I agree the PIR sensor and the camera will be "seeing" different pictures, but I believe that is exactly the effect that is sought: now too much of the elephant is out of the frame when the camera is triggered, and the wide angle lens is desired so that more of the elephant would fit in the frame at that same triggering point.

Hi @carlybatist, thanks for the encouragement! Madagascar feels pretty Southern African to us (it's a member of SADC after all and plus lemurs are cool), so perhaps it will be the next "different" set of species that we add, or our second model. We just wanted to start off biting off a smaller chunk and get it delivered and working well, instead of spreading ourselves too thin and never getting good at or delivering anything. So sure, maybe in about 6 months or so if you have training images we can use?

We use a COCO-dataset-trained base model and then add our own curated training dataset sourced from user's images (with permission) or public datasets, but not any Wildlife Insights data.

Yes, it can do birds flying through, see below. Right now we have only focussed on bigger birds (ostrich, secretary bird, bustards, guinea fowl, vulture, that kind of thing), many of which are found mostly on the ground anyway, but otherwise they get lumped together as "Bird (Other)" until we get enough of each to train a specific species. Also apparently flying porcupine! (oops).

And don't worry about all the questions, we're just as excited to answer them!

That's awesome! And yes it's definitely in Southern Africa geographically, but the biomes and species are so different that I imagine it wouldn't necessarily be easy to generalize your models and training data to Mada sites. Does Wildlife Insights use any of the same training data you do? Just seems like there could be options for not re-inventing the wheel since yoursand their's initiatives/goals are similar. Also, is this all terrestrially deployed images? Or do you have training data from arboreal camera traps as well? 

That is great to hear, Mark. I'm interested as to which repair related to each of the symptoms you intially listed, but for now, knowing that more of your cameras work is excellent. I think your use of silica gel to properly dry out the cameras is underrated - this might have to top suggestion for malfunctioning cameras in the future.

A list of basic tools is a good idea. Maybe we should start a separate thread for this, but I'll throw a few in here to start.

Screwdriver set  - small electronics screwdrivers, Phillips and flat head. Some cameras are using "torx" heads, so check your equipment and what you may need.

Multimeter - most problems can be checked using a volt meter only, but checking resistance of leads and continuity is very useful.

Pliers and snips - small needle nosed pliers are great for hard to reach pieces, side cutters help a lot for accurately trimming wires. If you start rewiring and soldering then wire strippers are very useful, but the job can be done carefully with a sharp knife if needed.

Soldering iron, solder and flux - if parts are coming loose, cables are getting torn off by animals or you just need to secure old wires better, then soldering is usually needed. A cheap soldering iron will do the job on wires for batteries and general hookup, but fine temperature control and a small tip is better for circuitboards. Do you have mains power - 240V/110V? A battery powered or 12V iron might be needed for a remote field/station. Fine electronics solder is most useful. Flux help clean surfaces for soldering but should be rinsed off to avoid corrosion - I have a "flux pen" that is small, portable. Practice is the key to soldering. There are lots of tutorials online about soldering but give it a go on something sacrificial first to get a feel for temperatures and how molten solder works.

Spare wire - size the wire accoring to the amperage that is needed. Passing too many amps through a fine wire may cause a fire (trust me). Multiple colours are avaialble so you can colour code your +/- and data lines. 

Insulation - this should be higher up the list! Electrical tape wrapped around wires and terminals will get the job done, but heat shrink tube in various sizes is more robust (just remember to put it over the wire before you connect it). Kapton tape is good for covering flat, internal electronics like circuitboards.

I hope that helps. Any other suggestions?

Cheers, Al

I also just found this similar summary of equipment on youtube - https://youtu.be/pNBkfE8UPDI. The breadboard and components are a good addition for building and testing circuits.