This seems far from the best way to accomplish the goal, and has been turned into a big photo op, which to me comes across as a probable discount for publicity trade, indicating Boston Dynamics being surprisingly desperate for real world use cases. For all the progress in autonomous robots, maybe they’re actually in a sort of uncanny valley of generalization: more general than previously possible, but not general enough to unlock most tasks that previously couldn’t be automated.
Headless, dog-sized robot to patrol Alaska airport to prevent bird strikes
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Re: Headless, dog-sized robot to patrol Alaska airport to prevent bird strikes
#22This appears to be a stock Spot with a paint job and some mission specific code? https://bostondynamics.com/products/spot/
This Anchorage Daily article confirms that it's a Spot robot. The first image caption mentions Boston Dynamics. They just named this individual robot "Aurora".
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2024/03/27/alaskas-new-robot...
Re: Headless, dog-sized robot to patrol Alaska airport to prevent bird strikes
#23Seems like a pretty good use case for an automated robot like this. It's nice to see a practical use-case for these advanced autonomous robots that doesn't involve war. So as I see it, this is like a fancy all-terrain Roomba. They dress it up like a Fox or Coyote and it wanders around and patrols the airport grounds, scaring away birds and generally preventing them from nesting in the area. Birds aren't going to nest…
okay but why not, just, use dogs or coyotes not joking. Dogs can be trained. Coyotes… just set up some feeding pens full of carrion at either side of the airport, and set up some doors that open at intervals (there, scratched that robot itch).
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-QxZv_wJ1aA
Airport bird dogs are already a thing. Seems like a dream job for a dog.
But you need a full-time handler, a car, a kennel, training and eventually a replacement. They can’t work 24/7, and if they are out sick for a day the birds are back. Essentially the argument for any kind of automation.
This comment is like looking at a scarecrow, and saying “why not just go and stand out in your field all day?”
And feeding wild coyotes unlimited food, near people, comes with its own set of problems.
Re: Headless, dog-sized robot to patrol Alaska airport to prevent bird strikes
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was actually thinking of pigeons/doves when I wrote that. Every year I get several nests around my property and if I get too close before there are chicks, the pigeons abandon the nest. I have to carefully track them to figure out which nests belong to mockingbirds and which ones belong to pigeons so I can chase the former away and let the latter do their thing.
Mine were happily doing their thing even while I started the same balcony. Eventually I started sterilizing their eggs by cooking and placing them back (they do leave for a few minutes when actively shooing) and after a few failed clutches they are noticeably less eager to try again in that place.
Have you tried scaring them away before they lay the eggs or is it the same result? I never noticed eggs in the nests that were abandoned (I would put them in an incubator if I did)
The term "pigeon" refers to the whole Columbidae family with over 300 birds so YMMV. Mine are specifically mourning doves which are different from the pigeons I associate with cities (feral domesticated rock doves)
Re: Headless, dog-sized robot to patrol Alaska airport to prevent bird strikes
#25Seems like a pretty good use case for an automated robot like this. It's nice to see a practical use-case for these advanced autonomous robots that doesn't involve war. So as I see it, this is like a fancy all-terrain Roomba. They dress it up like a Fox or Coyote and it wanders around and patrols the airport grounds, scaring away birds and generally preventing them from nesting in the area. Birds aren't going to nest…
okay but why not, just, use dogs or coyotes not joking. Dogs can be trained. Coyotes… just set up some feeding pens full of carrion at either side of the airport, and set up some doors that open at intervals (there, scratched that robot itch).
the noise is way too harsh for dogs at many times of operation?
Re: Headless, dog-sized robot to patrol Alaska airport to prevent bird strikes
#26This seems far from the best way to accomplish the goal, and has been turned into a big photo op, which to me comes across as a probable discount for publicity trade, indicating Boston Dynamics being surprisingly desperate for real world use cases. For all the progress in autonomous robots, maybe they’re actually in a sort of uncanny valley of generalization: more general than previously possible, but not general eno…
What is with these weirdly conspiratorial comments?
A company sells their product for money to a government agency, and somehow this makes them "surprisingly desperate". Dude, they're not having the robot strip on the weekends as a side gig.
Re: Headless, dog-sized robot to patrol Alaska airport to prevent bird strikes
#27This seems far from the best way to accomplish the goal, and has been turned into a big photo op, which to me comes across as a probable discount for publicity trade, indicating Boston Dynamics being surprisingly desperate for real world use cases. For all the progress in autonomous robots, maybe they’re actually in a sort of uncanny valley of generalization: more general than previously possible, but not general eno…
What are more cost-effective ways of accomplishing the same goal?
Re: Headless, dog-sized robot to patrol Alaska airport to prevent bird strikes
#28Instead of a dog-sized robot, why not use a... dog?
Re: Headless, dog-sized robot to patrol Alaska airport to prevent bird strikes
#29Seems like a pretty good use case for an automated robot like this. It's nice to see a practical use-case for these advanced autonomous robots that doesn't involve war. So as I see it, this is like a fancy all-terrain Roomba. They dress it up like a Fox or Coyote and it wanders around and patrols the airport grounds, scaring away birds and generally preventing them from nesting in the area. Birds aren't going to nest…
Betcha it won’t take long for the birds to realize the robot is no threat.
Depends on the bird. I once tried a remote doorbell on a bird table to scare off large birds (pigeons); by about the third press they learnt to ignore it.
In this case could be geese, which seem more cautious (then again if it's corvids, they'll probably figure out how to reprogram the robot).
Re: Headless, dog-sized robot to patrol Alaska airport to prevent bird strikes
#30This seems far from the best way to accomplish the goal, and has been turned into a big photo op, which to me comes across as a probable discount for publicity trade, indicating Boston Dynamics being surprisingly desperate for real world use cases. For all the progress in autonomous robots, maybe they’re actually in a sort of uncanny valley of generalization: more general than previously possible, but not general eno…
What is with these weirdly conspiratorial comments? A company sells their product for money to a government agency, and somehow this makes them "surprisingly desperate". Dude, they're not having the robot strip on the weekends as a side gig.
> Dude, they're not having the robot strip on the weekends as a side gig.
Beautiful.