Sensors already equip a range of tools to enhance monitoring capacity for conservation. Some of the higher bandwidth technologies, like camera traps and acoustic monitoring systems, have been essential elements of the conservation toolkit for decades, and thus have enough users that we've created dedicated WILDLABS groups to address them. But a whole range of lower bandwidth sensors beyond these core technologies are being increasingly integrated into conservation monitoring systems, and offer rich new insights into the wildlife and ecosystems we're all working to protect. As with many technologies, cost and access have historically been challenges to the adoption of new sensors, but with low-cost and open-source solutions on the rise, we're excited to see what the future of this space holds.
Getting Started with Sensors:
- Watch Shah Selbe's Tech Tutors episode on scaling FieldKit, an open-source conservation sensor toolbox, from a project to a successful conservation tech product.
- Check out our Virtual Meetup about Low-Cost, Open-Source Solutions in conservation tech, including a talk by Alasdair Davies on the Arribada Initiative's work with thermal sensors in early warning systems.
- For a more in-depth introduction, watch the first video in our datalogger mini-series: Freaklabs: How do I get started with Arduino?
In this group, you'll meet others who are using and innovating diverse sensors in their work, discuss ways to make sensors more effective & accessible for conservationists, learn about what sensors are already helping us accomplish in the field, and have the opportunity to ask and answer questions. Join this group to get started!
Header image: Emma Vogel, University of Tromsø
- @Jackeline
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- @RHugtenburg
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Student at Aberystwyth University. Bug Fanatic🪲. Worked at Octophin Digital for my industrial year placement 🐙.
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Arm
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Wildlife biologist, works with Caimans and Crocodiles
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International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Key Biodiversity Areas Programme Officer, IUCN
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Simeone Consulting
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TechnoSmArt
I am an ornithologist, have been working with GPS tracking of both seabirds and terrestrial birds. I have been involved also in conservation projects in Italy, Chile and Ecuador
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- @magali
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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Postdoctoral researcher at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
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Article
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Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
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Hi Adam, My name is Nicole, I work at Frontier Labs - we also make bioacoustic recorders (BARs) and are based in Brisbane, Australia. Yay for Australian tech! We have been... |
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Sensors | 2 years 8 months ago | |
Would certainly be cool to see a tutorial on this! Looking forward to that! |
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Marine Conservation, Sensors | 2 years 8 months ago | |
Almost done with the trap alarms. I added an additional buzzer (with internal circuitry) to get more noise. The added benefit is that the slightly different tunes creates... |
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Sensors | 3 years ago | |
Hi Barry, I am tinkering with similar edge devices and aspirations! I recently acquired the Jetson Nano to start testing some aspects of the BearID Project software pipeline.... |
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Connectivity, Sensors | 3 years 2 months ago | |
Thanks for the paper Harold, this looks like a possibility. Especially if there's a way to make bespoke detectors |
+22
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Sensors | 3 years 2 months ago | |
Hi everyone, I'm building some small audio attachments to pop onto Vectronics collars. Does anyone have dummy or... |
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Sensors | 3 years 3 months ago | |
Really interesting chat. I was looking at this "eTape" to measure inundation on marine turtle nests. https://www.adafruit.com/product/463 Will give you water presence... |
+10
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Sensors | 3 years 6 months ago | |
Have you ever wanted to get a sample from the top of a tree, without having to climb it or shoot it out with a shotgun? Would it... |
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Sensors | 3 years 7 months ago | |
Hello Rob, I have seen the bracelet style used on large mammals with mixed success and failure. The main considerations are terrain the animal uses, and fitting the bracelet... |
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Sensors | 3 years 7 months ago | |
Amazing stuff Andrew! The dips in light idea made me think of exoplanet hunting straight away! Such a cool idea!! |
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Sensors | 3 years 7 months ago | |
Hi Akiba No worries, thanks for responding! I'd love to delve into more detail on this once the new series has started and I have an idea of the tools and kit required!... |
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Open Source Solutions, Sensors | 3 years 9 months ago | |
Hi Maxine, There are pros and cons to switching regulators and linear regulators. Linear regulators "throw away" the excess voltage in order to maintain a... |
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Open Source Solutions, Sensors | 3 years 9 months ago |
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HWC Tech Challenge: Thermopile Sensor Project
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Eddy Expedition Log: Chasing Eddies
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What technologies could help us monitor cave invertebrates?
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9 April 2018 2:35am
Hi Tony, I'm leading a cross disciplinary group of researchers at Deakin University in Australia to build new technology for monitoring wildlife and engage citizen scientists with collecting data.
We have designed a video trap for monitoring reptiles and amphibians, that uses constant video and has some on-board AI to not save video with nothing in it. Works day and night (UV illumination at night), but uses a lot of power so we have a battery and solar panel arrangement. I expect this could be easily adapted to monitor cave fauna. Let me know if you already have a solution or want to discuss idea further.
Don Driscoll
Thermal imaging scopes
26 March 2018 9:26pm
27 March 2018 2:20pm
Hi Luke,
I'll leave specific recommendations to others who are better qualified ( @Eric+Becker @Rachel+Kramer or @Alasdair - maybe you can advise?) but I did come across something yesterday that may be relevant.
There is a live GroupGets campaign on at the moment (2 days left) for DIY-theromocam kits - not a scope but could do the trick if your budget is restricted as it's under $300 and you're willing to dabble in DIY?
The DIY-Thermocam is a do-it-yourself infrared camera, based on the FLIR Lepton long-wave infrared sensor and the popular Teensy 3.6 ARM Cortex M4 MCU.
The aim of this project is to give private persons, educational institutes and companies access to a portable, affordable and customizable thermal imaging plattform.
There are various applications like finding heat leaks in the insulation of buildings, the analysis of electrical or mechanical components, the detection of persons / animals or even mounting it on a drone, together with the additional video out module.
Constructed as a self-assembly solution, the DIY-Thermocam allows you to take advantage of the versatile possibilities of thermal imaging and to save money at one go.
Everything, from software to hardware, is completely open-source. This allows everyone to modify or extend the functionalities of the device to their own needs.
GroupGets does now offer a complete self-assembly kit, so you don't have to worry about buying all the parts on your own.
A scientific paper is also available, giving an overview about the whole project and its capabilities.
Update: haraldg has written a nice set of tools for post-processing the thermal raw data files. Check it out here. He also published a short article about manual calibration here.
3 April 2018 3:39pm
Hi @Luke_edwards - I just had a chat with my colleagues @Eric+Becker and @ColbyLoucks at WWF who will get back to you with some recommendations from experience with the thermal scopes that we've explored for anti-poaching (FLIR TK and SCOUT III).
Great to see that you're pairing conservation dogs and thermal imaging for wildlife surveys in Australia. In order to select the most cost-effective thermal imaging scope for your needs, it's important to know the range that you require, density of vegetation and size of the species you are monitoring. Can you share a bit more information on your parameters?
3 April 2018 11:03pm
The current project is in open plains. From a handler perspective the distance will be from 20m -100m. I will be working at night so it will be looking for me target, the Plains Wanderer, a small bird. Also it would be used to see other native and domestic animals in the area.
Other projects range from open plains through to rain forests.
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Pi Zero get a little upgrade... Anyone need a camera trap?
http://petapixel.com/2016/05/19/5-raspberry-pi-zero-now-camera-compatible/
11 October 2017 10:09am
Hi All,
just sharing this for all those Raspberry Pi beginners like me, 91% off a training bundle
https://deals.thenextweb.com/sales/complete-raspberry-pi-3-2
2 November 2017 6:02pm
Also if you are still looking for a solution this was published earlier this year and gives recommendations for soundscape microphones : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210X.12678/full
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