Meet Turf Tank, a robot that uses WiFi and a GPS signal to paint athletic fields.
The robot can paint a whole football field in less than five hours. Crowley High School Football coach Brian Ellender says it normally takes double that amount of time to paint the field with himself and other coaches.
“It’s a job that takes six to eight coaches and takes numerous of hours, Turf Tank allows us, one to two coaches to do the job of eight coaches and get it done in about half the time,” Ellender said.
Coach Ellender told KATC he’s able to get home earlier to spend time with his family since it now takes less time to paint the football field. Coach Ellender also says Turf Tank helps reduce strain on his body.
“The easiest thing is not bending over and it saves your back and hamstrings, Ellender explained. "You’re able to just load up the paint and program it and let the robot do its thing.”
Turf Tank's regional manager, Hunter Pratt says the robot can paint on natural grass, dirt , and synthetic turf. Which allows the robot to be able to paint different sports fields.
“There’s layouts for 400 and 200 meter track, hammer throw, discus, rugby, football, soccer, every sport that we play and then some," Pratt said. "There is even a layout for quidditch which is the fantasy game in Harry Potter.”
Hunter told KATC there’s misconceptions with some people feeling like the robot will replace people’s job.
“It’s a tool to be used, it will never replace guys," Pratt said. "Instead of having to allocate three to four guys to pull strings and drag stencils, one guy can come out here press start, and as the robot is painting, he can be edging or mowing or doing multiple other task.”
Hunter told KATC Turf Tank can also be used in bad weather conditions.
For more information about the robot you can visit www.turftank.com
