Joshua Trethowan

Mr. Joshua Trethowan


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

4Years (2023-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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11 March 2023 in Machines
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
JTJoshua Trethowan
Joshua Trethowan
ZWZihao Wang
Zihao Wang
KWKC Wong
KC Wong
Pest birds are a salient problem in agriculture all around the world due to the damage they can cause to commercial or high-value crops. Recent advancements in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have motivated the use of drones in pest bird deterrence, with promising success already being demonstrated over traditional bird control techniques. This paper presents a novel bird deterrence solution in the form of tethered UAVs, which are attached and arranged in a grid-like fashion across a vineyard property. This strategy aims to bypass the power and endurance limitations of untethered drones while still utilising their dynamism and scaring potential. A simulation model has been designed and developed to assess the feasibility of different UAV arrangements, configurations, and strategies against expected behavioural responses of incoming bird flocks, despite operational and spatial constraints imposed by a tether. Attempts at quantifying bird persistence and relative effort following UAV-induced deterrence are also introduced through a novel bird energy expenditure model. This aims to serve as a proxy for selecting control techniques that reduce future foraging missions. The simulation model successfully isolated candidate configurations, which were able to deter both single and multiple incoming bird flocks using a centralised multi-UAV control strategy. Overall, this study indicates that a grid of autonomous ground-tethered UAV platforms is viable as a bird deterrence solution in agriculture, a novel solution not seen nor dealt with elsewhere to the authors’ knowledge.