Interview with Mr. Siete Hamminga, CEO Robin Radar Systems
Mr. Siete Hamminga, CEO Robin Radar Systems, gave an exclusive interview to Epicos. Among others, he stated that: “The core expertise of Robin Radar is tracking small targets by combining affordable radar sensors with unique software. This is resulted in three application areas: bird strike prevention in aviation, bird monitoring in wind farms to assess and mitigate environmental impact and drone detection as part of larger counter UAV systems in the security domain”.
Mr. Hamminga, ROBIN Radar Systems was spun out of the well-respected Dutch Research Institute for Applied Science (TNO) in mid-2010. Can you please further elaborate on this?
ROBIN started as a project within TNO Defense & Security. The aim was to help prevent bird strikes in the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The European Space Agency (ESA) later also came on board to support via the Fly Safe Program. Algorithms were developed to identify bird intensities by processing the raw images of existing air defence radars. The project was a success. The Royal Netherlands Air Force reduced the amount of bird strikes with over 50% by using the information from the Robin system to decide where and when not to fly. In 2010 High tech entrepreneur Siete Hamminga bought all intellectual property to further develop the technology, making it suitable and available for civil markets.
Which are the main business sectors that you are active in?
The core expertise of Robin Radar is tracking small targets by combining affordable radar sensors with unique software. This is resulted in three application areas: bird strike prevention in aviation, bird monitoring in wind farms to assess and mitigate environmental impact and drone detection as part of larger counter UAV systems in the security domain.
Could you please name your main products?
Robin’s main products are the 3D flex bird radar, the full 3D bird radar called “Max” and the purpose built drone detection and classification radar called “Elvira"
Mid-September, Robin Radar launched a new bird radar. Can you please share some more information about this radar?
Max is the world’s first full 3D bird radar. It rotates 60 rounds per minute, resulting in an updated image every second. No other radar in the world is capable of visualising bird movement at such distance and accuracy.
In June 2018 you launched your new website. Can you please shortly navigate us through it?
In June last year, astronaut Andre Kuipers launched our new website. Now matching our position as technology Leader. Also providing great transparency on who we are and what makes us tick.
Is there a specific country or region where Robin Radar would like to expand to in the near future?
Yes. Europe remains our primary market but we are now also looking to move into North America. Currently looking for the best approach and partners for each segment.
What are the next steps and priorities of the company?
“Scalability” is key now. We strongly believe that bird and drone radars have a big future and we need to be ready for that. How do we become a global player while staying true to our core business and agility?
For additional information: www.robinradar.com
