Robots have taken over football fields, and it’s not a turf war.
Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District’s Maintenance Grounds Crew tackles about 40 fields weekly. However, the job of laying down crisp, straight lines in record time is now in the hands of a robot.
“I call him Hank the Tank,” Josh Minor said. Minor is the Executive Director of Facilities and Construction for the school district. “It is an autonomous field striper.”
A job that typically requires four crew members and several hours to complete is completed in minutes by Turf Tank’s robotic field painter.
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“At very short notice, we can throw a field in there about 45 minutes with one person,” Minor said. “In the past, your striper would have a gas-powered engine on it. So, this is all battery operated, very intuitive.”
The robot weighs about 75 pounds and is less than two feet tall. Now, only one person is needed to help unload it and set up its satellite on a tripod for mapping.
“We'll have our iPad, which has all the fields already programmed. And it has the multiple types of fields that can be painted. You can do it for football, soccer, anything you want," Gerardo Grajedo said. Grajedo helps lead the district's grounds crew.
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Minor assured the robot only maximizes the efficiency of their staff.
“The guys are not losing a job to be able to help them get their job done easier,” Minor said.
“The other three people can now go and start on another project,” Grajedo said. “It's a never-ending job. This just helps it to be a less stressful less hard on the body.”
According to Turk Tank, high schools in the area, including Grand Prairie, Brewer, Princeton, and The Hockaday School, use Turk Tank.
