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Want to talk about sensors that don't quite fit into any of our tech-specific groups? This is the place to post! From temperature and humidity to airflow and pressure sensors, there are many environmental sensing tools that can add valuable data to core conservation monitoring technologies. With the increasing availability of low-cost, open-source options, we've seen growing interest in integrating these kinds of low bandwidth sensors into existing tools. What kinds of sensors are you working with?

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HWC Tech Challenge Winners Announced

WILDLABS Team

1 November 2017 12:00am

We are delighted to announce that British conservation technologist Alasdair Davies and the Dutch team of Laurens de Groot and Tim van Dam from the ShadowView Foundation are the winners of the first international Human...

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HWC Tech Challenge Update: Meet the Judges

WILDLABS Team

20 October 2017 12:00am

Our panel of international experts has been hard at work reviewing the 47 proposals we recieved for innovative technological tools to address human wildlife conflict. The panelists have systematically been assessing the...

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How to lose a BRUV in 10 days

Dr. Ivy Baremore

26 September 2017 12:00am

As pressure on marine resources increases, fishers have to explore deeper and deeper waters to make a living. What does this mean for Belize’s deep-sea sharks? In an effort to understand the threats to these animals,...

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Elephant's Banquet

Femke Hilderink

19 September 2017 12:00am

Human-wildlife conflict can be difficult to understand without knowing its impact on people and communities. In this case study, authored by community member and Human Wildlife Conflict Tech Challenge coordinator Femke...

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discussion

Thermal cameras and wildlife

John Probert

26 July 2017 6:51pm

Hello sensors group! I recently saw this fascinating video on thermal imaging of elephants in the Dzangha Sangha Protected Area in CAR. It was really fascinating to me, and it...

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John Probert

26 July 2017 8:33pm

Oh, cool! It'd be interesting seeing if it could be used for tracking as well. I've used some handheld cameras and looked at footprints, but those disappeared pretty quickly. 

Roland Kays

21 August 2017 12:17pm

 

Abstract here from the IMC Congress in Perth, they found the higher-res versions are much better than the less expensive (e.g. iphone) versions when it comes to finding animals. 

Now you see me: How thermal imaging increases detection of cryptic nocturnal mammals in tropical regions

Avril Underwood1 , Mia Dehre-Miller2 1. James Cook University, Smithfield, Queensland, Australia 2.

University of Lancaster, Lancaster, United Kingdom Accurate measures of species abundance and distribution underpin effective wildlife management and conservation strategies. Obtaining these data is very challenging when researching the cryptic nocturnal arboreal mammals of in the dense forest of the Wet Tropics. Our research shows that using a hand-held thermal imager significantly increases the detection rate of all mid-sized arboreal mammals when compared to the most commonly used method of spotlighting. We determine the optimal environmental and mechanical parameters for thermal imaging, and we investigate ‘cost-versus-result’ of hand-held imaging devices currently available on the market. We suggest that hand-held thermal imaging is a great emerging technology for cryptic arboreal mammal detection across tropical forested regions and beyond.

Roland Kays

21 August 2017 12:20pm

My own experience is with the FLIR iphone attachment, just informal testing, but hasn't been that great at finding animals.  I also think it would work better in the early AM.  In the evening there can still be a lot of rocks and trees still warm from the sun.

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discussion

Biomaker Challenge - up to £1000 support for prototyping sensors and instrumentation related to biology

Jenny Molloy

19 June 2017 3:46pm

Dear All Biomaker Challenge is a four-month programme challenging interdisciplinary teams to build low-cost sensors and instruments for biology. From colorimeters to...

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Stephanie O'Donnell

19 June 2017 3:51pm

Hey Jenny, 

Thanks for sharing this, looks really interesting! In addition to WILDLABS members potentially getting involved, it'd be great to hear about some of the projects that get developed through the challenge. It looks like they're all going to be shared openly on github! Perhaps you could highlight or direct folks here to any as they emerge that you think might be particularly relevant? 

Steph 

Jenny Molloy

19 June 2017 4:03pm

Hi Steph

Sure - we'll have the projects confirmed by 30 June and I can highlight ones that might be of interest!

Jenny

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discussion

Heat Maps

Adam Bloch

2 March 2016 3:18pm

We have been playing with heat mapping incubators. Traditionally yo map an icubator by placing a therometer in different locations within the incubator. This is at best a slow and...

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Thomas Starnes

31 March 2017 10:45am

Hi @AdamBloch 

I'd like to know more about your setup. I'm monitoring temperatures on a nature reserve using an array of 100 iButton Thermocron temperature sensors. I'm interested in what the benefits of using Arduino and Raspberry Pi might be. I need to collect my sensors in and read through a USB device. Then there's the interpolation and plotting of the data, and I'm particularly interested in how you are filtering and querying your data i.e. 'selectable [time?] range'.

Thanks

Adam Bloch

31 March 2017 9:49pm

Hi Thomas

We are mapping a very small area in real time. The data rate is controlled by the time it take to read all the DS18B20s. The logger I use in the Octogons is using about 90 sensors and refreshes about every 5 to 15 seconds. The data is store as a CSV in series of files.

Best thing to do is drop me a PM and your number.

Many thanks

Adam

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discussion

Photogrammetry: mapping caves and other environments

Ollie Wearn

19 January 2017 11:46am

I need some advice on photogrammetry. Is there anyone here that has used these methods and would be willing to provide some pointers? Specifically, I am aiming to create a 3D...

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Tom Swinfield

8 March 2017 1:49pm

Hi Ollie,

You can do the photogrammetry without a drone. You just need a tripod and a camera. The drone is useful because it can move to locations automatically ensuring that you have correct overlap but  in caves you obviously will not have the GPS signal you need for most off the shelf units to navigate.

Thom mentioned to me a device called a Zebedee, which should do what you are hoping for. I don't know anyone who has one though and I'm afraid I don't have a LiDAR unit to lend. 

Tom

Thomas Starnes

8 March 2017 1:54pm

A colleague showed me this last week - laser scanning in Nottingham's 'caves' - scroll down and check out the video.

http://tparchaeology.co.uk/caves/caveswebsite/index.htm

Thomas Starnes

8 March 2017 2:03pm

For good measure, here's some cave survey porn of Hang Son Doong cave in China.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOH4gbW18Ts

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