Camera traps have been a key part of the conservation toolkit for decades. Remotely triggered video or still cameras allow researchers and managers to monitor cryptic species, survey populations, and support enforcement responses by documenting illegal activities. Increasingly, machine learning is being implemented to automate the processing of data generated by camera traps.
A recent study published showed that, despite being well-established and widely used tools in conservation, progress in the development of camera traps has plateaued since the emergence of the modern model in the mid-2000s, leaving users struggling with many of the same issues they faced a decade ago. That manufacturer ratings have not improved over time, despite technological advancements, demonstrates the need for a new generation of innovative conservation camera traps. Join this group and explore existing efforts, established needs, and what next-generation camera traps might look like - including the integration of AI for data processing through initiatives like Wildlife Insights and Wild Me.
Group Highlights:
Our past Tech Tutors seasons featured multiple episodes for experienced and new camera trappers. How Do I Repair My Camera Traps? featured WILDLABS members Laure Joanny, Alistair Stewart, and Rob Appleby and featured many troubleshooting and DIY resources for common issues.
For camera trap users looking to incorporate machine learning into the data analysis process, Sara Beery's How do I get started using machine learning for my camera traps? is an incredible resource discussing the user-friendly tool MegaDetector.
And for those who are new to camera trapping, Marcella Kelly's How do I choose the right camera trap(s) based on interests, goals, and species? will help you make important decisions based on factors like species, environment, power, durability, and more.
Finally, for an in-depth conversation on camera trap hardware and software, check out the Camera Traps Virtual Meetup featuring Sara Beery, Roland Kays, and Sam Seccombe.
And while you're here, be sure to stop by the camera trap community's collaborative troubleshooting data bank, where we're compiling common problems with the goal of creating a consistent place to exchange tips and tricks!
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Do you have photos and videos of your conservation tech work? We want to include them in a conservation technology showcase video
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Technology to End the Sixth Mass Extinction. Salary: $132 - $160k; Location: Seattle WA; 7+ years of experience in hardware product development and manufacturing; View post for full job description
1 May 2024
The incumbent will develop models and metrics that can be used to shape conservation policy using multiple data sources including camera traps, movement data and citizen science concerning the diversity and...
23 April 2024
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The Smithsonian National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute is seeking a Program Manager to help coordinate multiple organizations in an effort to integrate movement data & camera trap data with global...
22 April 2024
The Smithsonian National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to help us integrate movement data & camera trap data with global conservation policy.
22 April 2024
Watch our interview with pioneering young Tanzanian vulture researcher Vainess Laizer! Her research investigating the breeding success of white-backed vultures in the western corridor of the Serengeti ecosystem using...
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The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (SNZCBI) is seeking two postdoctoral fellows to engage more directly with identifying conservation metrics for vertebrate communities and populations.
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Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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Also, for more help, here is the link to the website where an old report is shown. Navy Marine Species Monitoring :: Time-lapse Camera Surveys of Pinnipeds in Southeastern Virginia |
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Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools | 10 months 2 weeks ago | |
A new COST action has been announced which will focus on the use of computer vision for monitoring insects.InsectAI will run for 4 years... |
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AI for Conservation, Autonomous Camera Traps for Insects, Camera Traps | 10 months 3 weeks ago | |
(apologies for joining this thread late) Has anyone tried using the LIDAR in one of the newer iPhones so-equipped as a trail cam trigger? (e.g. iPhone12 Pro), perhaps in... |
+9
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Camera Traps | 10 months 3 weeks ago | |
This is such a cool idea! We need an aussie/international version!Best of luck with this year's survey!Rob |
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Camera Traps | 11 months ago | |
I just wanted to see if anyone else was having an issue with Cuddelink cameras sometimes emailing you super old images. Like for example,... |
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Camera Traps | 11 months ago | |
Hi Donya! You might check out the Conservation Tech Directory to see what projects/organizations/tools best align with your interests and skills. |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Drones | 11 months 3 weeks ago | |
Hey everyone, I am super excited to share two announcements with the Community!🏆🌍 Our flagship Data4Good project - Mbaza AI... |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 1 year ago | |
I took photos and videos about a lovely couple who has got a new family at Ducks Lock along Oxford Canal. Can anyone tell me the name of... |
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Camera Traps | 1 year ago | |
The Wildlife Insights team is running a survey to learn more about camera trap data management practices, and in particular to understand... |
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Camera Traps, Data management and processing tools | 1 year ago | |
Thanks Bas! I'll look into SSD vs RCNNs, I'd never heard of an SSD. |
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AI for Conservation, Camera Traps | 1 year ago | |
greetings! i sent you a PM regarding this, feel free to contact me however is most convenient for you - regards,chris |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Climate Change, East Africa Community, Wildlife Crime | 1 year ago | |
Great, thank you both! I'll follow up for introductions/ contact info |
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Camera Traps | 1 year ago |
Subsea DIY Burnwire for Deep-sea BRUVS
6 December 2023 3:49am
15 December 2023 4:17pm
Hi Titus,
We've used this design/procedure for many years with our Deep Sea Camera systems, with good reliability. Not OTS but not hard to make and most of the materials come out to be inexpensive per unit. The most expensive item is the M101 connector ($25ea), but if you get them with extra length on the cable, you can essentially cut it off at the point where it joins the burn-loop and reuse that connector until it gets too short. You'd also need an F101 connector integrated with your BRUV, this connecting with the burnwire and forming the the positive side of the circuit, and a ground - our ground connection goes to a large bolt on the frame near the burnwire loop - but that connector generally shouldn't need replacement unless it gets damaged.
These burnwires generally break in 3-7min, burning at about 1Amp, ~14.5V. A thinner version of the coated wire could go faster or with less power required.
We do also employ galvanic releases as backups. I really like redundancy on recovery mechanisms! The ones we use are made by International Fishing Devices, Inc. Various distributors sell certain models of their products (i.e. different time durations) but if you contact them directly, they can also make custom duration ones for you.
19 December 2023 4:47pm
Hi Titus,
I've used latching solenoids as a release in a fresh water application. The product linked to is the one I have used, but has been discontinued (it's been quite a while). Anyway these little devices hold a plunger in place with a permanent magnet, but release the plunger when a coil is energised that counters the magnet. The holding force is not great, but more than enough to keep the safety on a mechanical trigger. The whole device can be potted and sealed (ideally under vacuum to eliminate voids). When pushing the plunger in to arm the solenoid, there is a definite click when the magnet kicks in, to confirm the locked state.
A similar device is the electropermanent magnet, which doesn't have a plunger, in fact it has no moving parts. You provide the steel piece that that this device will release when energised, as with a latching solenoid. It generally has greater holding force than a latching solenoid. I've used these in a seawater application. It's worth noting that there exist ferromagnetic stainless steels that can be used here to avoid corrosion.
Thanks,
-harold
Thermal cameras for monitoring visitors in highly vulnerable conservation areas
21 June 2022 3:44pm
22 September 2023 12:00pm
I would be interested how you setted up this system. Which model do yu use and how are they connected?
6 October 2023 12:27pm
We have the the FLIR FC series (FC 618) thermal cameras setup. with regards to the connection between the cameras and monitoring station, this through fiber cable and microwave radio links.
15 December 2023 8:09pm
Hi,
This is a really late answer but I was new to wildlabs then. I have a security appliance that uses state of the AI models and user defined polygon areas of interest that generates video alerts of intrusions in typically under a second.
Although its setup to install automatically on an NVidia AI on the edge boxes of your intentions were to monitor a great deal of cameras you could also install it on a desktop with a high end GPU for very high performance. At home I use a desktop with an rtx 2080ti and monitor around 15 cameras and a thermal imaging camera (old one).
I have also tested a high end model (yolov7) on a high end thermal imaging camera image and it works fine as well.
Thermal imaging cameras are hellishly expensive though and I’ve found that new extremely light sensitive cameras like the HIKvision colorvu series almost obsoletes them in terms of people detection at night at a fraction of the cost.
If you are interested I’d be happy to show you a demo in a video meeting sometime if you like. I’m pretty sure it would meeting all your intrusion detection and alerting needs.
My project page is
Video camera trap analysis help
21 November 2023 7:49am
14 December 2023 10:52am
Awesome! Will look into it.
14 December 2023 10:52am
Thanks so much, will look into it.
15 December 2023 4:48pm
Hi there!,
You should definitely check out VIAME, which includes a video annotation tool in addition to deep learning neural network training and deployment. It has a user friendly interface, has a publicly available server option that mitigates the need for GPU enabled computer for network training, and has an amazing support staff that help you with your questions. You can also download the VIAME software for local use. The tool was originally developed for marine life annotation, but can be used for any type of video or annotation (we are using it to annotate pollinators in video). Super easy to annotate as well. Worth checking out!
Cheers,
Liz Ferguson
Underwater camera trap for amphibian - Call for early users
13 December 2023 9:57pm
Hi!
CAMPHIBIAN project develops an underwater camera trap for amphibian. The interest has been proven on newts and grass snake in NW Europe. We are looking for early users worldwide, diversify target species and habitat types.
See link for more info, thanks for sharing!
Xavier
Shedding light on nocturnal behaviour: A cost-effective solution for remote, infrared video recording in the field
13 December 2023 5:55pm
Project support officer - Conservation Tech
11 December 2023 10:24pm
Is anyone or platform supporting ML for camera trap video processing (id-ing jaguar)?
27 November 2023 10:49am
7 December 2023 12:42pm
Hey there community! Im new here and looking after lots of answers too! ;-)
We are searching aswell for the most ideal App / AI technology to ID different cats, but also other mammals if possible
- Panthera onca
- Leopardus wiedii
- Leopardus pardalis
and if possible:
- Puma concolor
- Puma yagouaroundi
- Leopardus colocolo
- Tapirus terrestris
Every recommendation is very welcome, thanks!
Sam
7 December 2023 2:31pm
Is this from camera trap images? Videos? Wildlife Insights is great! It uses Megadetector as a first pass to filter out empty images (those without animals), which you can also just use on its own. If you want to do individual re-ID, you can use Wildme. And as I mentioned previously in the comments, Zamba Cloud can work with videos. Conservation AI is another player in the game as well.
11 December 2023 1:38pm
Also, take a look at TrapTagger. It has integration with WildMe.
Automatic extraction of temperature/moon phase from camera trap video
29 November 2023 1:15pm
1 December 2023 2:35pm
Hi Lucy
As others have mentioned, camera trap temperature readouts are inaccurate, and you have the additional problem that the camera's temperature can rise 10C if the sun shines on it.
I would also agree with the suggestion of getting the moon phase data off the internet.
1 December 2023 2:38pm
Do you need to do this for just one project? And do you use the same camera make/model for every deployment? Or at least a finite number of camera makes/models? If the number of camera makes/models you need to worry about is finite, even if it's large, I wouldn't try to solve this for the general case, I would just hard-code the pixel ranges where the temperature/moon information appears in each camera model, so you can crop out the relevant pixels without any fancy processing. From there it won't be trivial, exactly, but you won't need AI.
You may need separate pixel ranges for night/day images for each camera; I've seen cameras that capture video with different aspect ratios at night/day (or, more specifically, different aspect ratios for with-flash and no-flash images). If you need to determine whether an image is grayscale/color (i.e., flash/no-flash), I have a simple heuristic function for this that works pretty well.
Assuming you can manually define the relevant pixel ranges, which should just take a few minutes if it's less than a few dozen camera models, I would extract the first frame of each video to an image, then crop out the temperature/moon pixels.
Once you've cropped out the temperature/moon information, for the temperature, I would recommend using PyTesseract (an OCR library) to read the characters. For the moon information... I would either have a small library of images for all the possible moon phases for each model, and match new images against those, or maybe - depending on the exact style they use - you could just, e.g., count the total number of white/dark pixels in that cropped moon image, and have a table that maps "percentage of white pixels" to a moon phase. For all the cameras I've seen with a moon phase icon, this would work fine, and would be less work than a template matching approach.
FYI I recently wrote a function to do datetime extraction from camera trap images (it would work for video frames too), but there I was trying to handle the general case where I couldn't hard-code a pixel range. That task was both easier and harder than what you're doing here: harder because I was trying to make it work for future, unknown cameras, but easier because datetimes are relatively predictable strings, so you know when you find one, compared to, e.g., moon phase icons.
In fact maybe - as others have suggested - extracting the moon phase from pixels is unnecessary if you can extract datetimes (either from pixels or from metadata, if your metadata is reliable).
5 December 2023 10:09pm
camtrapR has a function that does what you want. i have not used it myself but it seems straightforward to use and it can run across directories of images:
https://jniedballa.github.io/camtrapR/reference/OCRdataFields.html
Paving the Way for Women: LoRaWAN Technology in Akagera National Park with Clementine Uwamahoro
29 November 2023 5:22pm
ICOTEQ launch TAGRANGER® system of products
23 November 2023 1:25pm
AWMS Conference 2023
Eliminatha, WiCT 2023 Tanzania
21 November 2023 1:09pm
Passionate wildlife researcher and tech user, making strides in Grumeti, the heart of western Serengeti,Tanzania, using Camera Traps to gain priceless insights into the lives of this unique fauna and contributing greatly to understanding and preserving the Serengeti's ecosystems.
setting up a network of cameras connected to a server via WIFI
3 April 2022 7:19am
9 July 2022 6:03am
Great discussion! Pet (and other 'home') cams are an interesting option as @antonab mentioned. I've been testing one at home that physically tracks moving objects (and does a pretty good job of it), connects to my home network and can be live previewed, all for AUD69 (I bought it on special. Normal retail is AUD80):
On the Wifi front, and a bit of a tangent, has anyone done any work using 'HaLow' (see below for example) as it seems like an interesting way to extend Wifi networks?
17 July 2022 8:21am
Cool thread!
I will be testing Reolink Wi-Fi cameras in combination with solar powered TP-Link long range Wi-Fi antennas/repeaters later this field season for monitoring arctic fox dens at our remote off grid site in Greenland. The long range Wi-Fi antennas are rather power hungry but with sufficient solar panel and battery capacity I am hopeful it will work.
I am looking forward to explore the links and hints above after the field season.
Cheers,
20 November 2023 9:39am
Thank you for the links, Robin.
Alternative to Reconyx Ultrafire
8 November 2023 9:07am
18 November 2023 8:22pm
The two cameras you mention below tick off most of the items in your requirements list. I think the exception is the “timed start” whereby the camera would “wake up” to arm itself after a certain date. Camlockbox.com provides security boxes for both.
Especially if a white flash is useful in your research, you may also want to consider the GardePro T5WF. I don’t have a lot of long-term experience with this camera, but it is one of the few that offers a white flash, and it has excellent battery life, especially for night captures. The audio can be a little flaky
I have done posts on these cameras, including a teardown. See:
https://winterberrywildlife.ouroneacrefarm.com/2022/04/10/browning-spec-ops-elite-hp5-teardown/
https://winterberrywildlife.ouroneacrefarm.com/2022/09/26/inside-the-bushnell-core-ds-4k-trail-camera/
https://winterberrywildlife.ouroneacrefarm.com/2023/11/18/gardepro-t5wf-white-flash-trail-camera/
I have heard reports that the HP5 can let in moisture in very wet environments. This may be a direct water contact type of thing, as we have never had water issues with this camera when it is installed in a lock box (US Northeast, Northwest).
We prefer the HP5 due to superior image and audio quality. That said, there is a known issue that with some HP5 cameras, with some fast (> 80 MB/s rated read) and large SD cards, the SD card can become corrupted, preventing the camera from capturing images. I address this, including a fix via firmware, in another post:
https://winterberrywildlife.ouroneacrefarm.com/2023/11/16/fixing-browning-edge-elite-hp4-and-hp5-sd-card-corruption/
Hope this helps.
-bob
Ideas for easy/fast maintenance of arboreal camera traps
30 August 2023 8:51pm
15 November 2023 9:04pm
I use the same wifi trick with Reolink solar cameras looking at tree cavities (Austrian mountain forest). You can even put the mobile router on drone to get connection to the cameras.
16 November 2023 10:29pm
Yup Reolink is awesome! I've had a few cameras die on me, but hopefully I can get them repaired.
17 November 2023 9:19am
Hi Ben,
I would be interested to see if the Instant Detect 2.0 camera system might be useful for this.
The cameras can transmit thumbnails of the captured images using LoRa radio to a Base Station. You could then see all the captured images at this Base Station, as well as the camera's battery and memory information (device health). In addition, you could also change camera settings from the Base Station so you would not need to reclimb the trees to change from PIR sensitivity high to medium for instance.
The Instant Detect 2.0 cameras also have an external power port so a cable could be run to the ground to a DC 12V battery for long term power.
If you wanted to, you could also connect the Base Station to the Cloud using satellite connectivity, so that you can monitor the whole system remotely, but this will incur more cost and power usage of the Base Station.
I'd be keen to hear your thoughts,
Thanks,
Sam
Instant Detect 2.0 and related cost
16 November 2023 12:50am
16 November 2023 10:55am
Hi Kaarthika, hi all,
ZSL's Instant Detect 2.0 is currently undergoing Beta testing with external partners and so is still pre-production. We therefore do not have final pricing for the system.
Saying this, we have got a manufacturing partner fully set-up who has already completed two full build rounds of the system, one in 2020 and another in 2023. This means we actually have a very good idea of the system's build costs and what these are likely to be when we can manufacture the system in volume.
While I cannot release this pricing yet, I am confident that we will have an unparalleled proposition.
In particular, the satellite airtime package we can supply to conservationists due to the generosity of the Iridium Satellite Company means that each system can send 3,600 (25-50KB) images a month from anywhere in the world for a single fixed fee. This equates to around a 97% discount to the normal commercial rates.
We are currently very busy fundraising so that we can make this final step to scale the system.
If we can secure this funding, we hope to go into volume production by mid-2024.
Best wishes,
Sam
16 November 2023 2:12pm
Thank You for your valuable update Sam
16 November 2023 2:30pm
Hello Sam,
What would you say would be the estimate cost was for the first version Instant Detect 1.0 ? That might help my research ?
Research/Field Technician - SPEC Lab Ocelot Research Program
16 November 2023 1:58pm
Insight; a secure online platform designed for sharing experiences of conservation tool use.
7 November 2023 1:01pm
A secure platform designed for those working to monitor & protect natural resources. Insight facilitates sharing experience, knowledge & tools to increase efficiency & effectiveness in conservation. By sharing we reduce time & money spent to find, test, & implement solutions.
DeepFaune: a software for AI-based identification of mammals in camera-trap pictures and videos
14 July 2023 3:14pm
24 October 2023 8:46pm
Hello to all, new to this group. This is very exciting technology. can it work for ID of individual animals? we are interested in Ai for identifying individual jaguars (spots) and andean Bears (face characteristics). Any recommendation? contact? thanks!
German
25 October 2023 8:57am
That's a very interesting question and use case (I'm not from deepfaune). I'm playing with this at the moment and intend to integrate it into my other security software that can capture and send video alerts. I should have this working within a few weeks I think.
The structure of that software is that it is two stage, the first stage identifies that there is an animal and it's bounding box and then there's a classification stage. I intend to merge the two stages so that it behaves like a yolo model so that the output is bounding boxes as well as what type of animal it is.
However, my security software can cascade models. So if you were able to train a single stage classifier that identifies your particular bears, then you could cascade all of these models in my software to generate an alert with a video saying which bear it was.
4 November 2023 4:51am
Hi @GermanFore ,
I work with the BearID Project on individual identification of brown bears from faces. More recently we worked on face detection across all bear species and ran some tests with identifying Andean bears. You can find details in the paper I linked below. We plan to do more work with Andean bears in 2024.
I would love to connect with you. I'll send you a message with my email address.
Regards,
Ed
Nepal's tiger conservation gets tech boost with AI-powered deer tracking
30 October 2023 1:23pm
Researchers in Nepal are using vertical cameras and AI technology to track and profile individual spotted deer (Axis axis), similar to the methods used for tigers.
Modifying GoPro cameras to be IR sensitive.
25 October 2023 6:38pm
27 October 2023 6:35am
Hi Jay!
Thanks for posting this here as well as your great presentation in the Variety Hour the other day!
Cheers!
5 Trailblazing Wildlife Monitoring Tech Solutions across East Africa. What Monitoring Technologies are you using?
25 October 2023 12:40pm
Metadata standards for Automated Insect Camera Traps
24 November 2022 9:49am
2 December 2022 3:58pm
Yes. I think this is really the way to go!
6 July 2023 4:48am
Here is another metadata initiative to be aware of. OGC has been developing a standard for describing training datasets for AI/ML image recognition and labeling. The review phase is over and it will become a new standard in the next few weeks. We should consider its adoption when we develop our own training image collections.
24 October 2023 9:12am
For anyone interested: the GBIF guide Best Practices for Managing and Publishing Camera Trap Data is still open for review and feedback until next week. More info can be found in their news post.
Best,
Max
Trail cam recommendations for capturing small, quick mammals at night?
16 October 2023 12:01am
20 October 2023 3:24pm
Hi @MaddievdW have you considered using a 'tunnel' to help, well, funnel, small critters into a space with a camera that makes it a bit easier for detections? A few years back, we made a PVC pipe tunnel with a protected food lure that seemed to work well with even cheapy trail cameras (and in fact, we ended up having to block some of the IR illumination using a few layers of athletic tape over the LED array). Here's a rather blurry image of a bandicoot we got:
And another of an antechinus:
We weren't that concerned with image quality, as we were actually testing an RFID logger in the tunnel also, and simply wanted to know if we got critters with no tags and what species (if possible). So one thing I'd definitely consider if you go down this path is focal length of the camera. Here's a previous discussion on a similar idea:
I guess you could always 'calibrate' it to a certain extent by just using a longer section of pipe. Here's what our set up looked like, but again, we had the RFID logger, so a camera-only version would be a bit simpler - the camera and battery was in the screw top section on the left-hand-side of the tunnel image and each entrance had RFID antennas linked backed to a logger in the same compartment as the camera:
All the best for your research,
Rob
20 October 2023 5:06pm
Addressing each of the questions/issues posed:
Triggering Camera:
If you are getting triggers, but empty frames, during known visits by these lickety-split animals, the issue is the trigger speed. Looking at the Browning selection guide, for example, https://browningtrailcameras.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/article_attachments/12697703673243
I see that the Elite-HP5 models have a 100 ms advertised min trigger speed, which is slightly (50 ms) than the Dark Ops Pro DCL. This is equivalent to 2 earlier frames (at 60 FPS video), which could be significant with fast moving targets.
I have found, BTW, counterintuitively, that for Browning SpecOps and ReconForce models (Elite-HP5) that camera gets to first frame sooner when taking videos vs. when taking stills. I don’t understand this completely, but it’s a thing.
If you are not getting any triggers, then the PIR sensor is somehow missing the target. Make sure you understand the “detection zones” supported by your camera. These are not published, but can be determined with some patience and readily available “equipment” – see my post on “Trail Camera Detection Zones” at https://winterberrywildlife.ouroneacrefarm.com/2022/08/01/deep-tech-trail-camera-detection-zones/
Putting more than one camera at a site may also increase the probability that at least one triggers (and may improve lighting, see below)
If you’re consistently missing triggers, you may have to consider a non-PIR sensor. Unfortunately, this removes you from the domain of commercial trail cameras. Cognisys makes a number of “active” sensors based on “break beam” and (now) lidar for use with DSLR-based camera traps. You would also have to come up with your own no-glow lighting source, and hack the DLSR camera to remove the (built-onto-the sensor) IR filter. In our experience, these sets are 10x more expensive and time consuming vs. commercial trail camera sets, and are only justified by the potential for (a few) superior images.
The species-specific triggers and sets mentioned on this thread seem like a better option.
Avoiding daytime false triggers: All the commercial trail cameras I’m aware of have a single type of trigger sensor. It is based on a Passive InfraRed (PIR) sensor and Fresnel lens. Apps, Weldon and McNutt cover this admirably in Peter Apps, John Weldon McNutt, “How camera traps work and how to work them,” African Journal of Ecology, 2018.
These sensors trigger on changes in certain areas of the thermal field – in practice a combination of a heat and motion in one or more detection zones. They are not decomposable.
Some cameras (e.g. Browning SpecOps, and maybe the Dark Ops Pro?) allow you to set hours of operation so that the camera only triggers at night, for example. This would cause you to (for sure) miss “off hours” appearances by your target species, but would avoid daytime false triggers.
No Glow Image Quality: The good news about longer wavelength “No-Glow” flashes is that animals are less sensitive to them. The bad news is that the CMOS image sensors used by cameras are also less sensitive to the longer IR. Less signal leads to lower quality images. Others have mentioned adding supplemental no-glow illumination. An easy way to do this would be to set up two cameras at each of your sites. When they are both triggered, each will “see” twice as much illumination, and image quality will be improved. Browning SpecOps models (at least) have dynamic exposure control on video which allows this scheme to work (with only a frame or two of washout) while the algorithm adjusts exposure). For an example of this effect, see opening porcupine sequence in our video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itx7KnlxKS4
21 October 2023 12:52am
Hi Maddie,
This camera has a very quick reaction time.
Shedding light on nocturnal behavior: A cost-effective solution for remote, infrared video recording in the field
20 October 2023 12:31pm
Do you or someone you love study nocturnal animals? Do you want to film behavior in infrared, but NOT spend $1k on a camera (that will die in the field anyways)? Is short battery life a constant battle? Here, this preprint will help!
To find out more, come to Variety Hour!
Correspondence among multiple methods provides confidence when measuring marine protected area effects for species and assemblages
20 October 2023 12:28pm
When considering MPA groundfish monitoring methods: the more, the merrier! New paper out in Journal of Applied Ecology compared three MPA monitoring techniques commonly utilised to survey groundfish populations. They found that using multiple methods was the best approach.
Catch up with The Variety Hour: October 2023
19 October 2023 11:59am
GEO BON Monitoring Biodiversity for Action
5 October 2023 3:10pm
Good Thermal/ Night Vision Cameras?
1 September 2023 7:15pm
14 September 2023 1:31pm
@LucyHReaserRe At this area in the past, we have tried using a normal trail IR camera, but with very limited sensitivity. I have thought about adding the IR fog lights out there to help, but was leaning towards the thermal cameras to allow for more types of data to be taken from the images in the future i.e. age class based on heat signatures.
Thank you all for providing input, I will look into each of these ideas!
22 September 2023 11:13am
I'm jupping into the discussion, with a similar objective. I'm looking for a thermal camera trap, (I know cacophony). it would be use to improve invasive speices monitoring especially for rats and feral cats.
Any idea?
Thanks
22 September 2023 12:56pm
Hi @mguins , as @kimhendrikse mentioned resolution (and also brand) for thermal cameras can dictate a big jump in price. GroupGets has a budget Lepton (FS - short for 'factory second' I think) if you wanted to check one out:
They also have a bunch of other Flir products and boards for interfacing with Leptons etc., so worth a browse of the shop. It could also be worth taking a look at Seek modules, some of which @Alasdair has experience with : (e.g.
They also have modules you can connect to a mobile phone:
@TopBloke I'd be very keen to see your Lepton camera trap too!
Cheers,
Rob
Turn old smartphone into IA camera trap?
24 September 2021 1:08pm
11 July 2023 10:56am
Any news regarding this topic ?
14 July 2023 4:05pm
Despite the power challenges noted in this thread, I think the “used” stream of smart phones is a viable platform for trail cameras. Having successfully hacked in custom features into closed source trail camera firmware (https://github.com/robertzak133/unified-btc-reverse) , I am also hoping that software development on smart phones is a better way to do feature innovation on trail cameras.
I have just “started” on a trail cam app for iPhone 12 pro (not that “old” yet, but it will be by the time I’m done, and it’s the first iPhone with LIDAR). I have done some toy apps on the iPhone before, but am mostly blissfully unaware of how much work this will be :) None-the-less, goal is to have a prototype working in the back yard by July 15, 2024. I’ll post a project link on this thread as soon as it’s up.
I’m just working on requirements now. My primary focus is on improving image quality, and capture efficiency vs. existing trail cameras for wildlife photography. For example:
- Using camera image quality library to improve low light captures, exposure, etc.
- Improving trigger versatility and accuracy using LIDAR sensor
- Tracking auto-focus based on LIDAR
- Negative trigger delay for daylight shots
- Support for custom lighting via “ensemble” sets
It seems wrong not to leverage cellular connectivity, though this is a lower priority for me because most of our sets are beyond cell phone coverage.
I did find an interesting app – “Motion Detector Camera” by Phil Bailey https://apps.apple.com/us/app/motion-detector-cam/id461753935 this app uses some parameterizable motion detection algorithm to trigger still images (free version). It’s pretty slick. I’m starting w/ LIDAR because I want to have a trigger that works in the dark.
Note that none of these require any AI processing of the images, though I have no doubt a smart phone would be a great place to do that one way or another. Do you have specific usage models/requirements in mind for in-phone image processing/classification?
22 September 2023 11:30am
Keep us in touch looks promissing!
11 December 2023 10:21am
Yeah from memory we found it difficult to get the relatively high voltage (~50VDC) and current (can't remember) in a small package, but we had almost no experience back then and gave up fairly quickly. We also found it difficult to get much help from the company if I remember correctly...
so is the problem with the nichrome waterproofing everything? I picture something like coating the nichrome in high temp grease (especially where it's in contact with the nylon line and the line itself) and encapsulating the entire thing in a semi-flexible silicone (so the line can slip out after detechment) with something buoyant to help pull it towards the surface maybe? Speaking of, how are tags being recovered (i.e. do they need to pop to the surface)?