Washington, Jan 15 (ANI): A Florida computer engineering student has built a small robotic car for his pet African grey parrot to keep him from constantly screaming.
The 29-year-old man named Andrew Gray told ABC News that when he came home on leave from the Navy, he took about a month to come up with an invention, to do away with the noise his pet parrot Pepper makes.
The University of Florida graduate student said that he previously built a sound-activated squirt gun that sprayed water on Pepper every time he squawked, but it became a bird bath, as Pepper would start making noise just to get sprayed.
Next, Gray built a remote-controlled drum that would rattle every time there was loud noise in the room.
However, "after the third or fourth day, it was just a norm to the bird and became even more noise in the room," Gray said.
Finally, he made a robotic car for his pet, which he named Bird Buggy, as he realized that the bird needed to be around people constantly and he just needed to be in the same room.
He said that this creation allows Pepper to cruise around the house at ease, all with a four-way, beak-operated joystick.
Gray added that the car is electric, with powered wheels in front and casters in the rear, which the parrot knows how to drive, forwards, backwards, left and right, and he loves his new toy.
In addition to the joystick, the car can be switched into robotic mode, seeking out its charging station by computer vision, and there are even sensors in the front of the car to prevent Pepper from hitting anything.
Gray built the model around the measurements of a folded-up newspaper, so Pepper could feel as though he were still in his cage. (ANI)
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