Have you ever gone to a game and realized the lines on the field were difficult to see, making the game hard to follow? Or are you an athlete playing a travel sport, and you encountered fields with inconsistent sizing? In both of these cases, standardized field marking that is clear and easy to see is essential for the players and the spectators. Yet, for field managers, sports field line painting can be complicated and time-consuming, with the methods evolving from string and chalk measurements to laser lining and stencils.
Regardless of method, measuring, lining, and painting a sports field takes practice and patience. The job often requires a skilled team of experienced crewmembers who can measure accurately and paint carefully with rollers or push-painting machines. To maintain those lines, the team must manually repaint them to account for the impact of mowing, weather, and field use. This process doesn’t have to be complicated or tedious with the invention of robotic line markers, like the TinyMobileRobot, that can trim hours off of the process, give maintenance teams time to focus on other tasks and alleviate the challenges of sports field line panting.
Any paint application on a sports field begins with measuring and aligning its dimensions to the sport’s regulation line layout. This step and the entire field painting process as a whole are possible with just a string and chalk if you’re willing to take the time to painstakingly measure along the field and follow the string along the turf to place guidelines on the field.
The earliest materials used to line sports fields were chalk, lime, and creosote. These reflective white materials were visible but killed the grass underneath them. They have since been replaced with more ecologically friendly alternatives like athletic field paint. Athletic field paint isn’t the only option; there are both permanent and temporary options available. Dry materials are more temporary because they will wash or blow away due to weather, while permanent paint can last through rain, but neither option can last through regular grass cutting.
A grounds crew can paint with rollers, but individually rolling lines and creative elements takes a great deal of time and attention. Even plastic line markers and rolling machines require human push-power to distribute paint or chalk, and although they may cover more ground than a roller, they are still subject to human error and weather conditions. “These machines do work very well, giving a bright clear line,” reports Pitchcare. “However, the marker will not work effectively on muddy surfaces.”
Aerosol paint applicators have some advantages and disadvantages. Aerosol sprayers take less time to prepare because the paint does not need to be premixed, as with some chalk emulsions or temporary sports field paints, but spraying leaves too-narrow and uneven a line and requires more frequent refills. Also, the conditions, such as the pace of application, wind conditions, and the surface’s readiness, must be exactly right to ensure paint longevity.
Another method of saving time when manually painting sports field lines is using laser-cut stencils and a spray gun, often used in American football since the fields are more detailed, with every ten yards marked with its numerical value. Painting the lines for a regulation American football field can take up to six hours or more to finish. Using stencils may reduce this time and ensure that each number is painted uniformly on the field, but painters must pay close attention that the correct numbers align with the correct hash marks, adding time to the painting process. Stencils wear out relatively quickly and only provide a limited number of uses before they have to be replaced. They are also so expensive that they’re out of reach for most organizations.
Permanent fields often resort to long-term field lining methods such as inlaid lines in artificial turf (often sewn into artificial turf – a potential tripping hazard that reduces turf longevity). Artificial turf of the team’s chosen color is glued to the green turf alongside it for a longer-lasting solution than paint that provides clear, distinct lines. However, this method is not easily turned over so it is not a cost-effective solution for fields that may host a variety of sports.
The development of robotic sports field line painting alternatives has paved the way for faster, more accurate field painting. Initial robot models required measurement assistance, using base stations similar to robot vacuums to orient themselves on the field. Newer, more advanced robots no longer require a base station and use GPS to triangulate their location. GPS-powered robots like the TinyMobileRobot use Google Maps satellites coupled with a tablet to allow maintenance staff to easily set up and paint their fields without extra laborers or pesky base stations.
Choosing the right sports line painting robot can save a field department time and expense in marking accurate lines. The TinyMobileRobot series is designed for ease of use and quick setup, maximizing time and efficiency in the care and keeping of a field.
Field painting robots, like the TinyMobileRobot series, feature pre-made layouts to drag and drop onto a Google Maps satellite view of the field. Once the layout is set, the sports field painting robot needs minimal supervision. The pinpoint accuracy gained from GPS triangulation leaves clean, uniform lines–even with difficult layouts like the precise arcs of a regulation women’s lacrosse field or end-zone lettering for a football field. The tablet application can save field layouts and dimensions from season to season, cutting time to initially lay out the field the following year. As a result, the robot’s painted lines are neat and accurate, painted in a fraction of the time usually required with reduced paint usage. When laying out multiple fields or painting fields with new lines to accommodate different sports, an automatic line marking system simplifies a complicated task.
With a line marking robot, fields can be painted in a fraction of the time it takes a full grounds crew. The time savings for an American football field is exponential–robotic line markers can paint the entire field, including hash marks, in two and a half hours. Manually marking the same football fields with 400 hash marks can take a field crew upwards of twenty hours total, in comparison. Those same crew members can accomplish many other maintenance tasks in twenty labor hours if a robot is automatically marking the lines on their behalf.
Long-lasting battery-powered operation is another benefit of robotic field painters. The TinyMobileRobot can run for over five hours before recharging. The long-lasting charge empowers ground crews to paint many fields in a day if they are on the same site or transport the robot between fields. Maintenance tasks for schools or recreational fields can be performed while the marking robot is painting the fields, as the robot requires minimal supervision, and the tablet uses push notifications to alert for low paint or once the field is completed.
The ease of use in setting up the sports field line painting robot means less practice and experience are required to get a well-painted field. Skilled employees can devote their time to other improvements to the sports venue while seasonal team members or newer hires can monitor the robot and do other field setups. While the line marking robot delivers a professional, level field, a field crew can focus on making the rest of the venue look and feel its best. Reputation matters to spectators–some of the time saved may be spent on venue improvements and hospitality.
Field painting robots are beneficial for a wide range of organizations and sports field types. School athletic directors, collegiate athletic programs, and parks and recreation personnel can all benefit from the time, paint, and cost savings associated with switching to a field painting robot.
Facility and maintenance managers will find the advantage of a line marking robot is in time and resource optimization. Managers may be responsible for multiple fields or require multiple layouts painted on a single field. The sports field line painting robot simplifies line maintenance by taking less time to deliver a professional result. The TinyMobileRobot can also be transported from school to school, weighing under seventy pounds. Facility managers responsible for more than one school in a district can maintain their fields quickly and easily with an automatic solution, rather than paying multiple crew members for the time to paint only one field. For large-scale sportplexes, the line painter enables professional fields to be painted quickly when hosting tournaments and other premier field sports events. And independent club sports, like youth soccer, football, or lacrosse can use the volunteer time it takes to paint a field for other important logistics while improving the professional look of their fields.
Robotic line painters like the TinyMobileRobot can be an asset to school athletic directors looking to provide the best facilities possible to their coaches, players, and spectators. Professional, accurate layouts are key to elevating the appearance of school fields, and a robotic field line painter can detail creative elements such as mascots or logos with perfect, repeatable results. The accurate layouts and creative elements make school sports fields an excellent venue for special events like Homecoming and other school fundraisers, for example.
Supporting a diverse college population may mean frequently changing the field layout, and new field layouts can be difficult to learn and execute on a tight timeline. With a GPS-powered automatic painter, a robot will deliver the correct line in the correct dimensions within .8 of an inch. A collegiate grounds team is responsible for many fields and layouts; the automatic line painter enables flexibility and efficiency in marking each field. TinyMobileRobots can enhance the look and feel of athletic program fields and intramural or club sports fields. The sports field line painting robot can paint lines on artificial turf and natural grass, empowering college grounds crews to set up and maintain each tier of field with the same accuracy.
Sports field line painting robots may be a cost-effective answer for municipal parks and recreation departments, which are simultaneously responsible for many fields and field layouts. With public facilities, the field layout can change from season to season, tournament to tournament, or even week to week. With a line painting robot, parks and recreation departments with stretched staff can allocate their seasonal hires to the simple supervision of the robot, allowing more experienced team members to prioritize other duties. The robot can accommodate dimensional changes and adjustments for youth leagues or differing sports rules without requiring a skilled, expensive team to execute. With the TinyMobileRobot, parks and recreation departments can paint beautiful, accurate lines on their fields for any type of sports field.
If an automatic sports field line painting robot is the right solution for your department, program, or venue, finding the robot that fits your specific needs is essential.
When the high-priority task of marking perfect field lines can be delegated to employees of any experience level, the entire team can be reallocated to other necessary tasks at your organization, school, or venue. The right robot, like the TinyLinkMarker series, needs minimal supervision and intervention, notifying the tablet if the paint is running low or the job is completed. Instead of requiring the full attention of one or more staff members, the crew can multitask while the automatic line marker does its work in a fraction of the time it would take to paint manually. The right line painting robot will save on paint ex[emditures, not just time and labor. TinyMobileRobots reduces paint spend by up to 50-60% leading to exponential ROI the more fields an organization has.
GPS triangulation is also an important feature to look for in the right line-painting robot. The TinyLineMarker software uses GPS and real-time kinematics (RTK) technology to triangulate the robot’s location. Other robot models may need a complicated base station setup to begin painting, but this inhibits flexibility in transporting the unit to another location, as the next location would also need the base station setup. If that station is set up in a different location from field to field, or the weather shifts the base station during a job, the painted lines will be accurate. Instead, the TinyMobileRobot tablet can use Google Maps to save layouts to each aligned location, making initial painting and repainting simple.
Ultimately, adding the TinyLineMarker to your venue maintenance toolkit saves a grounds team time and energy that can be better spent on other important tasks. The lightweight and easy-to-maneuver robot line painter is easy to set up and use with the included tablet and only requires human intervention to refill the reservoir or clean the unit at the end of a paint job. The TinyMobileRobot is a powerful addition to any grounds team.
Schedule a live, one-hour free demonstration of a line-painting robot on one of your fields today.
Watching the TinyMobileRobot in action illustrates the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of our line-marking robot firsthand.
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