COCKE COUNTY, Tenn. — Robots are used to help with surgeries, space exploration and even to serve food. One robot in Cocke County is making coaches' jobs a lot easier.
Cocke County Schools has been using a GPS-enabled robot to paint athletic fields, in a fraction of the time compared to a person. At Hedrick Field in Cocke County, there is grass instead of turf.
"Before we got the Turf Tank, we actually as a staff, as a football staff, we all split it up sometimes within two days, Wednesday and Thursday before games on Friday. Thursdays was probably the most time extensive," said Casey Ragan, a coach at Cocke County High School.
A.C. Willis, the principal of Cocke County High School and the school's former athletic director, said the school system bought the robot after a presentation by the Turf Tank company.
"They brought the Turf Tank and actually striped our field for a little bit, and we got to see the process and the speed and the accuracy and precision of the lines which was really sold us," he said.
Willis also said not only does the robot save time, but it also saves money. He said the school district had to sign a six-year contract with the company, effectively renting the robot.
"We do spend a lot of money for all of our fields on field paint. We did the math to see how much money we would be saving. And that was the kicker. We would actually save $1,000 to $2000 every year on paint," said Willis.
To use the robot, its user directs it where to paint on a tablet. Pedro Gudger, the County County Middle School football coach, said he sets up the program and starts the painting process.
"It's basically it's all satellite driven. So basically I come in, set up the program key in which field I wanna do and I just hit stuff on the computer and hit start," he said. "It's actually that the robot enables me to come in, set it up, do the lines and then I'll be able to walk off and go do something else."
He said he uses the robot several times a week on multiple fields, now that the fall athletic season has kicked off. The Turf Tank robot is used year-round to paint football, soccer and baseball fields for the school district.
"It helps all the schools. I go around to Cosby, Cocke County, City Park, Parrotsville," said Gudger.
In addition to lines, the robot can draw numbers and logos.