Presidio Robot Proposal

The Presidio has one of the most diverse bird populations of any urban park in the world. While the types of birds seen in the Presidio have changed over the past 300 years, there are still over 200 different species present. The Presidio not only provides a habitat for well-established birds, such as the Red-shouldered Hawk, but it also provides a habitat for birds whose populations are threatened, such as the Western Screech Owl. In some cases, these threatened birds have disappeared from other parts of San Francisco and live only in the Presidio.

The purpose of my robot will be to photograph the moments in a bird’s life that are rarely observed by humans. The robot will be an automaton, nimble enough to reach precarious nests, and lightweight enough to prevent damage to the habitat. The robot will be unobtrusive and non-threatening to the avian wildlife. Small size and discreet design will allow the robot to quickly and easily document the natural behaviors of birds without the question of whether human presence is effecting the bird’s behavior. There is potential to capture moments never seen before; the robot will be there to document the banal moments as well as the rare moments.

In addition to photographing bird life, these robots will also collect information about population health by monitoring and cataloging the reproduction and migratory cycles of the birds in the Presidio. The data and images collected will provide biologists with valuable information, and the photographs will provide the public with delightful documentation of rare moments.

http://www.nps.gov/prsf/naturescience/presidio-birds.htm

http://www.presidiotrust.gov/documents/ptip/PTMP/chapt1.pdf

Poor quality phone shot of the bridge from the Pacific Overlook