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Recently partnered with TurfTasker, a growing communications and tracking platform for turfgrass professionals, Spiio is showing that its easy-to-integrate API opens new doors for the future of communication and automation in golf course operation.

One of the reasons Spiio is growing rapidly is that it’s optimized for integration with other emerging technologies. As the turf industry, along with much of the world, moves toward automation, this technological integration is key. One company that recognizes and is riding this trend is the comprehensive platform TurfTasker. 

TurfTasker: The Origins of a Comprehensive Platform

TurfTasker was started by three friends—two software engineers and a turfgrass professional who was working at Roger Dean Stadium in Florida. At one point, this friend expressed “At the stadium, we do everything on whiteboards, paper, and Excel. It’s real old school.” The three friends decided to work together to provide a more modernized data recording and communication solution for Roger Dean. 

“At the stadium, we do everything on whiteboards, paper, and Excel. It’s real old school.”

Alex Jacobs, TurfTasker

That’s how the project started, but it soon grew to be a lot more.

After some contact with other turf venues, the emerging TurfTasker soon realized that golf course operation would be a prime application for their new platform. By this point, several months of work had yielded a full-fledged product. TurfTasker provides clients with the potential for automation in many of their day-to-day operations. It offers property mapping, a comprehensive platform for tracking essential data, and—of course—the ability to integrate that platform with other technologies.

Using Spiio Data to Enhance Potential Automation

Alex Jacobs, one of the founders of TurfTasker, has expressed his excitement about the budding partnership with Spiio. “The integration was easy,” he says, “and the data is awesome. It really takes us to the next level.” Rather than positioning the app as a widget within the platform, TurfTasker pulls Spiio data directly from Spiio’s API to populate its graphically-friendly tables and charts. Alex built out a one-page portal where you can really see the potential for automation at play. For example, he says, “You can schedule a task to Worker X that’s dependent on whether it’s supposed to rain.” Integrated with local weather forecasting and soil moisture data from Spiio sensors, the system does the analysis and delegation on its own. This communication between technologies really opens doors for golf course operation.

“You can schedule a task to Worker X that’s dependent on whether it’s supposed to rain.” Integrated with local weather forecasting and soil moisture data from Spiio sensors, the system does the analysis and delegation on its own.

Alex Jacobs, TurfTasker

Though it’s a valuable product now, TurfTasker is only getting started. Its vision for automation includes the ability to combine property mapping and inventory records to show users exactly what they’ve got and what a given task will cost. Imagine this scenario: TurfTasker pulls information on soil temperatures from Spiio data to determine whether a chemical application is needed in a certain area of turf. It then uses property mapping, area calculation, and inventory tracking to figure out how much product would be needed, how much would be left afterward, and how much the task would cost before assigning that task to a specific worker.

Looking to the Future: Plans and Possibilities

TurfTasker has a lot planned in the near future. We can soon see another almost-too-good scenario becoming possible: Spiio provides real-time data on soil moisture, and irrigation responds to set thresholds by watering where and when it’s needed. In a post-Covid world that increasingly values remote and labor-efficient work, this kind of automation is a lifesaver for turfgrass professionals. “It would cut down workforce and save water, which is necessary for both financial and environmental conscientiousness,” Jacobs points out.

It would cut down workforce and save water, which is necessary for both financial and environmental conscientiousness.

Alex Jacobs

The integration between Spiio and TurfTasker is mutually beneficial. Spiio is quickly becoming a well-established product with a reputation for value and dependability. TurfTasker is unique because it is a much more comprehensive product than many of its competitors. “We’re excited to see a partnership with Spiio develop,” says Jacobs. Speaking with him about it, it’s clear that we’re witnessing a turning point in which communication between technologies like Spiio and TurfTasker is creating new possibilities for the future of golf course operation.

Read more about Spiio’s API here and don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

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Josh Glover, park maintenance manager for Wake Forest, North Carolina, shares some of the unique privileges and challenges of working for public parks and recreation. He also elaborates on the ways that data from a Spiio soil moisture sensor can help facilitate communication about sports turf safety for high school athletes.

After graduating with a degree in turfgrass management from North Carolina State University and spending some time on grounds crews for the Carolina Panthers and the Baltimore Orioles, Josh Glover went to work for the town of Cary, North Carolina. He worked on the USA Baseball Complex there for seven years until he came to the town of Wake Forest in 2015 as the park maintenance manager. 

Parks and Rec: Parks Don’t Take Days Off

Leaving popular sitcoms aside, what’s it really like to work with public parks and recreation? Glover shares one perk:

“We get to do lots of different things. One minute we’re preparing to support an event, the next minute we’re working on a sports field somewhere, and next we’re working on a greenway.”

Wake Forest manages “561 acres of parks, open space, natural land and trails.” Glover enjoys the variety and having a wide range of responsibilities.

Unlike most places, March and April last year were a particularly busy time for public parks and recreation. There was a significant increase in people wanting to use park space—some of the only space left available. Meanwhile, some athletic leagues closed down, giving maintenance teams a chance to work on needed projects. Of course, Glover points out, whether it was a particularly empty field or a particularly full park, “on a maintenance end, everything still had to happen.”

The pandemic exacerbated a unique challenge that is always present for the industry—parks are open dawn to dusk, and they are never locked. That means there’s always something going on (and there’s always the potential for issues to arise). Glover has to have staff on site every day to ensure playability safety.

Spiio as a Communication Tool

With such a demand for people on site, Glover has recognized the value of a technology that can relieve the need for physical eyes as far as sports turf is concerned. In December of last year, he installed four Spiio soil moisture sensors on the field at Heritage High School. Understandably, a high school field has many stakeholders—in addition to those responsible for maintaining the field, there are coaches, school administrators, athletes, and parents. In addition, Wake Forest partners with a soccer organization that also uses those fields.

“One of the main reasons we wanted to give this a shot,” he says, “was so we could know—and they could know—how wet the field is at any given time. We’re still trying to establish the baseline for what’s okay and what’s too wet to play. That’s what we’re working toward.”

Josh Glover, Park Maintenance manager for Wake Forest, NC.

A wet field is a critical concern for player safety. Spiio data provides a useful communication tool so that all parties can know field conditions at any given time. Anyone interested can download the app and see those conditions for themselves, rather than having to send someone out to check.

So far, Glover’s team at Wake Forest has had a good experience. “We anticipate using the Spiio in other facets in the summer,” Glover reports. “For now, we’re in the evaluation phase. I think it will be what we’re hoping it will be. I feel like it’s pulling the data I’m hoping to see.”

Contact Spiio to learn more about how to get started.

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