Machines shooting long-range laser beams to scare birds away replace scarecrows
Meet robocrow: Machines shooting long-range laser beams
to scare birds away replace scarecrows
• The lasers
sweep at random across an area from 200 acres to 3,000 acres
• Robot fires
intense beams of green light from on top of a tower across field
• Laser works by
creating movement in the field that birds cannot identify
• Dutch farmer
reports laser kept flocks of crows away from his orchard
By Richard Gray for MailOnline
Published: 07:28 EST, 8 December 2014 | Updated: 09:41
EST, 8 December 2014
It is a war that has been raging since the beginning of
agriculture, but now farmers have a new weapon in the battle to keep birds from
eating their crops - laser shooting robots.
Farmers in Holland have been trialling a new type of
scarecrow that fires green laser beams across fields to keep birds away from
crops.
The system, called Agrilaser, uses an automated robot
that can be programmed to sweep lasers at random across areas ranging from 200
acres to more than 3,000 acres.
Researchers have been developing the robotic scarecrow in
an attempt to produce bird repellents that are more socially acceptable than
noise based methods that are commonly used.
Most farmers combine these loud noises, usually from
propane canons or firecrackers, with traditional scarecrows that mimic the
shape of humans, to keep birds away from their crops.
However, the new device, developed by Dutch bird control
researchers at the Centre for Agriculture and Environment, in Culemborg,
Holland, chases birds away with no noise.
Natural England recently approved handheld versions of
the laser and it has been used on farms in Devon and have been used to scare
away seagulls in Gloucestershire.
The automatic version of the lasers have yet to be used
here in the UK.
The trajectory of the lasers can be programmed from a
laptop and it then makes random sweeps across fields.
Tests at an apple and pear orchard saw losses due to
birds almost entirely disappear over a three week period, according to Arnold
Bosgoed, the farmer who has been trialing the system.
He said: 'After the deployment of the laser, the orchard
became a lot quieter. The large groups of crows disappeared.
'The system is noiseless and the birds do not seem to get
used to the laser beam. The installation was easy and it requires no
maintenance.'
Depending on the crops, losses due to birds can range
between five per cent and 50 per cent of what is planted.
The developers of the robotic laser, which looks a little
like a CCTV camera and can be mounted on top of a tower to provide maximum
coverage.
Researchers at the Centre for Agriculture and Environment
(CLM) also hope the system can be used to keep birds away airports, where they
pose a risk to aircraft, and oil rigs.
Gijs Kuneman, director of CLM, said: 'The damage caused
in the fruit industry by birds is well known and seems to be increasing.
'It can lead to substantial reduction in production. The
smallest hole in a pear means it can rot and infect the whole crate.
'We've been looking for different methods of chasing the
birds away with as little disturbance as possible.
'We had heard about the handheld lasers, which are like a
torch which people carry around to scare off birds.
'But now that has been put on a robot that has a
pre-programmed field in which it will move, so you can set it up to protect
part or all of the orchard.'
Mr Kuneman added that the system worked by creating the
impression of movement on the field, which scares the birds away without
harming them.
He said: 'They don't understand the light.
'They consider it a physical object moving through the
trees which they can't hear but they can see.
'We tested it on crows - jackdaws and rooks - and they
were all scared away. They tend to be the smartest birds so if it works on them
it should work on other birds.
'The system is random so there is no pattern they can
discern.'
However, the laser may create some unwanted light shows
in rural areas that may be opposed by some locals.
Mr Kuneman added: 'It is only during the few weeks that
the fruit is ripe on the trees.
'In a densely populated country like the Netherlands
there is already much light pollution so it probably will not lead to many
complaints.
'Anything would be an improvement on the traditional way
of chasing birds - a cannon that makes a loud boom.'
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