Robotic Detail Pavement Marking vs. Thermoplastic
| Robotic Detail Painting | Thermoplastic |
|---|---|
| Road worker stays safely in the truck cab – No Boots on the Ground! | Road crew works in closed lanes with traffic passing by in the next lane |
| Road worker stays in the air conditioned cab – no heat related illnesses | Road crew works in conditions of direct sunlight, hot pavement and traffic and thermoplastic fumes |
| No 450°F pots of thermoplastic, burners or torches to melt the thermoplastic onto the pavement – no road crew burns | 450°F pots of thermoplastic, burners and torches putting the road crew at risk for burn injuries |
| The operator controls the layout of the symbol and directs the robot to paint – all at the touch of a button | Road crew unloads thermoplastic stencils or preforms, burner and retroreflective beads from the truck and reloads when the job is done – physically demanding and injury prone work |
| One operator is needed to paint detail road symbols | A crew of 3-4 workers is needed to put down thermoplastic detail road symbols |
| Symbols are chosen from a library of MUTCD standard templates – the symbol is compliant and consistent every time | Pouring 450°F thermoplastic into stencils and lining up the multiple pieces of a thermoplastic preform takes experience to get it right. And, road workers are not always experienced |
| Daily cleanup takes about 10 minutes which allows for more painting time | Thermoplastic stencils must be cleaned at the end of each day taking considerable painting time from the crew |
