January 15, 2019
With the Maryland SoccerPlex
A weekly newsletter to keep you informed about EVERYTHING Turf at the Maryland SoccerPlex.
In the next few weeks we will look at how robots are entering into the sports turf management world! This week we take a look at robotic mowers!
Robot Takeover!
Technology is constantly changing and bringing us more tools to help do our jobs. Even the turf industry is bringing more technology, by the form of robotic mowers! Yes, you read that right! You’re probably imagining a CP3-O type robot mowing the grass, but it is much more high-tech than that! Originally robotic mowers were invented and used for mowing in dangerous areas such as along roadways or on steep slopes. Many of these robotic mowers are controlled via remote control reducing the need for a larger number of employees and time, thus costs. While these remote-controlled robot mowers were perfect, they still weren’t ideal in sports turf management due to their inability to make the clean and consistent cut necessary for a high-quality playing field.
Autonomous?
Thus, entered the autonomous turf mower. The main difference in the new autonomous turf mowers and past robotic mowers are the floating heads! These heads apply small amounts of pressure to ensure the level cutting height, much like our mowers we have here at the SoccerPlex! Many of the autonomous mowers also have the ability to be programmed to mow large amount of grass on just 1 charge keeping a consistent field size.

The constant change in technology is making the autonomous mower more available as currently it is not used very often in turf management in the United States. However, more models are becoming available making its breakthrough to America markets inevitable.

While the technology is amazing, there is something about the human touch that we prefer here at the Maryland SoccerPlex to put our signature stamp on fields, so for now you’ll still see our grounds crew riding around on our mowers.  
Next Week
Check back next week as we look into robots used to paint!

Ask Us Your Questions
Do you have a burning turfgrass related question? Ask us! We will be happy to answer it in future iterations of Turf Talk - just email us at info@mdsoccerplex.org .
Many thanks to Fine Earth Landscape, Inc for their continued support of the Maryland SoccerPlex.

Learn more about Fine Earth here .
Connect with us!