Samsara announced Tuesday a new AI-powered platform called Ground Intelligence that uses data collected from cameras installed in commercial trucks and vans to detect potholes and other municipal infrastructure problems. The company said the system is designed to help cities identify road damage and infrastructure issues more quickly by analyzing footage gathered from millions of vehicles already using Samsara’s hardware.
The announcement follows growing interest in using vehicle sensor data to monitor road conditions. Last month, Waymo and Waze launched a pilot program focused on sharing pothole information with local governments.
Samsara said its approach differs because of the scale and frequency of data collected from commercial fleets.
AI Model Trained On Fleet Camera Data
The company has spent the past decade supplying customers with vehicle-mounted cameras used for driver monitoring, theft prevention, and insurance-related investigations.
According to Samsara, it used data gathered from those systems to train its own AI model capable of identifying different types of potholes and assessing how quickly they are deteriorating.
The company argued that its commercial fleet network provides broader coverage than robotaxi fleets currently operating on public roads. The article noted that Waymo’s fleet includes roughly 3,000 vehicles.
Samsara said its vehicles can repeatedly capture data from the same streets over time, allowing the system to monitor how potholes and infrastructure conditions change.
The company believes this repeat data collection will make the service useful for city governments. Samsara announced that multiple cities have already signed contracts for the platform and confirmed that Chicago has joined as a new customer.
Ground Intelligence Dashboard And Future Features
Ground Intelligence operates through a dashboard that maps developing potholes and infrastructure concerns using proactive alerts.
The system also allows cities to access anonymized camera footage from vehicles to verify public reports involving damaged street signs, clogged sewer systems, or other infrastructure-related problems.
According to Samsara, future versions of Ground Intelligence could identify additional issues such as graffiti, broken guardrails, and low-hanging power lines.
Johan Land said the company sees potential applications for both public agencies and private sector customers.
“Anything that we can observe that has relevance to a city, or also to the private sector,” Land said.
Land said cities currently rely heavily on municipal workers or large volumes of 311 reports to identify infrastructure problems.
Samsara’s system is intended to reduce that manual process by automatically highlighting problems detected through fleet camera data.
“That’s the magic here; it takes a process that was reactive and makes it proactive,” Land said. “That means that you don’t just go and fix one pothole. You plan it out: ‘I know where all the potholes are in this area. I go out and I fix one by one, in one sweep.’”
Additional Fleet Monitoring Products
Samsara also introduced additional products connected to its vehicle monitoring network.
One new product, called Waste Intelligence, is designed for waste management companies and helps confirm whether trash or recycling pickups were completed.
The company also announced a ridership management system for buses. According to Samsara, the tool can notify bus drivers about “unexpected boarding events” and generate digital passenger manifests for school buses.
The article also noted that potholes have become a recurring operational concern for transportation companies. Scooter-sharing company Lime recently identified potholes as a business risk in its IPO filing.
Featured image credits: Roboflow Universe
For more stories like it, click the +Follow button at the top of this page to follow us.