Fearless Flyer
Scientists invented a robot that protects birds by getting them to fly away from airports. It looks like a falcon!
All images – © 2022 Rolf F. Storms, Claudio Carere, Robert Musters, Hans van Gasteren, Simon Verhulst and Charlotte K. Hemelrijk, “Deterrence of birds with an artificial predator, the RobotFalcon” (CC BY 4.0)
Birds think this falcon is real, but it’s a robot!
Scientists in Europe have invented a robot that looks and flies just like a large bird called a falcon. The robot is an awesome flier, but it also has an important job.
Scientists invented the robot to solve a serious problem. Flocks of birds often fly and land in and around airports. Sometimes the birds get hit by planes that are taking off and landing. Airport workers have tried different ways to scare away the birds. They’ve tried training real falcons to fly toward the birds. Falcons hunt smaller birds, so it makes sense that birds would be afraid of them. But falcons are expensive and hard to train.
So scientists decided to create a robot that looks like a falcon. They studied a bird called the peregrine falcon to see how it moves when it flies. They made sure their robot could fly in the same way. They even painted the robot to match the colors of a real falcon. Then, they tested it with flocks of birds.
All images – © 2022 Rolf F. Storms, Claudio Carere, Robert Musters, Hans van Gasteren, Simon Verhulst and Charlotte K. Hemelrijk, “Deterrence of birds with an artificial predator, the RobotFalcon” (CC BY 4.0)
The robot is made to look just like a real falcon.
Since the falcon was a robot, scientists could get it to fly wherever they chose. They sent it to runways where birds were gathered. Did it work? Yes! The birds flew away, as if the robot was a real falcon.
Scientists say robot falcons could be used to keep birds safe all over the world.
