The Internet of pothole-fixing sensor things

The Internet of pothole-fixing sensor things

  • By GCN Staff
  • Jun 16, 2015

When it comes to civic innovation, fixing potholes has long been a fixation.   First SeeClickFix and CitySourced allowed citizens to report problem spots to local government, and then Boston's New Urban Mechanics created StreetBump -- an app that automatically alerts road crews when one drives through a crater in the pavement.    Now in Panama City, Panama, humans have been removed from the reporting entirely.

El Hueco Twitero -- "the Tweeting Pothole" -- is an automated account, with tweets triggered by small sensors that have been placed in dangerous potholes by a local news program "Telemetro Reporta" and the advertising agency P4 Ogilvy & Mather.  The devices, which include pressure and motion sensors and an RF transmitter, then tweet to Panama's  Ministry of Public Works every time a car runs over them. 

CNet reported that the sensor-driven publicity stunt "has even caught the attention of Panama's minister of Public Works, Ramón Arosemena. He addressed the issue on 'Telemetro Reporta' [June 1], blaming it on poor construction and a lack of approved funds to fix the problem."

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