The Tribune

A Bahamian construction firm is joint venturing with a foreign provider to offer artificial intelligence (AI) based road assessments to the government.

Bahamas Industries & Construction Company is partnering with RoadBotics, a road assessment company that already performs such work in countries including the US, Australia, New Zealand, India and Europe.

“This will be a huge asset to the Bahamas,” said Timothy Clarke, Bahamas Industries & Construction Company’s president. “Artificial intelligence will make assessing road conditions in The Bahamas quicker and more effective for government decision-makers, who have the difficult task of managing hundreds of miles of roads across multiple islands.

“With the RoadBotics technology, government officials will have reliable information about our roads, which will ultimately help them make data-driven decisions to improve the condition and safety of our roads.”

“We’re looking forward to working closely with Bahamas Industries & Construction Company to maintain and enhance the quality of roads across The Bahamas,” said Mark DeSantis, chief executive of RoadBotics.

“Our hope is that RoadBotics will not only help tackle expensive current road challenges like potholes, but will also help the Ministry of Works develop future maintenance plans that will save taxpayers enormously and improve the quality of the roads across the entire country.”

The Bahamas Industries & Construction Company is ultimatey hoping to expand the RoadBotics technology’s use to the wider Caribbean. ““By using cutting edge AI that countries across the world are already implementing, we will not only improve the condition and safety of our roads, but also become a leader in road management across the Caribbean,” Mr Clarke added.

Using a “one to five” rating system, RoadBotics is can provide condition data for an entire road network, making it possible for governments to make data-driven decisions on where to allocate funds or prevent further road damage.

“RoadBotics provides road assessments that are more time-effective and affordable than traditional visual inspections or high-tech sensor vans,” said Desmondo Bootle, a senior engineering student at the University of Bahamas and business partner at Bahamas Industries & Construction Company.

RoadBotics is an infrastructure technology company that was founded by Mark DeSantis, Dr Benjamin Schmidt and Dr Christoph Mertz. It was originally spun out of Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute.