澳大利亚开发新技术对抗涂鸦

AS IT IS 2015-07-14 Australia Develops New Technology to Fight Graffiti 澳大利亚开发新技术对抗涂鸦

Cities throughout the world spend a lot of money fighting graffiti. Graffiti writers leave their mark in public places, often on walls or other surfaces. They spray paint words, artwork or other things on buildings, trains and buses. Some graffiti writers even damage statues. Efforts by police to stop the writers often fail.      

Officials in Australia have begun using a new technology that can recognize the most commonly used graffiti materials: paint and marker pens. They hope it will help police stop people from defacing walls on the passenger areas of trains.

Some passenger trains in Sydney, Australia are covered in graffiti. Surveillance cameras help police officers stop those who illegally write on train cars. But there are just too many cars in the system. Police and railroad officials cannot watch all of the cameras all the time.

Last year, Sydney Trains -- the operator of the city’s rail service -- began using a new surveillance system that has an “electronic nose.” Howard Collins is the head of Sydney Trains. 

“We’ve had 50 people being charged with offenses². And as we roll it out now to other trains, it’s proving even more successful.”

The device is called “Mousetrap.” It was developed by Technique Risk, an Australian company. Mousetrap can identify gases released by markers and spray paints.

Mark Byers founded the company. He says when the device recognizes the smell of graffiti, it sends a message to an alarm, which is connected to a nearby surveillance camera.

“The strength of the system is the fact that security personnel or police can monitor the system in the field with a mobile phone. The information they receive is the train or carriage number, the location that the event is occurring and also where that train is going to.”

Graffiti writers cannot disable the system because the sensor³ is hidden in the wall of the train car.

Police guard the trains and train stations. Many of the officers look like passengers. They can quickly react when Mousetrap tells them someone is painting on the walls.

Howard Collins says the system keeps a record of where and when graffiti writers are working. He says this can help officials decide where to deploy⁴ officers.

“Now we’re building a profile of where or when these incidents occur. So the police already have the intelligence and the information to say ‘this is where this is likely to occur’ and ‘this is the time of day.’”

Mr. Collins says Mousetrap has worked so well that most of Sydney’s trains are now free of graffiti. He says it cost about $500,000 to put the system in place. But he says that is not a lot of money compared to the $34 million Sydney Trains spent last year to remove graffiti.

Words in This Story

graffiti – n. pictures or words painted or drawn⁵ on a wall, building or vehicle

spray paint – n. paint flying in small droplets⁶ or particles

defacing – v. to ruin the surface of (something)

surveillance camera – n. a camera designed to watch someone or something in order to prevent or identify a crime

offense¹ – n. a criminal act

roll it out – idiom add to; place it on other; complete the launch of

monitor – v. to watch, observe or listen to something for a special purpose over a period of time

carriage – n. a train car

occurring – v. happening

profile – n. a description that provides information about someone or something

1 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

2 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

3 sensor   

n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官）

参考例句：

• The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
• He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。

4 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

5 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

6 droplets   

n.小滴( droplet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Droplets of sweat were welling up on his forehead. 他额头上冒出了滴滴汗珠。 来自辞典例句
• In constrast, exhaled smoke contains relatively large water droplets and appears white. 相反，从人嘴里呼出的烟则包含相当大的水滴，所以呈白色。 来自辞典例句