Mudiyono, a member of the Sido Rukun Farmer's Group in Padangan Hamlet, Ponjong District, Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta stated that the rice yields in his area were caused by bird attacks that eat rice grains. Conventionally, farmers have been using nets and scarecrows. However, this method is considered less effective and efficient because farmers have to be on guard against bird pests that are very varied.
To solve this problem, UNY students who are members of the Science and Technology Application Student Creativity Program (PKM-PI) team made a bird repellent device called the "Peksi Repellent Machine". The students are Leni Widyastuti (Biology), Nur Intan Permatasari (Biology), R. Muhammad Ferry Fadly (Mechanical Engineering Education), Abdul Rosyid Hidayatullah (Physics), Hidayati Nur Hakimah (Economics Education) under guidance of Ariadie Chandra Nugraha, MT.
Leni Widyastuti explained, the word Peksi comes from the Javanese language which means bird. So the Peksi Repellent Machine is indeed made to repel bird pests. In the design of this tool, we pay attention to the existing science, including taking into account the range of the tool, namely the range of the sensor and the range of the speaker. It also takes into account the power of the tool.
"If the tool is turned ON using an application, then the tool can detect birds using the RCWL sensor. This sensor is a microwave motion sensor that can detect the presence of birds by sending microwaves. This sensor detects the presence of birds using bird movements which are able to change the signal received by this sensor,” she continued. Furthermore, added Leni, the device will emit an ultrasonic sound. Besides that, when the tool detects a bird, it will report a notification to Telegram. So for monitoring using telegram.
When compared with conventional methods, the use of Peksi Repellent Machine has several advantages. First, farmers do not have to always be on guard in the fields because every bird attack can be monitored via telegram notifications. Second, it does not cause noise pollution because the frequencies used are beyond what humans can hear. Third, it is more environmentally friendly because it does not catch or kill wild birds in nature.
"We made a manual to make it easier to operate, so that farmers can easily operate the tool," she explained.
