Surface markings are used in various settings to convey information. For example, surface markings, such as lines, stripes, arrows, words, symbols and/or the like, are often provided on roadways to provide drivers road-related information (e.g., lane boundaries, stopping points, warning signs, turn lane designations and/or the like). Similarly, surface markings, such as numbers, words and/or designs, may be provided in parking lots to identify specific parking spots (e.g., handicapped and/or numbered parking spots). In addition, surface markings may also be provided on sports fields to identify team names, team logos, boundaries, affiliations (e.g., conference logos) and/or the like.
Typically, complex surface markings, such as words, numbers, logos, designs and/or other images, are applied to a surface using pre-manufactured templates. For instance, to apply a logo onto a sports field, a template corresponding to a negative image of the logo may be initially placed onto the field. Thereafter, the portions of the field visible through the template may be manually painted (e.g., by hand painting or spray painting the logo). As such, the use of templates to create surface markings is typically a very labor intensive and time consuming process.
Moreover, it is often the case that the templates used to create surface markings cannot be reused until the paint applied to such templates has dried, which can be very problematic when a large number of repetitive surface markings must be created. For instance, number templates are typically used to create numbered parking places in parking lots. In such instances, once a given template has been used to create a single numbered parking place, the template may not be used again until the paint sprayed or otherwise applied across the template has dried. Thus, to mark a plurality of different parking places, a significant amount of time and/or templates is required.
Accordingly, a system and method for automatically applying painted surface markings to a surface would be welcomed in the art.