@TomRS  @greghall and @htarold my initial (and brief) tests with the microwave sensor (same as this one: https://wiki.dfrobot.com/MicroWave_Sensor_SKU__SEN0192) I have suggest it's really sensitive to movement at fairly close range (~2m or less). Whilst this is impressive (like, it can detect my finger moving a few mm @ ~1-2m), it suggests that in order to avoid a lot of false positives/blank images, a fairly high tolerance or threshold would have to be set in the code. This will take a bit of trial and error to get right I reckon. Even though it has an in-buit potentiometer to toggle 'sensitivity' (equates to distance), even at the lowest setting, which is what I have it at, it's still really sensitive out at several metres. It definitely does appear to have an ability to tell the difference between a 'one off' or superficial movement, and more consistent movement that might be expected when an animal moves through an area. Maybe a combo PIR (interrupt) and microwave sensor (double checks after wakeup) could be a goer...although that could be a bit slow...Anyway, thought I'd share...

Thanks @PaulG and @TomRS I've now ordered some of the same model units, so shall hopefully get to test em out soon!

Cheers,

Rob

I'm not sure its been tottally worked out.  Molly Cummings told me she thought it could work.  She has a few recent papers using polarized light with fish.  

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsif.2021.0703

https://opg.optica.org/DirectPDFAccess/153F482A-D3F4-4421-90E56D0D23AE4CA7_335662/ao-55-3-626.pdf?da=1&id=335662&seq=0&mobile=no

For the more computationally-inclined, the Project Zamba software can also be used as a python package and the project codebase is fully available on GitHub.

@hikinghack @Nycticebus-scientia We just ran an open-source competition on this exact question! DrivenData is a small group of data scientists, and we partnered with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) and the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) to compile enough hand-labeled data to apply machine learning to the depth problem. In your original post, this falls under the AI Prediction Based category. The code behind all of the top-performing models is freely available on GitHub. We're hoping to make these freely available in the future in the a more user-friendly way.

@JHughes to your point about motion sensor camera traps being continuously set off -our free, open-source web application called Zamba Cloud uses machine learning to automatically sort videos by either what animal they contain or whether they are blank. You just upload a set of videos, and the web application will output a list of labels for each video! This may not address the battery drainage problem, but can help with filtering out blank videos and identifying which actually captured animals.

I've purchased my magnets here and the ferrous mounting stripes here. I've used UV cure superglue for attaching the magnets, as standard superglue sometmes failed after longperiod of being wet.

Just be aware of the limitations; you'll be transmitting at a very slow baud rate on frequencies that may have strict duty cycle (transmission time) and ERP (transmission power) limits. Check up on the rules for the region in which you intend to operate and make sure that the restrictions fit in with your intended application.

The following two papers describe our attempst to develop an open source RPi camera trap platform with long range communications capability, and may be of interest:

Nazir, S., Fairhurst, G., Verdicchio, F., 2017. WiSE - a satellite-based system for remote monitoring. Int. J. Satell. Commun. Netw. 35, 201–214. https://doi.org/10.1002/sat.1176

Nazir, S., Newey, S., Irvine, R.J., Verdicchio, F., Davidson, P., Fairhurst, G., Wal, R. van der, 2017. WiseEye: Next Generation Expandable and Programmable Camera Trap Platform for Wildlife Research. PLoS One 12, e0169758. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169758

More details can be found here: https://erg.abdn.ac.uk/wise/

/Scott

Vasudev

I have had no issues using ubiquiti device and pushing internet out to 5 miles line of site, what I am curious what are you using for you camera on the other end, I have always wanted to try and build a long distance wifi trail camera ( true wifi ).

is it solar powered or battery powered that has been my issue trying to figure out the power issue 

Hi Capreolus, hi all,

As this thread seems to have come alive again, I thought it might finally be time to share some of the progress that's been made on a LoRa connected camera trap system developed by the Zoological Society of London called Instant Detect 2.0. There are already some blogs on this site about Instant Detect 2.0 so I’ll just focus on the LoRa camera here.

Sending images using an off-the-shelf LoRa module and protocol isn’t possible, so we had to develop our own protocol (MAC and Application layers) from scratch using the LoRa physical layer.

We designed this protocol to meet with EU radio emissions standards and usage restrictions (duty cycles) so that the system can be CE certified, and we have also designed protocol variants for many other countries  based on their radio regulations. Our goal is to have variants developed that allow the system to be used legally in every country.

The Instant Detect 2.0 LoRa cameras have now been undergoing testing and optimisation for almost 3 years. The key requirements we have designed for and now have working are:

1. 100% reliable transmission (no images are lost in the ether),

2. maximise range (regardless of terrain and vegetation),

3. maximise speed (this reduces power consumption and on-air time),

4. multiple cameras sending images at once (deconfliction management and queuing),

5. minimise power usage so the whole network can run off batteries (including the base station),

6. easy to set-up by non-technical users (it just works).

The Instant Detect 2.0 system is now undergoing field trials to prove its capabilities and find its limits and if all goes to plan we hope to have it available sometime next year.

Hi Sam,
I´ve been waiting for your Instant Detect 2.0 .
So great to hear about your progress. Please keep us updated!

Greetings from Austria,
Robin

Hi Sam,

Impressive!  Any chance the LoRa code is open source?  I should like to take a gander.

Thanks

Hey Ellie--

Glad to see you getting started with this. 

I'll speak to the data-storage question, it might be worth it for you to do something like paying for extra google drive space rather than go through the external hard drive process. That way you're ensuring you don't have to worry about losing your drive or just leaving it at home. It's $30 US for 200GB of space for a year, which is quite reasonable, especially for a single recorder / camera trap. 

I'd also make sure you have an SD card reader, and maybe a sealed card holder/wallet to keep data safe while it transitions from the field. How much to budget for batteries will depend on exactly what sensors you end up purchasing but in my experience, ordering high-end alkaline batteries is the best bet (for example, in the Duracell line, their Procell D batteries really do perform better than the normal consumer level coppertop batteries). I'd recommend playing around with the scheduler software for whatever acoustic sensor you end up obtaining to figure out whether you'll be limited by power or storage depending on how you set things up.

Oh very cool Robin. Do you mind if I ask how much it is for the unit?

Thank Capreolus,

for your feedback, did you try it where the cellular network is weak? 

Thank you.

much appreesh @StephODonnell 

@Freaklabs 

Akiba may be interested?

I think it would be technically possible. Something like the camera being put to sleep, and only activated when an outer sensor is triggered. I would be more worried about getting ethical approval for such a study where the aim is to have a live domestic animal being attacked by a predator in a confined space.

My guess is that the camera triggering will prove to be far less of a challenge than getting ethical approval for penning livestock where predators can reach them. If you have such a high rate of wolf attacks in free-ranging flocks then you can directly measure the decrease in rate of attacks in flocks that have the repellent vs those that do not. 

Hi Ivonne,

Have you considered using a GOPRO? They have some pretty natty features now  and they have a good range of mounting and waterproofing gadgets. If you don’t need traditional camera trap features these work well and you can dial up the image quality to suit your needs.

Dave 

Do you need the photos during the timelapse, or just all at once at the end?  If the latter, how many exposures will you need per timelapse recording?  Depending on your answers, that might limit you to only options that let you retrieve images during recording - perhaps requiring wifi or celular?

Not knowing your requirements there, just some general thoughts:

GoPros

I too would think a GoPro would be an option, iff wide angle suits your purposes (though, if resolution isn't a high priority, GoPros do have exposure-time cropping options).  Cheap, robust, with myriad accessories easily available.  They also have wifi support - though, last I checked, you can't browse & download images while the GoPro is in recording mode (not even between exposures).  Maybe newer models have removed that limitation?

There's also relatively novel options like the GoPro MAX with 360° video recording.

Trail cameras

I've used several different trail cameras that have timelapse options - they're pretty common.  I haven't used Reconyx ones, though.  In general I find trail cameras to be pretty useless photographically - fine, maybe, for just monitoring wildlife activity.

Mirrorless / DSLR

If you do go for a 'real' camera, go for one with (at least the option of) a pure electronic shutter.  Few DSLRs have this option.  Some - but not all - mirrorless do.  Mechanical shutters (a) can cause motion blur and (b) tend to break after a few hundred thousand exposures.  e.g. if you're doing one exposure per minute, you'd get less than a year from most consumer cameras.

The Sony a6100 (or later) cameras are good options for this - they're old and therefore can be found very cheap, but the image quality is still light-years ahead of trail cameras & GoPros.

A slightly more up-market option - probably only of any interest if night-time exposures are important - would be a Nikon Z5.  Alas they're current-model so you probably won't find big discounts, but you get:

• Excellent image quality (provided 24MP is sufficient resolution for you - are you aiming for 8K timelapse?).  There are higher-end options (Z6, Z7) as well as Sony a7r options if you need higher resolution or (marginally) better image quality.

• The ability to use practically any lense ever made on them (their Z mount supports adapters to practically any other mount system).  In case you have particular lens requirements, or existing lenses you want to use.

• Twin UHS-II SD card slots, so you can record to two cards simultaneously if data loss (from a faulty SD card) is a concern.

Keep in mind, though, that most mirrorless/DSLRs have limitations on how many exposures they'll allow on their built-in intervalometers (e.g. 9999 for Nikons).  But there's usually ways around that using $10 plug-in intervalometers, if need be (and fancier options if you want more control, such as "bulb ramping" for recording across day & night smoothly).