CLOUDY podcast | #20 Technology that saves lives

Are bird collisions with power lines a big problem?

It's a big problem worldwide. It's hundreds of thousands of euros a year in damage to the birds themselves.

Where do such collisions most often occur?

The biggest problem is that those high-voltage lines are in the air and very often cross, for example, rivers, wetlands and places that naturally attract those birds. Crossing those rivers themselves is one of the biggest problems, and this is because over the years birds have developed an instinct that where there is water, there is nothing above it and they can fly there freely and safely.

Unfortunately, they haven't yet learned that we have built some obstacles there over the last 100-150 years. In fact, water vapor often evaporates from the water, or there is some fog, and those birds really don't have a chance to see these lines. A collision occurs and death occurs.

What are the traditional measures that are used?

As for the measures themselves, they have been the same for a long time. What we have brought is the way in which the measures are installed. Those measures are generally very familiar to people, those are the white and red balls on the lines. The larger ones are for airplanes and helicopters, but their smaller versions are for birds.

They can be balls or targets that have some active element - for example, they flash. Alternatively, there are purely mechanical elements that hang, but reflect light, phosphorescent at night, flash, etc. In America, for example, they illuminate the line from below with some infrared light, which we as humans cannot see, but birds can, etc.

So what are the advantages of installation with drones?

The advantage of drones is that there is no need to use heavy equipment that can fall, cause damage, for example to farmers, and there is no need to turn off the line, which is financially demanding. Until now, everything was installed manually. So, heavy equipment used for maintenance or repairs had to come, the line had to be turned off and people had to manually deploy it. And then there are guys, especially in North America, who deploy it from a helicopter, but it's extremely expensive.

We have actually increased the efficiency of the entire process - both in terms of time and money. We are much cheaper, thanks to the fact that we don't need so many people and such expensive equipment. As a result, the willingness to invest in it is greater.

We can also install in places where heavy equipment cannot reach. That is, over ravines, rivers, wetlands, etc., where the equipment would get stuck or it is impossible to get there at all. Furthermore, we can also do it over fields where economic activity is already underway, so we don't trample it there because we actually need a maximum of two people and that's all. One pilot and one assistant.

How does the installation work?

These special drones are our own development, they are specially developed just for this. The installation mechanism itself is quite simple. The individual components of the drone are 80% 3D printed, so we can print a lot of spare parts in case of damage or a fall, replace them on site and continue on.

From moment one, we have been working very closely with a Swedish manufacturer of diverters, and this is because they use clip technology that opens and then "hooks" onto the line itself and holds it on the line.

Where have you installed bird diverters or other technology like sensors, etc.?

As for Europe, we have been, for example, in France, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Hungary, Sweden, Finland, Greece, Cyprus...

Outside Europe, we usually make an initial presentation or some pilot project. And then we have partners who rent our technology from us and fly there. We had a drone in Australia, Canada, the USA, South America.

So 80% of the time we are approached by conservationists or the owners of the infrastructure themselves.

Are there any statistics on how successful such a project is?

Yes, there has been a pan-European project called LIFE Danube Free Sky for years. It is about marking the pipelines that cross the Danube from Germany to Romania. This entire project is in charge of one Slovak organization, Protection of Birds of Prey in Slovakia. They did research that showed that after installing the diverters, the mortality rate was 98% lower. So it really works.

You can listen to the entire podcast on Spotify, Apple podcastoch or watch it on YouTube.