Echo CCIF · June 2025

Towards a digital twin of road and industrial pavements with Odytics

Fribourg start-up ODYTICS offers an innovative solution for the automated inventory of road and industrial pavements, based on patented high-resolution geolocated orthophotography technology (one millimetre per pixel) combined with an image-processing software platform.

Reliable technology for pavements

The vehicle-mounted system developed by ODYTICS acquires data without any disruption to traffic. Specialised artificial intelligence algorithms automatically identify inventory items (road markings, joints) and early signs of deterioration (cracks, crazing) for preventive pavement maintenance.

The ODYTICS solution has already proved itself in the field through several benchmark pilot projects. In June 2023, the start-up began discussions with the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) as part of the evolution of maintenance of the Swiss motorway network. These discussions led in 2024 to a pilot covering the inventory of 340 km of motorway.

The ODYTICS solution is also being deployed on airport pavements. A first inspection campaign was carried out at the beginning of the year on the civil apron of Payerne airport in collaboration with the Swiss Aeropole teams. These use cases illustrate the versatility and reliability of ODYTICS technology, which now aims to extend its collaboration to cantonal roads departments and municipalities.

To accelerate the technological development of its solution, ODYTICS has entered into a strategic partnership with the iCoSys institute at HEIA-FR (School of Engineering and Architecture of Fribourg). The partnership aims to develop AI engines dedicated to automating the processing of pavement images.

ODYTICS is supported by the Fribourg Economic Development Agency, Seed Capital Fribourg and Fri Up, which are backing its high-potential development.

Founders: Raphaël Michaud – CTO, Stéphane Lanternier – CEO, Clément Protté – COO.

The ODYTICS vehicle, here a van fitted with the ODYTICS system, scans the road network at normal traffic speed.