A drone spraying seating in a stadium. CREDIT Rantizo
By CBJ News Staff
[email protected]
Ag tech company Rantizo is adapting its drone spraying technology this spring to help combat the spread of coronavirus in sports stadiums.
The Iowa City based startup has embarked on partnerships with several large venues for sanitization efforts. The efforts will utilize Rantizo’s drone spraying platform to sanitize open areas and seating for the return of spectator events that have been closed for several weeks as a result of COVID-19.
Rantizo plans to roll out its stadium spraying services nationwide within the next week. The company is deeming this additional model for them as SaaS: sanitization as a service. Sports organizations or open areas needing to be sanitized will be charged an initial setup fee, as well as a per unit price determined by area or number of seats. After a location is mapped, repeated applications can be made in between events.
“We had a large professional sports organization reach out to us a few weeks back looking to use our drone sprayers as a way to sanitize their stadium,” Rantizo Director of Sales, David Pieper explained. “From there, we reached out to a few local organizations who confirmed the need and interest as well. We completed some initial autonomous testing with them just last week and it went very well.”
With the company’s primary focus on agriculture, spraying this time of year would typically be done in farm fields preparing for planting. Right now, the landscape looks a little different.
“We are very much an agricultural drone spraying company and we’ve built our reputation on the ability to deliver solutions in the field,” Rantizo CEO, Michael Ott stated. “It just so happens with everything going on right now, our technology has the ability to deliver solutions in another application. When situations arise like these…unprecedented times, innovation is key to overcoming them. I’m very pleased that the Rantizo platform is a means for doing that and that we are able to help protect our communities and hopefully help facilitate some normalcy in the near future.”
Labor availability in agriculture was a problem before and it is now exacerbated across all industries as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Automated equipment such as drones are a prime tool used to deliver disinfecting materials safely.
“To sanitize stadiums at this magnitude, traditionally would require dozens of workers and hours of time. That simply isn’t practical right now,” Ott explained. “With our drone sprayers, we can get into the stadiums, spray the seats quickly, efficiently, and accurately, with minimal exposure or need for human effort. Once we map out the field, it’s really easy to repeat.”
Organizations looking to schedule Rantizo spray services should contact (319) 201-3020 or send an inquiry to [email protected] for scheduling. CBJ
