How is one group of researchers hoping to automate city repairs?

A $6.4 million project led by researchers at the University of Leeds in England will attempt to use drones to automatically detect and repair problems around the city. Researchers will examine taks like fixing potholes and broken street lights, and inspecting utility pipes.

"The critical part of this project is being proactive rather than reactive,” Raul Fuentes, from the university's School of Civil Engineering, told Gizmag. "This is crucial to ensuring we have sustainable and resilient infrastructure. We will target our interventions so that they are invisible to the human eye, before they become a real problem."

Testing is scheduled to begin next year, and if things go as researchers plan, the sight of a repair drone will become as common as a pigeon.