New RoadBotics Tool Allows Asset Mapping Via Smartphone

The company’s new software, AgileMapper, gives users the ability to log an item by taking a photo of it. Artificial intelligence can then identify the object and add it to a larger inventory.

RoadBotics, a startup that’s made its name offering a way to use smartphones to find cracks and potholes in roads, is now offering users the ability to map assets.

The company’s new product, AgileMapper, shares a mobile focus with its previous work — with a smartphone, users will be able to take photos of infrastructure such as signs and sidewalks and the app will use AI to figure out what’s in the image. The data can then be used to build an inventory of assets to help manage them, in a wide range of asset management software such as those from Aurigo, Cartegraph or Accela.

“We are excited to release a product that will help governments, civil engineering firms, and construction companies manage their infrastructure assets and projects more effectively,” said RoadBotics CEO and Co-Founder Benjamin Schmidt in a statement. “The feedback we received from our clients was an integral part of the AgileMapper production process, and we could not have built this platform without their input.”

RoadBotics’ core work to this point has revolved around software that lets users mount smartphones on a vehicle’s dashboard to take video of roads as they drive. AI can crunch the video to create a map showing road conditions across vast stretches of a city, a much faster process than manual inspection.