Test Driven Design of a System for Removing Graffiti from Retroreflective Signs

Abstract

The remediation of graffiti from highway signs is a labor intensive and potentially hazardous task. Accordingly, this paper presents the initial design stages of tools that could be used to clean graffiti from signs. Two design concepts are presented – one for pedestrian accessible signs and one for overhead signs – and the concepts share a common end-effector design. The paper is primarily aimed at developing an understanding of the interactions between the end-effector's scrubbers and the sign's resultant retroreflectivity. This is accomplished through a factorial experiment to test the effects of load, speed, brush type, and sign surface material on the retroreflectivity. This work shows the feasibility of such a tool for cleaning graffiti from signs along the roadways.

Keywords:

• Cable robot
• Graffiti removal
• Retroreflectivity
• System design

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Division of Research and Innovation of the the California Department of Transportation for the support of this work through the Advanced Highway Maintenance and Construction Technology (AHMCT) Research Center at the University of California, Davis.

Notes

^#Communicated by B. Ravani