Autonomous pavement condition assessment

A non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage media containing a program of instructions configured to cause the computer system running the program of instructions to:

• receive depth data indicative of the depth of pixels that collectively comprise multiple defective areas of pavement;
• identify the multiple defective areas of pavement based on the depth data;
• receive and store information indicative of the location of each defective area;
• categorize each defective area based on the depth data;
• and
• prioritize the multiple defective areas for repair based on the categorization,
• whereby the identifying, categorizing, and prioritizing proceed in an automated and unsupervised manner without training of the computer system.

An autonomous pavement condition assessment system comprising:

• multiple vehicles, each equipped with:
• a depth sensor configured to generate depth data indicative of the depth of pixels that collectively comprise pavement over which the vehicles travel;
• and
• a location sensor configured to generate location data indicative of the locations of the pavement at which the depth data is generated;
• a computer system, including computer hardware, configured to:
• receive the depth data and the location data;
• to identify and classify defective areas of the pavement based on the depth data;
• and
• to prioritize the multiple defective areas for repair based on the identification, the classification, and the location data.