a more productive and sustainable public sector.

Robotiz3d is a UK SME which is a spin out company based on initial R&D at University of Liverpool. The business has been built on patents that emerged from 4 years of university research, and 11 months of commercial development. We are developing a product called ARRES PREVENT, an autonomous AI driven robotic system to carry out preventative repairs to the nation's roads. Our technology will be capable of helping solve the problem of 10m potholes in the UK by preventing cracks from evolving into potholes. This will extend the life of road infrastructure, and deliver significant cost savings and environmental benefits. When operational, we project that our technology will deliver cost savings of 60% and time savings of 80% over traditional methods. It will also accelerate the shift to low carbon transport and innovate for a more sustainable public sector. **ARRES PREVENT** ARRES PREVENT combines robotics, AI, and autonomous vehicles to deliver functionalities currently unavailable anywhere in the world. Patented technologies are integrated with 3D printing to accurately and autonomously identify and repair minor faults in the road surface before they develop into potholes, saving time, energy and cost. Our patented technology will be capable of helping solve the problem of the nation's 10m potholes (DoT, 2021) by preventing today's cracks from becoming tomorrow's potholes. This will extend the life of road infrastructure, and deliver significant cost savings and environmental benefits. The focus of this project will be on developing our autonomous crack repair technology (R3D lead), and building the software infrastructure required (UoL lead) for a rollout of this, and future technologies to extend the repair to larger potholes. **Work to Date** We have already built a functioning prototype for this product with the support of Innovate's SBRI Phase 1 programme. This has helped demonstrate proof of concept and has enabled us to attract significant initial commercial interest in our concept, with major maintenance firms now actively engaged in our work. This project will specifically support the development of the final module required for full functionality, the software and the hardware that deliver the micro-repair element of ARRES PREVENT - that is the mechanism that automatically and accurately fills cracks in the road surface. This is the key remaining technical barrier to overcome, allowing us to move to a full commercial proposition.

Potholes have been a problem for humanity since when the Appian way was built. In the UK, Highways England and County and City Councils are relentlessly fixing almost two millions potholes each year, but this is not enough. The backlog is growing and there are more and more potholes on the roads. Despite all the effort, the traditional methods (two-man-gang) of fixing potholes cannot cope with their spiraling numbers - too expensive and too slow. A step change is needed and robotics and artificial intelligence can be the empowering tools. Robotiz3d is developing a game-changing solution that sees high-tech autonomous robots patrolling the UK roads and repairing cracks and potholes as soon as they appear. Robotiz3d is a University of Liverpool spinoff born in the Robotic lab of the School of Engineering. Robotiz3d will 1) reduce the cost of road maintenance, 2) reduce the time of repair to a fraction to the current one, 3) make the sector more resilient thanks to autonomous solutions and 4) reduce the carbon footprint of road maintenance and contribute reducing the vehicles GHG emissions by guaranteeing better road pavements. In Phase 1 Robotiz3d will complete a feasibility study and develop a lab-prototype of a small-scale autonomous platform that can: i) monitor the condition of the road surface, ii) identify and promptly repair minor defects that may evolve into larger defects, iii) flag presence of large defects that will require a road maintenance crew to be fixed. It is envisaged that Phase 2 will then transform the proof-of-concept of Phase 1 into the complete autonomous platform for road micro-repair. Robotiz3d has conducted an independent market analysis that supports its proposition and has already been contacted by a County Council that showed interest in the project.