The Sharon Elementary Robotics team competes in the First Lego League Robotics Competition. This year, our challenge is called Animal Allies. We had to identify a problem between animals and humans. We selected to focus on the problem of bats being killed by wind turbines.
Bats have a high mortality rate when they come into contact with wind turbine farms. There are several factors that cause this problem.
For example, there are many insects that are attracted to wind turbines. Since many bats are insectivores, meaning they eat insects, they have an automatic intention to go to the turbines. This is one of the reasons bats are attracted to wind turbines.
Another common reason bats are attracted to wind turbines, is because they think that the turbines are big trees. Take the hoary bat for instance. This particular bat species is one of the most common that have a high mortality rate from the turbines, for this very reason. Male hoary bat species have the intention to go to the biggest tree, which is actually a wind turbine, because they would be the “king.” Then of course, they hit the blades. Or, during mating season, the males once again have an intention to go to the tree, which is actually a turbine. This is since they commonly mate around trees, so they once again are attracted to the wind turbines.
To solve this problem, we have came up with the solution of making a “Bat Drone Shield.” This has many different components. Firstly, there is an Identiflight.
This is a high resolution digital camera. It is similar to a night vision camera; it can detect things in the dark. It will sense the bats when they enter the area of the wind turbines. Then, the Identiflight will deploy the drones to make the bat drone shield. This costs $150,000.
The second component of the bat drone shield, is of course, the drones. After talking to a drone expert Cliff Whitney, the owner of Atlanta Hobbies, who is an expert in the drone field, we decided to use a drone called the Inspire 1. This drone can carry 2 lbs of weight, and costs 4000$ at the moment. Actually, 2 years ago, it would have cost $2 million dollars.
Bats have a high mortality rate when they come into contact with wind turbine farms. There are several factors that cause this problem.
For example, there are many insects that are attracted to wind turbines. Since many bats are insectivores, meaning they eat insects, they have an automatic intention to go to the turbines. This is one of the reasons bats are attracted to wind turbines.
Another common reason bats are attracted to wind turbines, is because they think that the turbines are big trees. Take the hoary bat for instance. This particular bat species is one of the most common that have a high mortality rate from the turbines, for this very reason. Male hoary bat species have the intention to go to the biggest tree, which is actually a wind turbine, because they would be the “king.” Then of course, they hit the blades. Or, during mating season, the males once again have an intention to go to the tree, which is actually a turbine. This is since they commonly mate around trees, so they once again are attracted to the wind turbines.
To solve this problem, we have came up with the solution of making a “Bat Drone Shield.” This has many different components. Firstly, there is an Identiflight.
This is a high resolution digital camera. It is similar to a night vision camera; it can detect things in the dark. It will sense the bats when they enter the area of the wind turbines. Then, the Identiflight will deploy the drones to make the bat drone shield. This costs $150,000.
The second component of the bat drone shield, is of course, the drones. After talking to a drone expert Cliff Whitney, the owner of Atlanta Hobbies, who is an expert in the drone field, we decided to use a drone called the Inspire 1. This drone can carry 2 lbs of weight, and costs 4000$ at the moment. Actually, 2 years ago, it would have cost $2 million dollars.