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Group

Acoustics / Feed

Acoustic monitoring is one of our biggest and most active groups, with members collecting, analysing, and interpreting acoustic data from across species, ecosystems, and applications, from animal vocalizations to sounds from our natural and built environment

discussion

Success recording bees using AudioMoth

Andrew Lewis MSc FLS

7 July 2019 6:45pm

I would just like to put on record that we have successfully tested an AudioMoth recording "bug" in a local garden inside a plastic bag whereby it recorded the buzz of...

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DanAbelow

11 March 2020 11:16am

How can we learn more about your BEESWAX7 buzz identification and counting program, and discuss working together?

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event

Workshop: Using Bioacoustics for Field Survey

CIEEM

20 February 2020 12:00am

CIEEM is hosting a one-day workshop in bioacoustic field survey methods at a beginning to intermediate level. Attendees will attend hands-on workshops, lectures, and computer sessions giving an overview on using...

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event

WILDLABS Virtual Meetup Recording: Acoustic Monitoring

WILDLABS Team

5 February 2020 12:00am

The fourth and final event in Season 3 of the WILDLABS Virtual Meetup Series is now available to watch, along with notes that highlight key takeaways from the talks and discussion. In the meetup, speakers David Watson, ...

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event

Acoustic Telemetry Workshop Series

Ocean Tracking Network

19 December 2019 12:00am

Ocean Tracking Network and ideasOTN are hosting an acoustic telemetry workshop in Halifax in February 2020 to assist early career researchers to develop skills and build their toolbox. Topics include deployment, YAPS...

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discussion

Machine-readable representation of a sensor duty cycle / recording schedule

David Savage

11 September 2019 8:13pm

My group is currently trying to improve the database we use to store our recordings, and we're trying to figure out how to represent a sensor's duty cycle in a way that is...

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Harold Tay

12 September 2019 5:27pm

Hi David,

I use cron-like patterns.  One form looks something like: mon,wed-sun 0-23:0-59/10 90

which means every day but Tuesdays, every 10 minutes from the top of the hour, recording for 90 seconds.  There is a similar form for matching by month/day.  There could be yet another form for sunrise/sunset but I haven't implemented that.  Basically a hyphen indicates a range, a comma indicates a list, and the slash is repetition step size.  A full recording specification consists of one or more patterns, the first matching being used (for the recording duration).  Years are not implemented but that could be done also.

Thanks,

-harold

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discussion

Advice on Audiomoth extended power and case solution

Shawn McCracken

3 September 2019 5:56pm

I am leading a project to conduct canopy camera trap and audio monitoring for birds and mammals along a conservation corridor at the Jama-Coaque Reserve in coastal Ecuador. We...

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Harold Tay

6 September 2019 11:21am

Hi Shawn,

I might be concerned about the Li-ion batteries, if there is any chance of losing a node (damage due to installation, weather, animals, or theft) then the economics won't work out, it being such a large proportion of the cost.  Also it's kind of a pain flying with them even if they're quite light because they have to go in carry-on luggage.

I'm not insensitive to the e-waste issue, but here I think even here alkaline might have the upper hand: many lithium cells contain toxic cobalt (as opposed to manganese) and it's not often clear which type you have.  Alkalines OTOH are relatively innocuous (unless they contain mercury, which they should not in this day and age): carbon anode, steel casing, zinc cathode, zinc oxide (used in baby nappy rash cream), lye, manganese oxide/dioxide (occurs naturally as an ore but you still don't want to eat it).

Thanks,

-harold

Shawn McCracken

6 September 2019 5:29pm

Many thanks Harold!

I really appreciate the information on e-waste! What about going with LiFePo4 batteries? They are consider low toxicity and I know they are a type of battery that our chemistry department will take to recycle (they will also take lipo and li-ion). I am trying to figure out how to calculate battery life in the Audiomoth if I were to go with a higher voltage LiFePo4 but less mAh, say 6.6 volt and 2100/3000 mAh. Any suggestions? and of course thoughts on this option? These batteries are cheaper too ($11-15)!

I've worked a lot with lipo and li-ion batteries building drones and other power solutions so I'm not really worried about damaging them or transporting them. It's amazing how many huge lipo's I've had in my carry-on luggage and all they care about is my laptop! My main concern with alkaline is that they are expensive in Ecuador with no where to dispose of for recyling (yet or that I currently know of). Rechargeables make sense because of the long-life and they can be muled back to the university for recyling with the chemistry department (I have no idea what they do with them, they just want them and say they will be recycled).

Shawn

Harold Tay

7 September 2019 12:33am

Hi Shawn,

I've only heard good things about LiFePO4.  The only issue I can think of is exactly the one you bring up: the EMF is low enough that a 2S battery is needed.  The Audiomoth uses a linear voltage regulator, so anything in excess of the 3.3V that is actually used is wasted.  This means for endurance calculations you consider only the mAH rating given you have chosen a battery that will output at least 3.3V (plus a bit more for the dropout).  So 2100mAH at 6.6V is just 2100mAH, compared with 5000mAH of your initial Li-ion.

A high-effiency switching regulator may make sense if you're running the Audiomoth at high duty, but even so finding a low power unit is hard.  But since reliability is paramount, I would go with something with the fewest moving parts.

Thanks,

-harold

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discussion

Audio analysis of flocks or swarms

Andrew Lewis MSc FLS

1 July 2019 3:57pm

Hi, Here at BEESWAX8 we are working on identifying flocks of avains or swarms of insects by their collective noise. We have noticed already that this is more complex than...

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Harold Tay

9 July 2019 1:00am

Hi Andrew,

I'm not a signals guy I'm afraid, but I was thinking perhaps one way might be to estimate the physical size of the flock/swarm by scanning with a microphone array.

BTW do you find it a problem if an individual happens to be too close and drowns out the rest?  In part it's a question of dynamic range but also of sensor placement.

Thanks,

-harold

Andrew Lewis MSc FLS

21 August 2019 3:38pm

So far we have been able to disambiguate between the flocks of two different species of small birds? Not easy. Our problem seems to be based around the fact that some or all flocks of small birds cheeping sound pretty similar? Of course the issue is: at what point is asynchronous sound aggregation just noise?

With regards to individual sounds, we are not interested in individuals at the moment so have not tested for it. I suspect however that in the interests of completeness we will be?

More anon,

Andrew.

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discussion

Raspberry Pi Hardware Mono Mic Problem

Sam Reynolds

4 June 2019 3:47pm

Hi all, I'm building a passive bioacoustic device for a PhD project and I have come across an issue for which I need advice from someone with more audio tech experience....

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Scott Veirs

24 July 2019 5:26pm

We've had good results with two mono inputs accepted via the stereo 1/4" input jack on the Pisound HAT on a 3B+ and just about to test with the 4. Details and links to Pisound folks in Lithuania here -- http://www.orcasound.net/2018/04/27/orcasounds-new-live-audio-solution-from-hydrophone-to-headphone-with-a-raspberry-pi-computer-and-hls-dash-streaming-software/

Julien Ricard

21 August 2019 3:22pm

Hi Sam,

have you tried the Clippy EM172 ? I was looking at this microphone on Raspberry Pi + PiSound, but it has an electret capsule and should then be powered...

Thank you !

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discussion

Sound Event Recognition - through collaboration

Jan Kees Schakel

28 June 2017 9:13pm

here's our 90-second video explaining the SERVAL sensor, which saw the light thanks to our collaboration with Karol Piczak. The 7th of July we'll organize a...

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Kevin Marriott

9 July 2019 9:42pm

@jankees,  

Hi I am working on a system to reduce Human Elephant Conflict and am interested in acoustics of Elephants and the identification of elephants through their acoustic signature to assist with this project, did you get anywhere with the serval sensor for detecting Elephants? 

We are a non profit called the Forgotten Parks Foundation and currently managing the Upemba and Kundelungu National Parks in the DR.Congo and have an immediate requirement to reduce HEC so we would like to assist with the development of such a system. 

Jan Kees Schakel

10 July 2019 7:15am

Hi Kev,

thank you for contacting us. We are a non-profit, too. I very much welcome collabortion on this system. Shall we continue our discussion through email? Mine is jankees.schakel@sensingclues.org. 

Looking forward to discussing this further,

Jan Kees

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event

WILDLABS TECH HUB Showcase

WILDLABS Team

17 May 2019 12:00am

Join us at the Tech Hub Showcase event ot hear how our winners are using technology to scale their solutions to the illegal wildlife trade. The event will take place at Digital Catapult, 101 Euston Road, London, on the...

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article

Meet the WILDLABS TECH HUB Winners

WILDLABS Team

13 May 2019 12:00am

In February, we released an open call for the WILDLABS TECH HUB, offering 3 months of support for solutions using technolgy to tackle the illegal wildlife trade. We were overwhelmed by an incredible 37 submissions,...

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event

WILDLABS Virtual Meetup: Low Cost, Open-Source Solutions

WILDLABS Team

18 March 2019 12:00am

The first event in Season Two of the WILDLABS Virtual Meetup Series was on Low-Cost, Open-Source Solutions. The recording is now available to watch, along with notes and recommended reading based on the discussion. In...

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discussion

AudioMoth 2.0 Development

Akiba

17 March 2019 2:44am

Hi. I'm moving a topic to this thread from the camera trap thread since it's more relevant here.  Discussion with Alasdair for context: "Lastly -...

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discussion

AudioMoth user guide

Tessa Rhinehart

27 February 2019 9:35pm

AudioMoth users, I recently wrote this guide to operating and deploying AudioMoths: https://github.com/rhine3/audiomoth-guide/blob/master/guide.md. The...

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Akiba

14 March 2019 10:08am

That also sounds like a good idea :)

Tessa Rhinehart

14 March 2019 1:52pm

Hi again,

I agree; it's very important that everyone is able to contribute to the guide. Thanks for taking the lead on that, Akiba. To that end, I just made my GitHub repo publicly editable, so please feel free to add to it if you want to use a GitHub repository.

However, a Google Doc would be much easier for the general public to contribute to. If you choose that route instead, please use whatever you want from my repository. :-) 

I personally like to use the guide as a single document instead of a Wiki. It's easier to read through, and since everything is on the same page, you can just CTRL+F to find a specific word or section. Also, it's helpful to be able to download it as a .pdf, or print it out and refer to it in the field. 

Tessa

Akiba

14 March 2019 3:43pm

Hi Tessa. 

Thanks and also thanks for being so generous with your work :)

Regarding the format, how do you all think if we have a single document and a wiki? I could handle the single document if David wanted to do the wiki. One potential issue would be synchronization, but since many wikis keep a change list, perhaps we can schedule periodic document updates based on the wiki changelists. We can also maintain a document changelist in case the changes need to go in the other direction.

Any comments or suggestions?

Akiba

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discussion

Advice for an in-situ Audio-Visual system for recording at a nest site

Sam Reynolds

9 February 2019 6:19pm

I'm looking for a cost-effective solution to a remote in-situ audio-visual system for bird acoustics for use in a PhD Project. I need an audio-visual setup suitable...

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Joachim Neff

25 February 2019 6:37pm

Hello Carlos and Sam
That book on "CCTV for Wildlife Monitoring" looks excellent. Although it is somewhat off at a tangent of my actual work this looks way too useful not to have. There are cheaper second-hand copies on Abebooks and eBay and also on sale at NHBS, £20.98 incl. UK P&P (https://www.nhbs.com/cctv-for-wildlife-monitoring-book).

An interesting interview with the author, Susan Young: https://blog.nhbs.com/author-interviews/interview/cctv-for-wildlife-monitoring-an-interview-with-susan-young/

Meanwhile, I have come across a research project by the author of that book using technology that looks very close to what Sam is trying to do: "CCTV Enables the Discovery of New Barbastelle Vocalisations and Activity Patterns Near a Roost - We monitored a barbastelle maternity roost for four months using a portable CCTV system, time synchronised with ultrasound recorders."
See more here: https://www.researchgate.net/project/Using-CCTV-to-link-vocal-repertoire-with-behaviour-in-bats

If the above does not do it, I think you should contact the author and get her advice on what would be a suitable setup for you. That's what I meant in my earlier post about maximising use of previously developed solutions. It will just save you a lot of messing about, especially if you are not a technical expert yourself.

I hope this is of some use. Do post an update when you have worked out what equipment to use.

Good luck,
Joachim Neff

Joachim Neff

6 March 2019 7:42pm

Hello Sam

I have now received the book on "CCTV for Wildlife Monitoring" (see my earlier post for more details) and it is as excellent as it looked online. If you can spare £21 then I would suggest you get a copy yourself.

The book is written for those without much technical background and the case studies are very detailed with equipment lists and setup details. I have not read the entire book but as far as I can see there are no examples described specifically with synced audio. However, all the case studies and detailed comments on what to watch out for (pun intended) should give you a lot of help in working out what you need for your project.

Good luck,
Joachim

Sam Reynolds

8 March 2019 2:44pm

Joachim and Carlos,

Thank you both very much for all your help so far with this problem, all of your input is very constructive. I have had look into the CCTV tech and also that researchgate link, and both have provided me with a few more options. At the moment I am organising a visit to one of the "hackerspaces" near me, to see if anyone can give me some hands-on practical advice, mainly about a suitable power supply solution (as lots of inputs running and recording continuously will reduce the time it can be in-field substantially based upon a standard, small size power supply, as I understand it). I will let you both know when I have managed to develop a prototype, but this may take a month or two as I need to first order a starter kit for Raspberry Pi or Arduino, get my head around the basics, and also contend with my other work. I will be sure to let you all know if I make any headway!

Best wishes, 

Sam

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discussion

Real-time audio monitoring

Frank van Lingen

19 February 2019 10:42am

I am looking for a way to monitor audio in real time instead of writing to an SD card, which means the system gaterhing data needs to stream data back when it is recorded. What...

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Harold Tay

22 February 2019 2:33pm

Hi,

What you're asking, is it conceptually like turning on the mic on your PC and doing something with the output from the sound card?  Instead of digitising the sound it's possible to do some kind of monitoring in the analogue domain.  It sounds like an interesting problem, tell me more!

Thanks.

1 March 2019 8:17am

What frequecy are you looking to record, how long does the mic need to run for, what is the distance between the microphone and the "listening" site?   As (unless I've missed something) an off the shelf radio microphone does exactly that job.

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discussion

AudioMoth - Big data software?

WILDLABS Admin

26 September 2018 12:02pm

What are other people using to shift through AudioMoth files to pull out the bats calls - so far I've settled on BatClassify.   If seems to cope with corrupt/zero...

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Alex Rogers

24 October 2018 5:55pm

AH, okay. Yes, if something goes wrong writing to the SD card during a recording, the file won't be closed, and so the file size won't be updated. Let us know if you get any zero length files in †he future since it shouldn't happend. We have another release of the firmware and configuration app coming out in a couple of weeks that makes the routine which writes to the SD card a bit more robust if something goes wrong, uses human readible long file names, and also adds local time to both the configuration app and the resulting time stamps. Alex

Stephanie O'Donnell

21 December 2018 10:55pm

Hi David,

Kate Jones suggested trying our their Bat Classifier tool - deep learning tools for bat acoustic signal detection. We've quite a few members here who worked on it if you've got questions (@Rory_Gibb, @snewson, @robin_freeman as a start)

We have a method for finding bat calls that is super quick, free and all code is open source https://t.co/52FPZHLyQU

— Kate Jones (@ProfKateJones) December 21, 2018

Steph

Carlos Abrahams

22 February 2019 1:28pm

How about using Kaleidoscope and the cluster analysis tool?  Works fine, and is super-quick..

Ta, Carlos

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discussion

AudioMoth v1.1 is now available

Alasdair Davies

23 January 2019 12:37pm

Hi everyone, The Arribada Initiative has started a new GroupGets round (23rd Jan) for the updated v1.1 AudioMoth. It will run for the next 30 days, so get in on this round if...

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Stephanie O'Donnell

6 February 2019 3:58pm

Quick update

This audiomoth group purchase is now 581% funded. To meet with demand and component stock, if they reach 1500 devices they will close this round early and start to manufacture. A new round additional round will be opened at the same time in this eventuality. 

As of this morning, this means htere are 338 devices left if you want to be included in this manufacturing run of the updated Audiomoth (v1.1).  

Stephanie O'Donnell

18 February 2019 5:15pm

Update

The current AudioMoth group purchase reached our stock level of 1550 devices, hence the campaign has closed early. We'll now set up the manufacturing run and update you shortly on our progress.

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