Monitoring and Detection Technologies and AI-Powered Development Toward Transparent Roads

Intelligentization presently emerges as the primary direction for future developments of road infrastructure, providing specific scenarios that integrate conventional transport infrastructure research with cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, and new forms of business, including automated driving and intelligent connected vehicles. The key technologies for the construction and operation of smart roads include digital sensor networks, intelligent management systems, and interconnected service frameworks, among which sensor networks provide a data foundation. This study focuses on monitoring and detection technologies for road service performance, which constitute an integral part of the digital sensor networks of smart roads. Reviews were conducted, and observations were made, from three perspectives: embedded sensing of road service performance, automated detection of road surface defects, and intelligent identification of hidden road defects. Advancements and existing challenges faced by monitoring and detection technologies for road service performance were examined, and applications of AI in monitoring road service performance and detecting road service problems were elucidated. Finally, a roadmap for future research on sensing and detection for AI-powered road service performance was proposed. Breakthroughs are expected in four areas: establishing a “space–air–ground” multi-source three-dimensional monitoring and detection system, developing monitoring and detection technologies based on multi-source data fusion algorithms, building a digital twin base integrating the physical structures of roads, and creating a road control and service system that integrates end–edge–cloud collaboration. This comprehensive approach aims to advance the key technologies and theoretical foundations that are essential for the construction and operation of smart roads.