---

• Go on X / Twitter
• Go on Linkedin

Thanks to an onboard smartphone, artificial intelligence, and Orange’s 5G network, the Finistère department is experimenting with a new way to monitor the condition of its roads. A detailed, real-time mapping that promises more preventive, objective, and efficient maintenance on a territory heavily exposed to weather conditions.

Crédits vidéo : Orange, vialytics

In Finistère, AI and 5G are putting roads under the scanner

Fine surveillance, informed decisions

Concretely, the experiment relies on a deliberately minimalist setup. A smartphone – mandatory (with or without a SIM card) embedded in the vehicle, along with a dedicated application. While driving at moderate speed, the smartphone captures an HD image of the roadway every four meters, and the data, thanks to the 5G connection (here via an Orange Airbox 5G), are immediately transmitted to the cloud, where artificial intelligence analyzes them.

We automatically collect thousands of photos, without human intervention,” explains Hervé Villemagne, vialytics’ French commercial director. “The algorithm classifies damages, weighs them, and then produces a very readable map: green when the pavement is healthy, red when degraded, with detailed images accessible.

For the department’s teams, the difference is clear.

The vehicle drives, films the entire road segment, and AI provides a clear diagnosis,” confirms Éric Jousseaume, mayor of Île-Tudy in the southern tip of Finistère. “It allows us to quickly identify the most vulnerable areas and prioritize.” Cracks, subsidence, potholes: the algorithm immediately recognizes the main damages and provides a real decision-making tool. “This saves a lot of time,” he emphasizes.

But beyond time savings, the experiment also signifies a methodological shift.

“Previously, the diagnosis relied on the agents’ visual assessment. And naturally, everyone has their own sensitivity,” observes Hervé Villemagne. “Now, we introduce an element of objectivity. The algorithm works the same everywhere, and decisions are based on precise data.”

A common foundation that helps the community better prioritize interventions, estimate costs, and anticipate work, rather than just managing emergencies.

5G as a prerequisite

And while the promise of this experiment is appealing, it fundamentally depends on a major technical prerequisite: the ability to transmit a massive volume of data, on the move, in a short time. This is where 5G becomes crucial.

We needed a high data flow, sent from anywhere on the field,” recounts Éric Jousseaume. “Before 5G, agents had to bring their smartphones to a control center, wait for data transfer, then return the next morning. It was a very limiting technological dead-end.”

With 5G, this bottleneck is eliminated: images are transmitted continuously, directly from the vehicle

We’re talking about image processing with very compact equipment, onboard a moving vehicle,” recalls Jean-Jacques Gaouyer. The challenge: ensuring that capturing and transmitting images faithfully reflect the reality on the ground.

The essential condition was network coverage. And it was sufficient for the results to be usable across the entire territory,” emphasizes Éric Jousseaume

A key performance in a large department where coastal roads alternate between urban, rural, and sometimes isolated zones.

A second condition: ease of use

Another key point: simplicity. “The idea was for the solution to be as smooth as possible,” insists Jean-Jacques Gaouyer. Once the equipment is connected, it is immediately user-friendly and does not complicate agents’ daily routines.

We didn’t need extensive training,” confirms Éric Jousseaume. “They mainly gained in comfort and in the reliability of the information.

And tomorrow?

For vialytics, the experiment doesn’t stop at simple diagnostics. “

We are now working on predictive analysis and automated work recommendations,” indicates Hervé Villemagne. “The idea is to become a solution provider, not just an observer.

For Orange, the perspectives go far beyond road maintenance:

By then, this experiment, which lasted a few weeks and is now over, will have made it possible to explore a potential path: that of continuous road monitoring, where 5G and AI could, in time, play a discreet yet structuring role in public action. An innovation with a low profile, but a high impact, on roads that everyone uses, often without paying attention.