Can turn pigeons into human-operated drones with neurochip, says Russian company

Neiry claims its neural chip lets operators pilot real birds, opening the door to a new class of “living drones.”

After pigeons, the company also plans to turn ravens into drones as well. (AI-generated image for representation)

A Russian neurotechnology company called Neiry has said it is working on turning pigeons into drones by implanting chips in their brains. The company is testing the flight characteristics of these “biodrone pigeons.”

The neurochip lets an operator “control the bird by loading it with a flight task, similar to conventional UAVs,” according to a machine-translated Neiry blog post

Neiry claims that the key difference between a biodrone and a trained animal is that training is not required. The company says any bird can be remotely controlled after surgery. By stimulating specific areas of the brain, researchers say they can make the bird “want” to move in the intended direction.

The company argues that biodrones offer major advantages over mechanical drones in areas such as operating time and range, since the bird continues living a normal life. They also highlight the usefulness of pigeons in dense urban spaces, where birds naturally excel at navigating obstacles.

Neiry adds that the likelihood of a biodrone failing mid-flight is essentially the same as the likelihood of a bird falling.

How the biodrone pigeon technology works

As for the technology, Neiry says it uses electrodes connected to a stimulator mounted on the bird’s back, along with a controller that sends signals affecting the bird’s urge to turn left or right. The system also includes a GPS receiver that allows operators to track the bird’s location in real time.

Neiry claims operators can control entire flocks and upload new flight routes through the neural interface. Performance figures suggest that a pigeon equipped as a PJN-1 biodrone can fly up to 310 miles in a day.

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With consistent sunlight, the company estimates the bird could cover nearly 1,850 miles in a week.

“Right now, the solution works on pigeons, but any bird can act as a carrier. We plan to use ravens to carry heavier payloads, gulls to monitor coastal areas, and albatrosses for wide ocean regions,” said Alexander Panov, founder of the Neiry Group of Companies.

Neiry says the cost of a biodrone is comparable to that of a traditional drone, adding that the project is in its final stages and will soon be deployed for remote monitoring. The company has not disclosed how many birds have died or suffered complications during testing, and it has released no data on surgical outcomes.