Should turf professionals be concerned about the rise of the robots?
With my other hat on as the editor of TurfPro's sister title, Service Dealer, a publication aimed specifically at specialist dealers of outdoor powered machinery, I pondered last week, is this the year of the robot?
Robotic mowers have of course been around for a very long time now and waves of publicity have come and gone. However, it does seem like this year there may well have been a sea-change in mass appeal and acceptance.
The profile of robotic mowers has certainly risen recently. The domestic technology is advancing rapidly with recent major developments including smartphone apps, voice controls and even machines which don't require a guidance wire. And most significantly for turf professionals, with their move into the commercial sector, we've seen robots starting to be used in very public spaces, utilised in teams and controlled by very sophisticated monitoring software systems.
And just last week there was more evidence of automated technology entering the professional turf care sector. On display ahead of the Champions League final in Kiev, Nissan unveiled an autonomous robot which can draw football pitches wherever there is space.
Called Pitch-R, the robot is inspired by Nissan's ProPILOT driver assistance technology which is available on two of the company’s 100% electric new cars. The system is a part of what they are calling ‘Intelligent Mobility’ - the company's vision for changing how cars are driven and powered.
The Pitch-R robot features a four-camera vision system, GPS location tracking and collision avoidance systems. It can draw white lines on grass, tarmac or gravel with eco-friendly dissolvable paint.
The robot is powered by a rechargeable battery pack. Once activated, it moves autonomously to analyse its surroundings in real time and scan to find a suitable space. It can function on uneven surfaces and can navigate around obstacles.
The company’s promotion says the system can create fields for five-a-side, seven-a-side or 11-a-side teams. The whole process can take less than 20 minutes.
Nissan say they created Pitch-R to “excite and engage with grassroots fans”. They claim it’s the first in a series of advanced prototypes being developed using their Intelligent Mobility technologies. They say that further developments will be revealed during next season's UEFA Champions League competition.
Quite the claims there from Nissan. But are they promises which should give turf professionals pause for thought over the security of their jobs?
A recent report by the Boston Consulting Group forecast that by 2025 up to a quarter of horticultural jobs would be taken over by smart software or robots. Whilst Future Advocacy, a think-tank that looks at 21st century policy changes, said that 10 million workers in all sectors were at risk of being replaced by automation.
Quite the doom and gloom predictions. But do those fears really apply to the turf professional sector?
The manufacturers of commercial robotic mowers say there shouldn't be worries over job losses. These new advanced technologies should just be looked upon as another tool in the arsenal of the skilled turf professional. If there is a robot, trundling away, getting on with the time-consuming job of cutting the grass in a park, this then frees up the highly skilled worker to put their expertise to work somewhere more requiring of their attention and abilities.
Which is a compelling argument. I do think though, it's entirely legitimate that talk of robots undertaking increasing numbers of turf care jobs, traditionally carried out by humans, would make workers a little wary for their role. We all know how employers are obsessed with efficiencies and profit margins.
However, in this instance I am inclined to agree with the manufacturers. Because groundsmanship and greenkeeping are such highly skilled and highly unique professions, the human element can never be marginalised by robotics. This is one of those industries where automation will continue to assist, rather than replace.
Although to be fair, I expect that's what Miles Dyson thought when he invented Skynet!
