CLEVELAND — The future of roadway technology is here, and it was built in Northeast Ohio.
Cleveland startup company RoadPrintz, Inc. has developed a robot that can paint the arrows and lines we see on the road every day.
Eight years of development resulted in a 1,000-pound robotic arm mounted on the back of a truck. A camera is installed inside the arm. From the cab, workers use a touchscreen to choose from a library of stencils and can place or resize any design before painting begins.
A simple press of the button begins the painting process, and work is complete within minutes. There is no need for workers to leave the cab of the truck and be out on the street with traffic.
The idea came from RoadPrintz Co-Founders Sam Bell and Wyatt Newman after a Northeast Ohio City delayed bike lane construction because of the cost of paint.
"[Newman] turned to me and asked the question he always asks: could a robot do it?" Bell said. "For once I said, yes! A robot could do it!"
The two found that their idea could keep road crews safe while also bringing road maintenance into the 21st Century.
"We realized that the painting of detailed markings is virtually identical to how it was done one hundred years ago," Newman said. "People standing on the street with stencils and hand painters."
RoadPrintz robots are already in use across the country. The Pennsylvania Turnpike and the City of Houston are renting robots from the company now. Bell and Newman said crews are completing work safely and in record time.
"This is an important thing for us nationwide and worldwide," Bell said. "Better markings allow people to make better decisions, whether as drivers, pedestrians, or cyclists."
For more information on RoadPrintz, click here.
