Skip to main content

Robotic raptors that look and fly like the real thing

By

Birds that stray into the paths of aircraft, eat crops, or spread disease from foraging in large numbers at landfills are, at best, a nuisance and, at worst, downright dangerous. Over the years people have tried everything from scaring them away with loud noises to trapping them – all with varying results. Now a designer from the Netherlands has come up with robotic birds of prey that look and fly exactly like the real thing.
Dubbed "Robirds," these flying raptor creations are the brainchild of Nico Nijenhuis from Clear Flight Solutions. The remotely controlled, realistic looking birds actually flap their wings to fly, and in a way that makes them remarkably similar to the real thing. According to the designers, this means that their artificial predator birds can fly in and around problem areas, encouraging nuisance birds to leave by exploiting the natural instinct of birds to avoid predators, particularly through silhouette and wing movement recognition.
In addition, the creators claim that – as the system is fully controllable by an operator on the ground with a remote control – especially difficult birds can be persuaded to leave by singling them out with the Robird to chase them away.
The practical upshot of all this is that – according to the designers – targeted bird populations learn to avoid what they perceive as the active stalking grounds of a bird of prey and that bird numbers in the areas of Robird operation drop by 50 percent or more. As a result of continued operations, the creators also claim that Robirds virtually eliminate the chances of nuisance bird flock habituation in the long term.
With a body length up to 58 cm (23 in) and a wingspan of 120 cm (47 in), the peregrine falcon model is capable of reaching 80 km/h (50 mph) and is designed to act as a deterrent to birds of up to 3 kg (6.6 lb). However, the eagle model is even more intimidating. With a body length nearly twice the length of the falcon and wingspan of up to 220 cm (86 in), this robot bird is designed to scare off any type of bird and would probably scare the odd human or two as well.
Though currently still wirelessly controlled by a human on the ground – and not quite as smart as a Festo seagull – plans are afoot to make the Robirds autonomous, with the company pursuing this goal with business and technical partners and trials currently underway that are set to continue into 2015.
The short video below demonstrates a Robird in flight, demonstrating its striking similarity to the real thing.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Solar car hits U.S. in round-the-world jaunt

By
Last October, the SolarWorld GT solar-powered car set out from Darwin, Australia on a drive around the world. It has since driven 3,001 kilometers (1,865 miles) across Australia, logged 1,947 km (1,210 miles) crossing New Zealand and been shipped across the Pacific Ocean. This Friday, it will embark on the U.S. leg of its journey, as it sets out across America from the University of California, Santa Barbara.   The SolarWorld GT is the result of a collaboration between solar panel manufacturer SolarWorld, and Bochum University of Applied Sciences in Germany. The four-wheeled, two-door, two-seat car gathers solar energy through photovoltaic panels built into its roof, with its solar generator offering a peak performance of 823 watts. Custom hub motors are located in both of the front wheels. The vehicle manages an average speed of 50 km/h (31 mph), with a claimed top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). In order to demonstrate that solar powered cars needn't be a radical...
Post a Comment
Read more

Biocomputer, Alternative To Quantum Computers

By
A team of international scientists from Canada, the U.K., Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden announced Friday that they had developed a model biological supercomputer capable of solving complex mathematical problems using far less energy than standard electronic supercomputers. The model “biocomputer,” which is roughly the size of a book, is powered by Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) — dubbed the “molecular unit of currency.” According to description of the device, published in the  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the biocomputer uses proteins present in all living cells to function. It uses a strategy similar to that of quantum computers, which use qubits — the quantum computing equivalents of bits — to perform “parallel computation,” wherein  computers are able to process information quickly and accurately by performing several calculations simultaneously, rather than sequentially. In the case of the biocomputer, the qubits are replaced with ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Qualcomm showcases the Snapdragon S4 ahead of Mobile World Congress

By
We’ve already heard about Qualcomm’s latest processor, the Snapdragon S4 , which will be quad-core and utilize LTE. Qualcomm took the time to give us some details ahead of Mobile World Congress. The new SoC now supports up to three cameras (two in the back for 3D and one front-facing), 20-megapixels, and recording video at 1080p (30fps). We can also expect zero shutter lag, 3A processing (autofocus, auto exposure and auto white balance), and improved blink/smile detection, gaze estimation, range finding and image stabilization. Last but not least, it supports gesture detection/control, augmented reality , and computer vision (via Qualcomm’s FastCV). Hit the break for a couple of videos featuring image stabilization and gestures.
Post a Comment
Read more