Bat Drone Shield-Cost Analysis
Developed by The Sharon Robo Knights
There are many components to our bat drone shield. Below, the costs of each part are listed. Even if the costs seem high, it’s important to remember that wind turbine farms will be fined much more and there’s the bad publicity. Wind energy is supposed to be a “clean energy,” so these companies do not want to be seen hurting the environment or killing indigenous animals. We also believe that these costs will be coming down as these technologies are new and will come down quickly as most technology does.
Drones- After talking to Cliff Whitney (the drone expert and owner of Atlanta Hobbies), we decided to use a drone called Inspire 1. According to Mr. Whitney, 4 years ago, this drone would have been 2 million dollars, but now, it is about $4000. So, we thought that this would be extremely cost effective and expect the cost to continue decreasing. These drones also form the virtual shield in front of the turbines. It can carry 2 pounds. A speaker can easily be attached to the Inspire 1, by replacing the camera on it, with the speaker. This also flies down to recharge after flying the set pattern that has been programmed.
Identiflight- Tim Hayes brought this system to us. This high resolution digital camera is $150,000, with an additional $8,000 each year for maintenance.This cost should drop down, just like the Inspire 1 did. Then this component will be cost effective. This is like a night vision camera to see the bats at night. This system is on the ground and once the bats are detected with it, it will deploy the drones.
Induction Pad- This costs $4,365. This is the charging pad for the drones to land on, so it can recharge its batteries. It is called the Sky Sense Induction Pad. Then, without using any wires, the Sky Sense Induction Pad can simply recharge the drones’ batteries.
Speakers- Our speaker is called the URB STSD. This is a mini ultra wireless portable speaker. It weighs 8.8 ounces, and costs $29.99. This speaker will be attached to the drones, so they can emit the sound of a common predator and deter the bats from the area.
Total cost of the Bat Drone Shield for a wind turbine farm with 20 turbines:
7 Drones- $28,000
Identiflight- $150,000
Maintenance of Identiflight- $8,000 a year
Sky Sense Induction Pad- $4,365
7 URB STD speakers- $210
Final-
$190,575 for 20 wind turbines
Developed by The Sharon Robo Knights
There are many components to our bat drone shield. Below, the costs of each part are listed. Even if the costs seem high, it’s important to remember that wind turbine farms will be fined much more and there’s the bad publicity. Wind energy is supposed to be a “clean energy,” so these companies do not want to be seen hurting the environment or killing indigenous animals. We also believe that these costs will be coming down as these technologies are new and will come down quickly as most technology does.
Drones- After talking to Cliff Whitney (the drone expert and owner of Atlanta Hobbies), we decided to use a drone called Inspire 1. According to Mr. Whitney, 4 years ago, this drone would have been 2 million dollars, but now, it is about $4000. So, we thought that this would be extremely cost effective and expect the cost to continue decreasing. These drones also form the virtual shield in front of the turbines. It can carry 2 pounds. A speaker can easily be attached to the Inspire 1, by replacing the camera on it, with the speaker. This also flies down to recharge after flying the set pattern that has been programmed.
Identiflight- Tim Hayes brought this system to us. This high resolution digital camera is $150,000, with an additional $8,000 each year for maintenance.This cost should drop down, just like the Inspire 1 did. Then this component will be cost effective. This is like a night vision camera to see the bats at night. This system is on the ground and once the bats are detected with it, it will deploy the drones.
Induction Pad- This costs $4,365. This is the charging pad for the drones to land on, so it can recharge its batteries. It is called the Sky Sense Induction Pad. Then, without using any wires, the Sky Sense Induction Pad can simply recharge the drones’ batteries.
Speakers- Our speaker is called the URB STSD. This is a mini ultra wireless portable speaker. It weighs 8.8 ounces, and costs $29.99. This speaker will be attached to the drones, so they can emit the sound of a common predator and deter the bats from the area.
Total cost of the Bat Drone Shield for a wind turbine farm with 20 turbines:
7 Drones- $28,000
Identiflight- $150,000
Maintenance of Identiflight- $8,000 a year
Sky Sense Induction Pad- $4,365
7 URB STD speakers- $210
Final-
$190,575 for 20 wind turbines