"Robird," a robot designed to mimic the look and flight of an actual peregrine falcon so as to scare birds away from airports and waste processing plants, has made its maiden flight at Weeze Airport, in Germany.
The bird is the flagship product of Enschede, Netherlands-based Clear Flight Solutions, a robotics and drone spin-off company of the University of Twente.
In addition to testing the Robird, the company is also training the Robird’s "pilot" and "observer" (who watches other air traffic). "If you operate at an airport, there are a lot of protocols that you have to follow," says Clear Flight Solutions CEO Nico Nijenhuis. "You're working in a high-risk area and there are all kinds of things that you need to check. We use the latest technologies, but the human aspect also remains crucial."
According to the company, bird control at airports worldwide costs billions of dollars, the result of defacement of property by bird droppings and damage to aircraft equipment arising from bird strikes. Birds also cause significant damage in the agrarian and waste disposal sectors, as well as the oil and gas industry.
A common problem faced in attempting to combat this problem is that birds quickly get used to many control solutions—such as sonic cannons and lasers—and simply learn to ignore them. On the contrary, Robird, according to Clear Flight Solutions, so convincingly mimics the flying behavior of a real peregrine falcon that birds immediately believe that their natural enemy is present in the area. Because this approach exploits birds’ instinctive fear of predators, habituation is not an issue, the company says.
Nijenhuis' goal is to expand use of Robird to additional airports. Currently, however, laws in the company's Dutch homeland make it difficult to operate drones near airports.
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