The Alabama Crimson Tide has become such a college football powerhouse that it is even cutting edge in field maintenance.
The grounds crew in Tuscaloosa has two line-painting robots, invented in Denmark, known as Turf Tanks.
According to SI, the robots - which are 3 feet tall, are set up with “personalized tablets that collect data from 17 satellites to the pre-programed specifications of the fields in Tuscaloosa. The tablet tracks the movement of the robots, tells it exactly where to go, when to paint and for how long.”
“It used to take six guys roughly five hours to paint all three of our practice fields,” Alabama’s assistant director of athletic grounds Drew Charcandy told SI. “Now we send three guys and our two Turf Tank robots, and we’ll paint them in roughly three hours. So, one, that clears up three other guys to go and accomplish things on other fields. And then, two, it’s also saving time.”
Charcandy is part of the crew that oversees the baseball, softball and soccer field, the track and field complex, football indoor and outdoor practice facilities and Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Each robot paints a field, then they tag team the third practice field every Monday.
According to the report, the crew still hand paints the Bryant-Denny Stadium, but will use the robot to paint the stadium for various events throughout the year.
Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.