Edmonton International Airport (YEG) is soon to use robotic falcons to scare real birds away from aircraft flight paths.
The aim is to guide birds safely away from air traffic, while discouraging nesting near airside operations and glide paths.
Called Robird, the robot birds fly with flapping wings and mimic the flight of an actual falcon in such a realistic way that other birds believe that a real falcon is present in the area. And presumably clear off and stay away.
A man on the ground is in full control of the chase.
https://youtu.be/-gc8kBmzOOI
The airport, which is the fifth busiest in Canada, will start to use to use the new Robird in Q2 2017.
Robird comes from Dutch company Clear Flight Solutions, who have developed two types of Robirds:
- the falcon, which can be used to chase off birds up to 3kg
- the eagle to chase away any type of bird
Nico Nijenhuis, CEO of Clear Flight Solutions:
“We currently operate our Robirds in a variety of places, but taking the step towards full integration within daily operations at an airport is huge.”
N.B. Image credit: wikipedia
