Why did scientists build a drone to harass pigeons?

Technology is coming for the bird that America (and most of the urban world, to be honest) loves to hate — the pigeon. Researchers at Switzerland’s EPFL have developed an autonomous drone system designed to keep those detestable avians from defiling our urban infrastructure.

There are two main components to the system — a drone and a docking station. The docking station is positioned on a rooftop where its high-resolution pan-tilt-zoom camera has a good view of as much of the roof as possible. When it sees a pigeon, the docked drone is dispatched to scare the bird away. The whole system operates autonomously, so there’s no need for a human pilot to be present (as long as regulations allow).