BOTETOURT COUNTY, Va. – When you go to a game at Lord Botetourt or James River and admire the nice field, you might have to thank a robot for it.
Botetourt County has found an innovative solution to labor shortages in turf management with the Turf Tank line marking robot. It automates the process of painting lines on sports fields, ensuring that all projects are completed in time in parks, schools and sports complexes around the county, keeping sporting events on schedule.
The device helps the county manage a couple of dozen fields.
It can get a soccer field painted in about 20 minutes and now is a one-person job. Before it could take several people several hours.
“There are a lot of turf managers who are overwhelmed with a lot of work. By implementing our robot and technology into their work they save time and then when they’re in those periods when they don’t have people or can’t find people they have the robot to help them with a task that normally requires a lot of extra time,” said Simon Christensen, Turf Tank employee.
In an industry that like many others was put on hold in the last two years, adding this cutting-edge technology to their fleet of equipment shows that Botetourt County is making progress, the company said.
The company said this level of efficiency can save localities thousands of dollars every year.