One look at a Robird and you can see exactly why it would work so well. A Materialise blog post about these robot birds explains how 3D printing facilitates an organic design authentic enough to look like a real bird in flight. This is especially important since birds can damage airplanes, ruin crops, and spread disease:
“The flexibility afforded by Additive Manufacturing allowed the designers at CFS to produce the beautiful, organic shapes required to make the Robird as realistic as possible. It also gave the designers the freedom to continuously make alterations to the design of their birds, and expand upon the different types of birds they produce.”
“By eliminating the manual assembly we did before and being able to perform rapid design changes, we save a great deal of time and money. Thanks to the expert advice from Materialise we are now creating better products.”
Clear Flight Solutions also knows that these birds are working, doing what they were designed to do, because the company tests them out routinely at Twence Waste & Energy in the Netherlands. Clear Flight Solutions, which began developing the Robirds back in 2014, is also planning to test them at European airports by the end of 2016.
The concrete need to avoid damage caused by birds will likely drive the success of this endeavor. After all, birds cause tens of millions of dollars of damage every year in the US alone. Machinery, automobiles, roofs, ventilation systems, buildings and many other structures can be compromised or destroyed by bird droppings and nesting materials.
Check out the below video, and these other related videos, to witness for yourself these incredible little flying robots in action! What do you think about these birds? Discuss in the 3D Printed Robirds forum over at 3DPB.com.