Birds and industrial sites don’t mix well. In January 2022, a $1 million award from the Clean Resource Innovation Network (CRIN) Digital Oil and Gas Technology Competition funded a project pairing the group with Aerium Analytics, a Calgary drone-technology company, and Imperial Oil, to keep birds from landing and nesting on hazardous industrial areas such as tailings ponds.
Graduate students in the Multimedia Research Centre developed AI tools for target-object monitoring on Aerium’s patented RoBird, a falcon-shaped deterrence drone, so it could automatically identify, count, track and report birds entering an area, cutting the need for human operation and on-site vehicle use.
The collaboration with Aerium dates back to 2019 and had already produced internships and a student hire. The CRIN project, led by Professor Irene Cheng, ran until 2024, with software tested and validated by the company for use with its industry clients. The methods were designed to extend to other wildlife.
Cover: the RoBird deterrence drone. Photo: Aerium Analytics (via UofA Folio).
Further reading: Smart drone technology will help protect birds from industrial hazards (Folio, January 2022) · AI-powered drone protects birds (Contours, December 2022).