"The quadcopter system sports a payload consisting of a laser-grid projector not unlike those chintzy Christmas light shows from 2019. When deployed, the drone automatically navigates toward unwanted nuisance animals before blasting them with a dazzling array of red and green lasers. A YouTube teaser reel shows the NTT drone gently shooing wild boar, stags, crows, pigeons, and waterfowl away from a desired area."
"It's a scheme proposed by NTT to ward off predator mammals or wild birds which have the potential to infect poultry flocks with bird flu. According to Tom, it was designed in response to a massive bird flu outbreak in Chiba prefecture, the peninsula directly east of Tokyo. Earlier this year, a bird flu outbreak devastated poultry farms throughout the area, prompting the Japanese government to deploy their version of the national guard to contain the highly pathogenic virus."
"In all, some five million chickens had to be euthanized in January alone, a disaster in the island nation's food supply chain, with Tom noting that 3.3 million of the poultry fatalities were located in Chiba. If successful at scale, the NTT laser drone could represent a much-needed breakthrough in farm management tech. Current methods to ward off diseased and predatory beasts are primitive, including measures like dangerous chemical deterrents, guard dogs, and netting."
NTT e-Drone Technology Company Ltd developed a quadcopter-mounted laser-grid projector to scare wild birds and other nuisance animals away from chicken coops. The drone automatically navigates toward unwanted animals and projects red and green laser patterns to shoo them from targeted areas. Demonstrations show the system gently driving off wild boar, stags, crows, pigeons, and waterfowl. The system was developed after a massive bird flu outbreak in Chiba prefecture that led to millions of poultry being euthanized and deployment of national guard resources. Current deterrents include chemical repellents, guard dogs, and netting; a scalable drone solution could improve farm biosecurity.
Read at Futurism
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