Bird-Chasing Robots Help Avoid Runway Disasters

Honestly when I think of robots, two images comes to mind: Machines that looks like people and serve me drinks and food and machines that look like people and cause mayhem. Maybe I watched too many episodes of the Jetsons when I was a kid and too many dystopian sci-fi movies more recently.

A new robot, created by a collaborative effort by LIG Nex1 and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, is neither designed to serve humans nor harm them. But it will help keep them safe. This robot helps keep birds away from runways, protecting planes from colliding with them or sucking them into their engines.

The robot uses loud sounds that sound similar to a machine gun to scare birds away from airports and military facilities. Traditionally this job is done by ground crews or military personnel, who have to work in dangerously close proximity to aircraft, sometimes in harsh weather conditions.

While this robot is still being tested, its track record is already impressive, driving away more than 60% of birds in tests so far.

What type of robot would you want to buy or build to make your life more convenient? Let us know in the comments!