Nobody likes potholes on the road. Sometimes nobody likes to repair them. But a small robot Addibot has a mission: make the city streets better and rescue roads and angry driver’s nerves.

Robert Flitsch developed a prototype of the robot: it’s 4-wheeled and now looks like RC car. With a help of hoses, it will work like a roving 3D printer in remote-control or self-driving.

“One of the main limitations with 3D printers is you typically have it printing inside this box, and you can really only print objects of the size of the workspace you’re printing in,“If you take additive manufacturing implements and make them mobile, you can print objects of arbitrary size.” Robert Flitsch says.

“All the storage for material, all the chemical processing could be done on board the Addibot,” he says. “Tar materials, which have to be kept at a high temperature, can be done in a tank with a constant heat source added to it. Power sources could be various kinds, depending on the size of the robot.”

Addibot will repair different surfaces due to a special array of nozzles, located under robot’s chassis. The first testing of a prototype was on the ice surface: the cuts on hockey rinks were covered by Addibot with above water freezing point temperature. Nevertheless, Robert is aimed to create a road-oriented model of the robot and still seeking funding.