General Motors has applied for a patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a system designed to predict road deterioration.
The application, filed on Dec 15, 2023 and published on 19 June 2025, names General Motors engineers Matthew Edward Gilbert-Eyres, Craig Thomas Douglas, Alec M. Wuorinen and Donald K. Grimm as the inventors.
According to news website GM Authority, the proposed solution relies on a network of vehicles outfitted with sensors that capture vibration, suspension displacement, wheel rotation and camera imagery during normal operation.
Each vehicle’s telematics unit transmits this data in real time, along with GPS coordinates, to a cloud-based central processor, which aggregates inputs and calculates a Road Maintenance Score (RMS) reflecting current surface conditions.
When the RMS exceeds predefined thresholds, tiered alerts are dispatched to relevant organisations, highlighting sections in need of urgent repair or maintenance.
Vehicles equipped with navigation software may receive live routing updates, and autonomous systems could automatically reroute around hazardous stretches.
A core advantage of the design is its crowd-sourced data-collection model, which leverages existing vehicle fleets rather than requiring specialised roadside infrastructure.
As more vehicles contribute information, the RMS map becomes increasingly granular and accurate across different regions.
The system can also generate detailed feature maps that pinpoint potholes, water pooling and uneven surfaces, which can be integrated into onboard navigation displays.
GM Authority notes that this scalable approach could enable local authorities and fleet operators to prioritise maintenance schedules more efficiently, improve road safety and reduce costs associated with unplanned repairs.
