Grass-Twin: Printed Electronics for Smarter Turf Maintenance

The Grass-Twin: Smart Turf project has reached its conclusion with the validation of its pilot and the celebration of its final technical and coordination meetings. This industrial research initiative has demonstrated the potential of printed electronics applied to the monitoring and efficient maintenance of sports surfaces.

The technology developed allows for localized irrigation and turf care, thanks to a distributed system of printed functional sensors that collect real-time data on variables such as soil moisture.

Currently, many sports facilities maintain turf (natural, hybrid, or artificial) using uniform irrigation schedules that do not consider microclimatic differences across the field. This leads to inefficient use of resources like water, and may result in issues such as fungal growth, turf degradation, or even injuries caused by poor field conditions.

Grass-Twin has addressed this challenge with a solution based on printed electronics: flexible, low-power sensors manufactured using functional printing techniques, capable of measuring key parameters across different field zones. This technology acts as a digital twin of the surface, enabling precise and sustainable maintenance adjustments.

To learn more about the potential of this technology, visit our blog on printed electronics.

As part of the consortium, Rotimpres contributed its expertise in printed electronics, designing and printing functional sensors that played a key role in the pilot. Our technology proved effective in real-world settings, confirming its application potential in the sports sector and beyond.

This project reinforces our commitment to sustainable and efficient solutions based on printed electronics, offering benefits such as:

• Flexibility and adaptability to the environment
• Reduced cost and energy consumption
• Integration into unconventional surfaces

To learn more about our solutions across various sectors, visit the Rotimpres Printed Electronics.

The pilot results have been rated as highly promising. The system’s technical functionality was validated, and its positive impact on sustainability, operational efficiency, and turf quality was confirmed. The monitoring system developed paves the way for future large-scale commercial implementation in sports facilities.

The project consortium includes Fliwer Intelligence, Sports & Landscape, Involve Newtech, and Rotimpres, with the support of INDESCAT and Functional Print Cluster, and collaboration from the Catalan Hockey Federation. The initiative was funded by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism through the Innovative Business Clusters (AEI) 2024 program, with a total budget of €291,958 and a grant of €229,298.

You can find more information about the AEI program on the Ministry of Industry and Tourism website.

At Rotimpres, we continue to develop printed electronics solutions for smart, sustainable, and connected environments. If you’re looking for technology tailored to the new challenges in your sector, we’re ready to collaborate.