engineer peter, helped here by daughter clara, is the technical lead behind a very different and quiet kind of drone — one that emits less than 70 decibels. why have you built a bird drone? surveillance, where it's important to not have an intrusive device, but something that is quite — can be obscured and can hide within a flock of birds, like if you're thinking of wildlife monitoring. of course, we have had inquiries also from the defence sector. by mimicking nature, it is hoped that this drone will be able to flap by unnoticed. actual in—air tests aren't scheduled, though, until next summer. so it might be a little while before this bird starts to fly, but in the skies above san francisco, there is an aircraft which is currently flying itself and on board is cody godwin.