Alaska Airport Using Precious Robot Dog to Keep Wildlife Safe From Runways

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has added a new employee to their team, a $ $70,000 Boston Dynamics robot dog whose job will be to enhance and augment airport safety and operations.

Her name is Aurora and she will get to work starting this fall.

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Anchorage Daily News reports that the robot, which is a product of Lower 48 company Boston Dynamics, cost about $70,000 and was funded by a $2 million federal grant, received by the state transportation department and wildlife biologists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Beginning this fall — at the start of migratory bird season — the plan is for the robot dog to patrol an outdoor area near the runway every hour to try to help prevent harmful encounters between planes and wildlife, particularly waterfowl.

Related: 2-Legged Puppy Is Thriving After High School Robotics Team Makes Her a Custom Wheelchair

I think a lot of us have seen the Season 4, Episode 5 Black Mirror episode called Metalhead where robotic dogs are absolutely terrifying, and I'm not the only one because one person on Instagram commented, "I've seen this episode of Black Mirror, it doesn't end well."

It does seem like sweet Aurora will only be using her powers for good though, and she will serve a very important purpose.

How This Robotic Dog Will Protect Wildlife

Ryan Marlow, a program manager with the Alaska Department of Transportation, explained to the Anchorage Daily News that Marlow said in an interview that the agency is treating Aurora’s time in Fairbanks as a trial to see how effective the robot is as a non-lethal wildlife mitigation tool, particularly for migratory birds. They also want to test to see how larger animals like moose and bears respond to the robot, he said.

Aurora has panels that are replaceable so she can also be disguised as a coyote or a fox. “The sole purpose of this is to act as a predator, and allow for us to invoke that response in wildlife without having to use other means,” Marlow said during a joint session of the Alaska House and Senate transportation committees last week.

According to the article, Wildlife poses a significant threat to aviation safety, Marlow said.

There were 92 animal strikes near airports in Alaska last year, including 10 at Fairbanks airport. A bird can cause a crash if it gets sucked into an aircraft engine.

Hopefully Aurora will be a good girl and scare birds and other animals out of harm's way.

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