Design and Development of a Family of Integrated Devices to Monitor Animal Movement in the Wild
Monitoring the tortoise <i>Chelonoidis chilensis</i> in the wild, currently in a vulnerable state of conservation in southern Argentina, is essential to gather movement information to elaborate guidelines for the species preservation. We present here the electronic circuit design as well...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/7/3684 |
| _version_ | 1797606907575271424 |
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| author | Laila Daniela Kazimierski Andrés Oliva Trevisan Erika Kubisch Karina Laneri Nicolás Catalano |
| author_facet | Laila Daniela Kazimierski Andrés Oliva Trevisan Erika Kubisch Karina Laneri Nicolás Catalano |
| author_sort | Laila Daniela Kazimierski |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Monitoring the tortoise <i>Chelonoidis chilensis</i> in the wild, currently in a vulnerable state of conservation in southern Argentina, is essential to gather movement information to elaborate guidelines for the species preservation. We present here the electronic circuit design as well as the associated firmware for animal monitoring that was entirely designed by our interdisciplinary research team to allow the extension of device features in the future. Our development stands out for being a family of low-cost and low-power devices, that could be easily adaptable to other species and contexts. Each device is composed of a sub 1 GHz radiofrequency IoT-compatible transceiver, a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver, a magnetometer, and temperature and inertial sensors. The device does not exceed 5% of the animal’s weight to avoid disturbance in their behavior. The board was designed to work as a monitoring device as well as a collecting data station and a tracker, by adding only small pieces of hardware. We performed field measurements to assess the autonomy and range of the radiofrequency link, as well as the power consumption and the associated positioning error. We report those values and discuss the device’s limitations and advantages. The weight of the PCB including battery and GNSS receiver is 44.9 g, its dimensions are 48.7 mm × 63.7 mm, and it has an autonomy that can vary between a week and a month, depending on the sampling rates of the sensors and the rate of the RF signal and that of the GNSS receiver. The characterization of the device parameters will favor the open use of this development by other research groups working on similar projects. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:24:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0d0f39cf0c4c40afa78dc1f5a98968c5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:24:28Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-0d0f39cf0c4c40afa78dc1f5a98968c52023-11-17T17:36:13ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202023-04-01237368410.3390/s23073684Design and Development of a Family of Integrated Devices to Monitor Animal Movement in the WildLaila Daniela Kazimierski0Andrés Oliva Trevisan1Erika Kubisch2Karina Laneri3Nicolás Catalano4Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Centro Atómico Bariloche (CONICET), Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA), San Carlos de Bariloche R8402AGP, ArgentinaCentro Atómico Bariloche, Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA), San Carlos de Bariloche R8402AGP, ArgentinaInstituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (INIBIOMA, CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Comahue), San Carlos de Bariloche R8400AGP, ArgentinaConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Centro Atómico Bariloche (CONICET), Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA), San Carlos de Bariloche R8402AGP, ArgentinaCentro Atómico Bariloche, Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA), San Carlos de Bariloche R8402AGP, ArgentinaMonitoring the tortoise <i>Chelonoidis chilensis</i> in the wild, currently in a vulnerable state of conservation in southern Argentina, is essential to gather movement information to elaborate guidelines for the species preservation. We present here the electronic circuit design as well as the associated firmware for animal monitoring that was entirely designed by our interdisciplinary research team to allow the extension of device features in the future. Our development stands out for being a family of low-cost and low-power devices, that could be easily adaptable to other species and contexts. Each device is composed of a sub 1 GHz radiofrequency IoT-compatible transceiver, a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver, a magnetometer, and temperature and inertial sensors. The device does not exceed 5% of the animal’s weight to avoid disturbance in their behavior. The board was designed to work as a monitoring device as well as a collecting data station and a tracker, by adding only small pieces of hardware. We performed field measurements to assess the autonomy and range of the radiofrequency link, as well as the power consumption and the associated positioning error. We report those values and discuss the device’s limitations and advantages. The weight of the PCB including battery and GNSS receiver is 44.9 g, its dimensions are 48.7 mm × 63.7 mm, and it has an autonomy that can vary between a week and a month, depending on the sampling rates of the sensors and the rate of the RF signal and that of the GNSS receiver. The characterization of the device parameters will favor the open use of this development by other research groups working on similar projects.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/7/3684animal movementinertial sensorsGNSS positionlow-power deviceIoTtortoise tracking |
| spellingShingle | Laila Daniela Kazimierski Andrés Oliva Trevisan Erika Kubisch Karina Laneri Nicolás Catalano Design and Development of a Family of Integrated Devices to Monitor Animal Movement in the Wild Sensors animal movement inertial sensors GNSS position low-power device IoT tortoise tracking |
| title | Design and Development of a Family of Integrated Devices to Monitor Animal Movement in the Wild |
| title_full | Design and Development of a Family of Integrated Devices to Monitor Animal Movement in the Wild |
| title_fullStr | Design and Development of a Family of Integrated Devices to Monitor Animal Movement in the Wild |
| title_full_unstemmed | Design and Development of a Family of Integrated Devices to Monitor Animal Movement in the Wild |
| title_short | Design and Development of a Family of Integrated Devices to Monitor Animal Movement in the Wild |
| title_sort | design and development of a family of integrated devices to monitor animal movement in the wild |
| topic | animal movement inertial sensors GNSS position low-power device IoT tortoise tracking |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/7/3684 |
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