Birds control in farmland using swarm of UAVs: A behavioural model approach

Abstract

The high rate at which birds damage farm crops and the attendant high cost of using effective bird control mechanism has discouraged many farmers from cultivating certain crops (most especially rice). The most used method of bird control is scaring method. This is usually done by using scaring devices. The main problem with the bird control methods currently adopted is that they require human intervention for it to be effective. This project proposes the total elimination of human involvement in bird control by substituting it with swarm of unmanned air vehicle (UAV). Swarm of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) were simulated to survey farmland in order to scare away birds. To ensure that all the areas of the farmland are inspected, the farmland is divided into equal compartments for the UAVs. The simulation was designed in virtual robot experiment platform (V-REP). Algorithms were implemented for both UAV inspection and allocation; the result of the simulation show that swarm of UAVs can be used to replace human interventions in bird control.