Robop
"Robop" is short for robotic bird of prey. The business, Robop Ltd. is the creator of the innovative R:Falcon mechanical bird control deterrent - based on the peregrine falcon. The falcon is the natural predator of most species of pest birds that predominantly cause bird problems. The R:Falcon could be considered both a sound and visual deterrent, the device flaps its wings, moves its head, and makes the call of a real live peregrine falcon.
History Of Robop Ltd.
Robop Ltd. Was founded in 2001 in response to rapidly increasing Gull populations in the urban environment. This was having a serious impact on the owners of large buildings where traditional approaches to bird control were not working. The initial concept was the brainchild of Bob McIntyre who possessed a lifetime of practical knowledge and experience in bird behaviour. He was joined by Alan Davie, Bob Samuel and John Donald, experts in building and financing technology companies.[1] As of 2020 John Donald is the MD of the company which is currently headquartered in East Lothian, United Kingdom.[2]
The aim of Robop Ltd. was to bring a sophisticated, attractive and effective product to the market for businesses. Offering flexibility, a long-life span and the ability to cover extensive areas where bird netting and spikes ceased to be practical, aesthetic or cost-effective.
R:Falcon Bird Deterrent
R:Falcons are built to order at Robop Ltd's engineering centre in Scotland. The head, main body and wings are moulded out of fibreglass and each deterrent contains over 100 parts and is designed to turn off at
night to save energy. Each bird is also fitted with volume controls so that R:Falcon owners can change the sound at their leisure.
The R:Falcon is available in 3 power types, battery, mains and solar power. All of Robop's solar panels have been tested at a latitude of 54th parallel North. A latitude which receives some of the lowest levels of sunlight. R:Falcon has been both purchased and rented by businesses from various industries around the world and has a good success rate.[3] The system is adaptable to purchasers needs and has been used for both deterrent and environmental reasons. Robop Ltd. designed an alternative and adapted version of the system in 2012 named the Outlander System[4] for sports pitches. This version is currently used by both sports centres and schools around the UK.
In April 2007 the Liverpool city council purchased 10 Robops at a unit cost of £3,000, in an attempt to rid the town center of pigeons. It is unclear whether this has had much success but a smaller scale effort at
Swansea University was effective. The birds are also used at airports, hotels, solar panel arrays, retailers, manufacturing and construction sites, railway stations,
shopping centres and office blocks across the UK, Europe and the USA. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in the UK have applauded the initiative as a means to get away from attempts to poison and starve pigeons, citing the eradication program in London under Mayor Ken Livingstone[citation needed].
In 2004 a documentary was aired on the Discovery Channel featuring Robop and the R:Falcon. A clip from the documentary showing the deterrent in action can still be found on YouTube.[5]
References
- ^ "Our Story | Robop Ltd". Robop. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
- ^ "John Donald Robop Ltd. MD". LinkedIn. 2019-12-17.
{{cite web}}: Check|archive-url=value (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "R:Falcon Bird Control | Installations | Robop Ltd". Robop. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
- ^ "R:Falcon Bird Control | Products | Robop Ltd". Robop. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
- ^ Robop harbour test 2003 1, retrieved 2019-12-18
Further reading
- De Lara, Eyal; Ebling, Maria (2007), "New Products / A scarecrow for the 21st century", IEEE Pervasive Computing, 6 (3): 15–17, doi:10.1109/MPRV.2007.62