Kangaroos are endemic to Australia and it is an advantageous point from the point of tourism. This has been a matter of concern also because every year on Australian roads tens of thousands of kangaroos are hit by vehicles. This has many times also led to serious injuries and even death of drivers. Volkswagen an automobile company known all across the world has introduced Roobadge. This RooBadge utilises a unique approach to audio-based deterrents by mixing meaningful sounds to kangaroos (like bird alarm calls, predatory sounds, and kangaroo foot thumps) with synthetic sounds. This alerts them of upcoming danger even before the vehicle reaches them. For this, it uses directional speakers to emit a focused beam of sound far ahead of the vehicle, where it’s most effective.
There are multiple species of kangaroos found in Australia which means respond to different sounds. The RooBadge uses machine learning to compare the GPS coordinates and optimizes the sound accordingly. Drivers can also report collisions on the company’s reporting tool. This will not only allow agencies to get the required information about it but also activate the RooBadge automatically in newly reported kangaroo collision hotspots. This is currently not available as the test is still going on though the company is simultaneously also working on developing a universally mountable version.
