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discussion / Marine Conservation  / 26 August 2021

Tech Tutors: How do I use animal-borne imaging technology in marine and terrestrial environments?

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Hi Wildlabbers,

We're so excited for tomorrow's episode about National Geographic's Crittercam with Tech Tutor Kyler Abernathy, who'll talk to us about how this technology is adapted for marine and terrestrial species and environments! 

As always, we'll be sharing the recording afterward in here, on WILDLABS, and on our Youtube. If you have questions for Kyler, us, or other particpants after the episode wraps, use this thread!

And if you haven't registered yet, you can find all the details here.

See you tomorrow!

Cheers,

Ellie

UPDATE: The episode is now available to watch on our Youtube! Check it out below.



Lars Holst Hansen
@Lars_Holst_Hansen
Aarhus University
Biologist and Research Technician working with ecosystem monitoring and research at Zackenberg Research Station in Greenland
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14 September 2021 2:43pm

Hi there,

I just caught up on some of the Tech Tutor episodes I missed while being on field work.

Watching the animal-borne imaging technology talk and hearing the question from @Rob+Appleby , I came to think of the recent camera collars we received from Vectronic Aerospace. The cameras are from the company Foxeer and they seem to be pretty advanced and light. Perhaps worth a look Rob! 

Cheers,

Rob Appleby
@Rob_Appleby  | He/him
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Whilst I love everything about WILDLABS and the conservation tech community I am mostly here for the badges!!
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14 September 2021 7:52pm

Hi @Lars+Holst+Hansen and thanks for the tip. I've heard of the brand but only briefly looked at their camera range before. They are an RC camera company and make some interesting cameras. I've been thinking of trying out some starlight cameras (as opposed to infrared/night-shot cameras). Interesting that Vectronic is using them. Did the camera collars have a 'PVR' board (some way of recording images) or did they just transmit wirelessly?

Thanks again Lars,

Rob

 

 

Rob Appleby
@Rob_Appleby  | He/him
Wild Spy
Whilst I love everything about WILDLABS and the conservation tech community I am mostly here for the badges!!
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15 September 2021 11:24pm

Hi Lars,

I have a colleague that's successfully used the Mobius cam system (https://www.mobius-actioncam.com/) for camera collars as well. RC cams are popular choice it seems. I have been attempting to tweak cheaper 'cube' cameras (e.g. https://tinyurl.com/w72kh77r) to do a similar job. I am using a bit of Frankestein's monster array of small control boards, including an Adafruit low power timer (https://www.adafruit.com/product/3573) and a SparkFun pro mini (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11113). I am using an SMD transistor as a switch to control power, and another could be added to control settings if needed. Hoping to do a tutorial on it at some point in case there's any interest. 

Cheers,

Rob